WORK OF THE WEEK XII

Tania Bruguera (1969)

Behavior Art School (Cátedra Arte de Conducta), 2002-2009

Conception year: 1998

Location: Havana, Cuba

Cátedra Arte de Conducta (Behavior Art Department – 2002-2009) emerged like a piece of public art intended to create a space of alternative training to the system of art studies in contemporary Cuban society. It is a Long Term Intervention focused on the discussion and analysis of sociopolitical behavior and the understanding of art as an instrument for the transformation of ideology through the activation of civic action on its environment. It was created as a space for the practice of Arte de Conducta (Behavior Art). Actions aimed to transform some spaces in society through art, transcending symbolic representation or metaphor and meeting with their activity some deficits in reality, in life through Arte Útil (Useful Art), are prioritized. This site and the political-timing specific piece are displayed through the creation of a pedagogical model that makes up for the lack of civic discussion spaces on the function of art in present Cuban society and promotes new generations of artists and intellectuals. This work offers a political discourse stemming from art and promotes the exploration of relationships between art and context.

Cátedra Arte de Conducta is the first work of art and, at the same time, the first institution focusing on creating a curriculum of Behavior Art and of Political Art. Thus it has become a model for educational projects of a social and artistic nature and for artistic projects focused on offering educational activities.

Moe info here https://www.taniabruguera.com/cms/492-0-Ctedra+Arte+de+Conducta+Behavior+Art+School.htm