Thinking about activism within art, wanting to explore artists whose work responds to intellectual or conceptual ideas or wanting to get your pupils to engage in projects in their locality?
This learning resource will help you think about some themes and ideas and support you to take action. Based around the 3 key themes from the exhibition We are Commoners they include featured artworks, glossaries, makes and a virtual tour as well as ideas to support arts award.
They are intended to be a starting point for further work and could be adapted to suit pupils across the key stages, within the art curriculum and more broadly linking to geography, history, RE, science and PSHE as well as helping to develop cultural capital for pupils.
What is We are Commoners?
A national touring exhibition initiated by Craftspace that introduces us to the ideas of the commons and how we can engage in our own acts of commoning.
What are the Commons?
In the past the commons has been thought of in relation to land and resources that are held for common use. Now it also includes the cultural commons such as open source software and knowledge in the digital world. There are more resources and further reading here.
Learn more through:
- Looking at the exhibition online. (Available soon.)
- Visiting the exhibition in person. View the tour schedule.
- Going deeper. Visit other websites including the exhibition research blog and On the Commons. Learn more about types of Commons on the International Association for the Study of Commons website.
Key words
Activism
Using campaigning to bring about political or social change.
Commoners
Those who create, build and maintain a commons.
Commoning
People coming together to take care of each other and our shared resources.
Conceptual Art
Art for which the idea behind the work is more important than the finished art object.
Explore the themes
Use the links below to find out more about the ideas behind the exhibition. We have curated the exhibition using the themes Claiming, Healing and Co-operating.
Claiming
Thinking about our shared spaces and resources.
Healing
Thinking about how artists use materials and skills.
Co-operation
Working together.
Arts Awards
Free resources for schools. Coming soon!
