Art van tours Finland

Kiasma's School on the Move is a three-year project targeting ninth-grade pupils in secondary school. The project offers many regular school subjects, except that the subject is always approached through contemporary art. The project uses a crossover approach, positing that contemporary art can be used to study any subject at all. Kiasma’s School on the Move is a national project focusing especially on regions far away from art museums. At the same time, the project serves as an example of a new type of sponsorship model for art institutions. Kiasma's partner in the project is energy company Vattenfall, who wants to invest in young people and to take responsibility for regionality.

The performers and teachers in Kiasma’s School on the Move are artists and art educators. They have all worked as guides in Kiasma, so they are familiar with Kiasma and are experienced in working with schools.

The typical school day starts in the assembly hall with a 'pedagogic performance'. Lasting as long as two ordinary lessons, the performance covers several school subjects, including biology, mathematics, home economics and textile work. The teaching aids are artworks or visual performances modified especially for specific subjects. The performance also includes an intermission and surprise acts.

The home economics class begins with an introduction to the food pyramid consisting entirely of works from Kiasma's collections that feature foodstuffs. Photos of these works are used to build a nutritionally balanced food pyramid.

The mathematics class is built around the golden section and its mathematical formula. The class also takes a look at how different artists have used mathematics in their works. Also featured is a work whose mathematical principle is revealed during the lesson. This was made possible by help from the Department of Mathematics at Jyväskylä University.

The biology class uses art to examine the relationship between culture and nature, and to discuss the man-nature relationship.

The lesson 'Anatomy of an Artist' gives pupils a chance to meet a local contemporary artist. Few ninth-graders have ever talked with a real artist. In Mäntsälä, the artist 'dissected' was Teuri Haarla. The aim is to create a foundation for further work between schools and artists.

The blackboard van is an essential part of Kiasma’s School on the Move. Pupils can write messages on the van and decorate it in any way they like. At the next school, pupils can read the messages, erase them and write their own messages instead.

Further work is done in the afternoon in smaller groups. In the home economics workshop, pupils paint using watercolours and foodstuffs, in the biology group they make a close-up bio-portrait of themselves. Whenever possible, the workshops are conducted during the regular classes of the subject in question.

Finally it is time for direct feedback.

In the course of three years, Kiasma’s School on the Move will travel in such localities as Central Finland, Ostrobothnia and Häme.