Education Otherwise: CAMPUS

In the wake of the privatization of education and the increasing neoliberalisation of knowledge production – e.g. journals’ paywalls, conference participation fees, tuition fees – artistic and curatorial practices have increasingly offered a wide range of platforms exploring alternative educational models. One can be cynical and say that despite situated outside of the classroom, these projects operate, as any other artwork, within the auspices of the art market and assure significant cultural capital. Without being naïve with regards to the latter, it is important to stress how education – formal or informal – provides a collective and critical space. As Irit Rogoff writes: ‘education signals rich possibilities of coming together and participating in an arena that is not yet signalled.’ Education can be a shorthand for collective forums and debates, where conclusions are suspended, and criticism is replaced with generosity and processes of collective knowledge production. In a cultural economy informed by entertainment, accessibility-imperative and neoliberal consensus, contemporary art spaces, and elsewhere, risk becoming unable to provide a space and time for critical debate and not-yet-provoked ideas and practices.

In my presentation, I introduce CAMPUS Independent Study Programme, a platform I have devised at Nottingham Contemporary, where I am Head of Public Programmes and Research. CAMPUS is a year-long and city-wide independent study programme in curatorial, visual and cultural studies, based on collaborative knowledge production and innovative research practices. CAMPUS is a free-to-attend programme of monthly closed-door gatherings and free public talks. Taking place in different locations in Nottingham (Nottingham Contemporary, Primary, Bonington, Backlit), CAMPUS welcomes participants from different backgrounds who wish to engage in conversations about contemporary debates and further explore interdisciplinary practices. CAMPUS is a space of encounter between researchers, practitioners, activists, scholars, institutions and organisations.