DAY OF THE PROFESSORS IN ISAC
A part of the round table today. The general director Filimone Meigos is furthest to the left
Today was the first meeting of professors this semester at our new academy ISAC. Now the school is running proper since many positions have been evaluated and filled. That means we have good crowd and the faculty is feeling like an academy. Last semester was the pilot semester, where we tested many things, made a lot of mapping with the students and ourselves, especially on reflection after the first teaching experiences in this Mozambican culture. I am of course the only ‘alien’ person here, all others are Mozambicans, or in some cases Portugese with long term affiliations to the culture here.
There was lot of discussion about the future of Mozambican art and design, how the school should be active in the community Matola, an outskirt local authority from Maputo that has museums and galleries and various other cultural activities. I made a point that it is very important to design to be well embedded in the art and culture scene as it is a development of the creative industries and those are growing at an incredibly fast rate here in Maputo, albeit much slower outside the capital, in the country in general.
Then there were informations about teacher contracts, teaching hours etc. etc . like is so common when teachers come together. The administrative platform has to be laid out. We have of course been working on curriculum for months, and now it reaches certain realization since there are people to fill those roles that were envisaged, – or as is sometimes the case to modify the roles to the great people that have become available. We discussed space and equipment and many other things.
In the afternoon we had a faculty meeting in the new faculty of art and design, where again many had to loft their understandings about the value of such and such, anything from anatomical drawing to visual culture and concept art.
Tomorrow, and actually all this week we will continue with the seminar for teachers with motivational talks interspersed with group discussions and brain stormings. I must admit it is a great feeling to be part of such a birth, in a culture that somehow seems to embrace art and design so well. Maputo is a lively city with something happening every day, even to the stage that I have to take regular breaks away to rehabilitate my reserves.
Here are photos of the new team of professors in Istituto Superiore de Arte e Cultura.
Lunch break
February 15, 2010
Tags: art, DESIGN, education, maputo, mozambique Posted in: DESIGN
