"Art Schools, Communities and Belonging" arises from a shared interest in establishing connections between schools, academies, cultural institutions, artists and researchers in Finland and Spain, with the aim of better understanding the different approaches and strategies used in these two European contexts.
The seminar will reflect on how art schools and pedagogical practices contribute to forming communities and fostering identities, while nurturing belonging and interconnection among students, teachers, and society. At a moment marked by complex social, political, economic, and environmental challenges, we seek to open a dialogue around urgent questions:
What role do our social and pedagogical architectures play in a time of profound change?
What kinds of communities can we build or imagine together?
How can we compose spaces of belonging today, and what practices support them?
To what extent have cultural and academic institutions developed resilient and resistant forms of response?
Why is it important to transmit and share this knowledge among teaching, institutional, and social bodies?

Speakers include:
Covadonga Blasco, Academic Director, Escuela Sur
Ana Vidal González, Head of the Study Center, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
Ana Ballesteros, Deputy Director, Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo
Jaana Erkkilä-Hill, Professor of Visual Arts, Vice Dean of Research, Faculty of Art and Design, University of Lapland (Finland)
H Ouramo, Rector, Art School Maa (Finland)
Magnus Quaife, Professor of Fine Art Pedagogy, University of the Arts Helsinki (Finland)
Rafael Sánchez-Mateos, Researcher, Teacher, and Artist, PhD in Aesthetics, Escuela Sur.
Luis Guerra Miranda, Senior Researcher, Ramón y Cajal, Institute of Philosophy, Spanish National Research Council, CSIC.

Program

10 am. Welcome and introduction
10:20 Magnus Quaife, Professor of Fine Art Pedagogy, University of the Arts Helsinki (Finland)
10:40 Covadonga Blasco, Academic Director, Escuela Sur
11:00 Jaana Erkkilä-Hill, Professor of Visual Arts, Vice Dean of Research, Faculty of Art and Design, University of Lapland
11:20 a.m. Ana Vidal González, Head of the Study Center, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
11:40 a.m. Ana Ballesteros, Deputy Director, Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Lunch

2:10 p.m. H Ouramo, Rector, Art School Maa (Finland)
2:30 p.m. Rafael Sánchez-Mateos, Lecturer, Artist, and Researcher, Doctor of Aesthetics, Escuela Sur
2:50 p.m. Luis Guerra, Artist and Philosopher, Senior Researcher Ramón y Cajal, Institute of Philosophy, IFS-CSIC.
3:10 p.m. Final Discussion
3:30 p.m. Closing

Organized by: Escuela Sur, University of the Arts Helsinki, and Institute of Philosophy, Spanish National Research Council CSIC.