How to Speak of Art – Research into Methods of Active Learning About Art

Abstract

The specific situation of the coexistence and cooperation of S. S. Kranjčević Library and Windows Gallery (Zagreb City Libraries), the programmatic concept of which deals with questions as to how theoretical practices of contemporary art and their practical and discursive analysis can contribute to the library’s visibility, significance and cultural capital, opens up possibilities for interdisciplinary activity, broadening of the library and gallery audience, and creating new content for library users. Through interdisciplinary activity at the crossroads of library and information science, contemporary artistic practices and pedagogy, the project examines a new interpretative model of contemporary art i.e. the possibility of establishing a new methodology of art education within the context of the coexistence of library and gallery. The programme is implemented in collaboration with Dobriša Cesarić Elementary School through workshops and research, whereby workshops with children are the base for further conduction of group interviews, and therefore the research is developing in two segments: development of the new interpretative model of contemporary art, and research of children’s perception of art and method validation. It was shown that the interference of art and library science, as well as of other disciplines, is a strategic fold in the field of library science and from such a position it is possible to turn perspectives around and develop new spaces of knowledge and ways of learning.