Reverse Pedagogy under construction in Sligo

Over the past few days many people have been asking the staff of The Model what exactly is Reverse Pedagogy, and even to explain it in 140 characters through twitter. Let’s see if we can do just that.

Firstly, a quick refernce to the dictionary tells us that ‘pedagogy’ is “the art or science of teaching; education; instructional methods.” So what exactly does Reversing that mean? And what has been happening in Sligo? This project focuses on reversing ‘pedagogy’, using the collective energy behind a group of artists to direct it, as opposed to the traditional form of a group or education system being led by a teacher or director.

Reverse Pedagogy has been described as a nomadic art school. Beginning at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada it travelled first to the 52nd Venice Biennale (a major international contemporary art exhibition) in Italy earlier this year and now to Sligo, Ireland where The Model will be the third installment of the project.

The origins of the Reverse Pedagogy come from another great project- Paul Butler’s “Collage Parties”, created following Butler’s departure from art school in Canada. Butler wanted to capture that exciting art school buzz that so many artists experience, exploring different ways of creating art, while also working in a group, being led by the group.

In Sligo, one of the aims of Reverse Pedagogy has been to indulge in local culture. Last week the artists descended upon Sligo from a far afield as Canada and Iceland. They were also joined by Irish artists Mark Garry, Bea McMahon and Fiona Marron.

Last Thursday they took part in a game of tag rugby, a popular Sligo past time with the locals. Over the weekend they attempted some Atlantic coast surfing in Strandhill, and have just about recovered. Over the two weeks of their residency, the artists are responding to the local culture which they have been enjoying so far, through the art work which they are creating at The Model Satellite.

Reverse Pedagogy artists meet local Sligo tag rugby team The Supermodels

This Friday 25th September, the doors of the Model Satellite will be open to public from 6pm til late for Culture Night Sligo and you are invited to this unveiling party.

The lowdown from the artists so far is that exhibition will include a life bar, a vortex, faeries, a red room, an idea bank, a new game inspired by an old game created by a Trinity professor 3 decades ago, and a colour explosion. Like you we’ll just have to wait for the unveiling on Friday to see what it all means and how it will all turn out.

So it has been difficult to describe what exactly Reverse Pedagogy is, as each project has been so different, but the theory is that given space and time to work on their practice and learn from each other artist can produce new exciting work, work that is inspired by the place they find themselves in, and is created in that space and time. If you really want to see what it’s all about you’ll just have to come along and experience it yourself. The doors are open from 6pm till late, with the launch happening at 7pm, so come along, grab a glass of wine and explore…..

Oh, and as for describing it in 140 characters or less….best we can come up with is:

Reverse Pedagogy is a nomadic – and experimental- artists’ residency that plugs into local culture to inspire collaboratively made new work

If you can go one better after you see it then post it here or tweet it to us

For more info on Reverse Pedagogy Click Here>