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Artistic Constitutions of the Civil Domain: On Art, Education and Democracy
Author(s) -
Gielen Pascal
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of art and design education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.312
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1476-8070
pISSN - 1476-8062
DOI - 10.1111/jade.12146
Subject(s) - democracy , politics , visual arts education , citizenship , presidential system , contemporary art , sociology , quality (philosophy) , political science , aesthetics , social science , law , art , epistemology , the arts , art history , philosophy , performance art
How can we understand the relationship between art, education and democracy in the contemporary Western political condition? The recent presidential elections in the USA showed that the classical model of liberal representative democracy is shaking on its foundations. The question is how can artists and education respond to this political condition? In this article it is argued that art has a special quality to address political, and especially democratic, issues. It can strengthen education in its lessons in democracy and citizenship. Art has a special quality to walk on an alternative path of democracy, namely that of the civil domain. In the civil sphere artistic qualities and skills of designing and of imagination can play a crucial role.