Unlearning Exercises

Shares a set of collective unlearning exercises to make way for a culture of equality, difference and fairness in art organizations.

Learning is often progress-oriented, institutionally driven, and focused on the accumulation of knowledge, skills, and behaviour. In contrast, unlearning is directed towards embodied forms of knowledge and the (un)- conscious operation of ways of thinking and doing. Unlearning denotes an active critical investigation of normative structures and practices in order to become aware and get rid of taken-for-granted truths of theory and practice. This book shares the process of unlearning, taking art and art institutions as sites for unlearning and Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons as an experimental case.

Unlearning exercises range from daily practices like cleaning together and off-balancing chairs, to those concerning systemic, seemingly unresolvable issues such as collective authorship and fair wage. These exercises can be adapted to your specific (institutional) contexts within and beyond the arts. The book also includes related personal accounts, essays, political criticism, and collective conversations on institutionalized habits.

Contributors: Liz Allan, Antariksa, Jacob Apostol, Binna Choi, Cráter Invertido (Yollotl Alvarado, Andrés García), Joy Melanie Escani, Brigitta Isabella, Faisol Iskandor, Ismiatun, Nancy Jouwe, Annette Krauss, Emily Pethick, Andrea Phillips, Ying Que, Kerstin Stakemeier, Sakiko Sugawa, Syafiatudina, Ferdiansyah Thajib, Marina Vishmidt, Yolande Zola Zoli van der Heide, Erminah Zaenah, and the shifting team at Casco Art Institute.