WHAT?
STARS is a small art workshop promoted by the artdidaktion, a research group from Faculty of Fine Arts in the University of Salamanca, Spain.
We have been inspired to call it STARS for the many cultural connotations that make this word very meaningful.
The first thing that comes to mind is the magnificent “Sky of Salamanca”, a starry vault painted around the 15th Century in the old library of the University.
Also, shooting stars have the power to fulfil our most desired wishes.
And when we want to find some hope and joy we can always listen to Enya’s “Paint the Sky with Stars…”
The aim of the STARS project is to promote the creation, development and diffusion of art in alternative spaces, providing values and researching the cultural effects on communities that are away from the circuits of art.
The STARS project will visit different European countries to:
- Share this new project (STARS) with those who are interested in participating.
- Exchange artistic encounters and their management.
- Create a European group in order to set forth a joint proposal and present it in any EU call between the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018.
WHY?
I have in my mind the stars of “The Little Prince” when, shortly before leaving for his planet, he says:
“And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens… they will all be your friends. In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night… you– only you– will have stars that can laugh!”
(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Le Petit Prince. Ed. Gallimard, 1946).
When every night I look at the sky, I imagine my daughter Alba who reminds me of this…
Painful experiences force us to seek out. But it is necessary to get back our hopes. We need to learn to smile. We need to learn to transform negative events into positive thoughts.
Art can be a means of escape … but also a way of reemerging from the abyss.
This art project is proposed because of our own personal needs and we want to use stars as metaphors of hope, that will bring positive thoughts to different communities from European countries.
European culture is not in ruins although there is a certain disenchantment among the citizens. (Feeling of failure?).
Artists need to express and share; So, beyond our own longings, we ask: Could the experience of art revive the sky of positive feelings for other people in Europe?
Since we live under the same sky, perhaps our desires are not so different: All people want to be happy, to have a home and someone who loves them, to be healthy, have a job and a salary that allows them to live with dignity … which is not always possible.
Making art opens the door to a world of dreams where we can restore our lost ideals.
HOW?
The STARS project consists of making an expedition throughout Europe in a mobile home made into a mobile art workshop.
In every place we visit, we will take photographs of the sky and we will also, make our own artistic interpretation of it.
Whenever we find a problem or a negative feeling, we will analyze it and we will try to change its meaning by constructing a positive idea of the situation through the image of a star. This image will encourage positive feelings.
In addition, we will use the computer to put together all the images and highlight the positive elements, which will symbolize the positive thoughts of participants from all the places that we had visited.
After that, all of these images will be displayed on this website, which will show a lot of positive wishes from European citizens.
WHERE?
The countries that we will visit are: Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Finland, Austria, Slovenia, Italy …, according to previously established agreements.
When returning to the University of Salamanca, we plan to make an Exhibition with the resulting works. In addition, we will explore different aspects of the created artistic images, such as themes, concerns, desires, etc. of people who have participated.
Subsequently, the European group will launch other agreed projects in the different participating countries, if we obtain help from EU.
WHO?
From the 15th of September, 2017, C.L. Beltrán, artist, teacher and member of Artdidaktion, will go to Postdam (Germany) for a sabbatical year. From there, she will visit other European countries to develop the Stars project.
Artdidaktion is an art action&research group that works in art and its management, connecting contemporary art and new ways of cultural transformation through art.
The main objectives of Artdidaktion are:
- To bring the artistic experience to different communities and to give an understanding of these processes as means of personal development.
- Exploring social problems through art, this favors the development of human values and is the basis for social renewal.
- Promote cultural change among citizens, as an active agent of change through new ways.
Currently, Artdidaktion aims to expand their work to other countries in Europe. Therefore, in the European context, it proposes the STARS project.
