Greetings to my friends from Shwitzerland.I am Sevada. I am looking forward to our meeting. I am sure we shall have many thoughts to exchange. The exchange of experience is very important for both sides. For every painter pedagog it is very important and interesting to meet new cultures. It will give me opportunities to create and develop new ideas.

My favorite artists

My favorite painters are Claude Monet and Piter Paul Rubens,especially Rubens because of his unique and popular Baroque style.Rubens specialized in making portraits,landscapes,history paintings.

It is me working with my pupils

First of all it is very important to turn on the music during our lessons.It helps my students to concentrate on their works and to express their thoughts. Its very important for me to have good relationships whit them.

My Skills

One of my favorite hobbies is singing.I have been singing since my childhood. I wanted to become a singer but I changed my mind. Now I work at Arts school, and I have many talented students.One of my skills is to understand my students, their opinions and ideas we love each other very much and I appreciate it very much.

Hi everybody. I am really looking forward to this exchange and meeting you soon. My name is Fabio. I am originally from Italy but I was born in Switzerland and grew up here. When I have time, i love painting and drawing in my studio.

I see this exchange program as a great opportunity to get together, get in touch and interact. I am sure it will be a great experience for us all.

Here is one of my favorite artists: FRANCIS BACON.

my favorite exercise at school…

Actually I do not have a specific favorite one. What I like is reading and doing some research to get inspired by different kinds of artists. At the moment I admire Markus Lüpertz’s artworks.

I prefer painting freely and let the random moment, during painting, surprising me. 🙂

Salima Bartsyts:

1. What was important for you in this project?
It was really important for me to have the opportunity to see and understand from the inside another method, another world-view, way of life, and approaches towards resolving problems and issues. Also important was the chance to immerse myself in an unusual environment and to see the differences.

2. Which part of the project did you like the most and what would you like the project to keep?
The collaborative work with the Swiss students was a highlight for me during this project. It really helps to understand one another and find common answers to different questions. [Added verbally: I also like the idea to have the pupils unaware that they are going to have an unusual lesson. I was impressed how well and quickly they adapted to the new conditions and how productively they worked.] Another positive factor that I would like the project to keep is the opportunity to live with the participants of the project, rather than in hotels. This helps to develop a better sense of daily life and to understand the way of thinking [here].

3. What should be avoided in the future?
Exhaustion, I did not have enough time to socialize outside working hours and get enough rest. I would feel greater enthusiasm to teach if I had more time to rest.

Arsoy Berzenia:

1. What was important for you in this project?
For me a very important thing in this project was the opportunity to go beyond my usual constraints, to think completely differently. I liked the approach and the whole system of education.

2. Which part of the project did you like the most and what would you like the project to keep?
The project should retain our only goal – interacting with pupils by engaging abstract thinking.

3. What should be avoided in the future?
I liked everything in this project.

Aida Adzhba:

1. What was important for you in this project?
For me, the most important thing in this project was the experience of working in the schools and of working with children. Furthermore, for me personally, a major aspect of this project was the experience of working together with Swiss colleagues. It was important to work with a different methodology.

2. Which part of the project did you like the most and what would you like the project to keep?
I think that nothing in the project should be changed. All in all, everything should be left as is. Especially the work in schools!

3. What should be avoided in the future?
Accordingly, I think that there is no need for changes whatsoever. The project has only positive aspects.

Lasha Gabeliia:

1. What was important for you in this project?
Important for me was, of course, the collaboration with our Swiss colleagues. While our approaches to teaching were of course different, we had the same goal, and we were able to find common ground. With time, we will rethink this more concretely [sic].

2. Which part of the project did you like the most and what would you like the project to keep?
I think the project should keep the mutual collaboration, see the answer to the first question.

3. What should be avoided in the future?
If possible, we have to eliminate the language barrier.

Zita Strübi:

1. What was important for you in this project?
I am very grateful that I could participate in this project. In both cities, I was exposed to various moments of cultural exchange which were at times enlightening, frustrating and very complicated. It showed me how different cultures have different approaches to working, which can make working together a challenge. This difference I believe, created a space for discussion and cultural learning.
At the same time however, working together, side by side also revealed many overlapping similarities. It was interesting to see how similar the youth culture of each group was. Both very eager to learn from the other, exchange favourite music, art, celebrities/role models, film, etc.

2. Which part of the project did you like the most and what would you like the project to keep?
For me, the most valuable part of the project was the first week, working together in teams, developing a lesson structure. It is within this setting that we were able to exchange ideas, have didactical discussions, have debate about how a lesson should be structured and examine learning outcomes. This process in the first week was very valuable, and I would have liked to have more time for this aspect. In my opinion, this is exactly where we learn the most and have the chance to learn from each other. I would have really liked to have spent more time learning how the Abkhazian group plans lessons, how do they explore a topic, how they transfer practical skills and implement learning in a creative setting. I found this aspect for the exchange did not receive the time it should have.

3. What should be avoided in the future?
For the next round of the project, I would recommend that the implementation of the double lesson be reduced. I don’t believe that we spent enough time after each lesson getting feedback from the professors (Swiss and Abkhazian) to justify spending 6 double lessons teaching. The main aims of the project I believe, are revealed the preparation for these classes and the discourse which it creates. While I believe that we should watch how classes are taught in the first week (hospitieren), teaching perhaps only 2 double lessons would have been sufficient.

Together with the teachers of Kantonsschule Bülach

… or in the Zurich- or Sukhum group separately….

From a report about the workshop in Zürich and Bülach by Judit Villiger:

Die zwei Wochen ermöglichten Einblicke in kunstpädagogische Situationen auf der Sekundarstufe II in verschiedenen Institutionen. Durch die Zusammenarbeit mit den Fachschaften Bildnerisches Gestalten an den Kantonsschulen Zürich Nord (Oerlikon) und Zürich Unterland (Bülach) konnten die Teilnehmenden hospitieren und bekamen damit Einblicke in Doppellektionen, wie auch Einblicke in Aufgabenreihen über längere Zeiträume. Ein Besuch mit Führung an der Atelierschule Zürich und zwei museumspädagogische Führungen im Museum Rietberg und im Kunsthaus Zürich zeigten weitere Aspekte kunstpädagogischer Lehr-/Lernsituationen auf.

Im Austausch und der Reflexion in gemischten Gruppen, zusammengesetzt aus Teilnehmenden aus Abchasien/Georgien und der Schweiz, aus Dozierenden und Studierenden (ZHdK: Bachelor- und Master-Studiengang), sowie je einer Übersetzerin, wagten wir den Versuch, eigene Unterrichtseinheiten für die Stufe zu entwickeln, in welchen methodische Anteile aus beiden Systemen integriert werden sollten. Gemeinsame Runden im Plenum bei der abendlichen Zusammenkunft im Büro von artasfoundation (Leitung Dagmar Reichert) unterstützten den Austausch, der bei unserem Besuch diesen April in Suchum/i begonnen hatte. Wir versuchten damit weiter, Differenzen in kunstpädagogischen Vorannahmen auf den Grund zu gehen. So war es bereits bei unserm Besuch in Suchum/i den Studierenden der ZHdK eher ein Anliegen, Prozesse in Gruppen auszulösen, während die Kooperationspartner/innen den Lernerfolg in gelungenen, abgeschlossenen Einzelarbeiten der Schüler/Innen sahen.

Schon unsere unterschiedliche Herangehensweise an die Unterrichtsplanung legte Unterschiede zutage, welche namentlich implizite Lehr/Lern-Vorstellungen betrafen. Neben der sprachlichen Herausforderung – alles musste ins Russische und von da für uns wieder ins Englische übersetzt werden – stellten wir fest, wie wenig wir noch immer von den gegenseitigen ‘Lehrplänen’ wussten. Wir stellten fest, wieviel mitgemeintes Wissen ‘zwischen den Zeilen’ erst ausformuliert, nachvollzogen und in die je andere Kultur übersetzt werden muss, um uns eine gemeinsame Ausgangslage zu erschaffen. Die CH-Studierenden begriffen beispielsweise, dass die thematische Ideensuche, die ihnen als selbstverständliche Ausgangslage zum Vorbereiten erschien, alles andere als gegeben ist, wenn von Seiten der Kooperationspartner/innen Portraitzeichnen im akademischen Stil initiiert wird, wie es bei ihnen auf dem Plan steht. Wir fragten uns je länger je drängender, was wir voneinander wissen und lernen müssen, um überhaupt erst die Grundlagen zu legen, die es erlauben, in den Austausch kommen zu können.

Schliesslich unterrichteten alle Gruppen je 6 Doppellektionen Bildnerisches Gestalten an der Kantonschule Zürich Unterland in Anwesenheit der BG-Lehrpersonen, mit welchen die Unterrichtseinheiten im Anschluss reflektiert wurden. Die Gespräche indes sind noch lange nicht zu Ende, und auch der Austausch zwischen Suchum/i und Zürich scheint damit erst richtig begonnen zu haben: Die Studierenden und Dozierenden wünschen sich für eine nächste Phase, sich als Gruppen je gegenseitig zu unterrichten, um die System-Unterschiede, die Methoden-Ansätze, die Auffassungen möglicher Kunstbegriffe und das, was da alles ‘dahintersteckt’, möglicherweise noch besser und ‘am eigenen Leib’ erst zu erfahren. Wir haben immerhin gelernt, dass wir noch viel mehr voneinander wissen und voneinander lernen müssen, damit wir als disparate Gruppen erst handlungsfähig werden.

Through the support of the docent-team for Art Education of  the Kantonsschule Bülach, in particular Priska Senn,  the lectures could took place in different classes of this school. The participants of our workshop divided in three groups, all of them with participants from Zurich and from Suchum/i. Each group focused on a particular theme.

        Group Nr. 1: Portraits

          Group Nr. 2: Trad. & innovative dresses

     Group Nr.3: From small to large

We arrived late in Suchum/i…. the sun, a red light ball above the horizon was setting slowly down, while we were sitting in the bus reaching Suchum/i by night. I remember being tired, but full of excitement. Where will it lead us to? Whom are we going to meet? What are we going to create together?

The next day at the University we were formally introduced, and finally met our students of exchange.

Our working group, we called it MOBILE, was very eager to create objects that where interesting to look at, or that gave an idea of a figure, or an association of cosmos and sky. The shadow became interesting, because it made our objects more dimensional. When the MOBILE was moving, the shadows of it, projected through the light were silently making a moving, light and two dimensional composition on the wall . It then revealed more of what we wanted to create: an appealing atmosphere in the room, that opened up associations, with little elements that could be looked at for a long time.

The open Sky at the seaside, as well as the found objects along the beach, were an inspiration to us.

Without knowing which classes we are going to teach, we were talking a lot about how we could frame the topic so that we can be well prepared for many settings, and circumstances in school. Through reflecting we discovered the parallel of the story of Abkhazian Story Tachkum and the middle European fairy tale “the brave tailor” (Das tapfere Schneiderlein).

In both stories appears a traveller that meats a giant somewhere on his path. And to be able to pass, both Tachkum and the brave tailor have to proof their strength. They both trick the giant with a reddish cheese that they pull out from their pockets and squeeze it so hard that apparently liquid drops out of it. The Giant and the birds and flies are similar elements in both stories.

So from there we decided to slowly transform the classroom setting lesson by lesson, into a magical space with a lot of atmosphere, using the elements of the stories that where so similar in both  tales.

What was left from our ideas, and how we adapted ourselves to the surrounding.

Immediately when we entered the classroom, we had to teach a first lesson. So we were very much improvising, without any changes in advance. Nora was already writing about the birds, and the whistling sounds, which were very beautiful.

After the first reflection with our Art teacher and his class we adapted our program for the next day. We were told, that in April, the whole school has the cosmos, as an overall topic. We could watch a class the Teacher held. He draw the composition on the blackboard, and the children draw it similarly, with a personal note. So we decided together with the teacher, that the next day we bring in an input from our side, tackling the topic of the cosmos, but from a different angle with a different method. It was interesting that suddenly our MOBILE made very much sense. So we retook our first ideas and we arranged the room into an atmosphere that was different.

We wanted to create some wow effects for the children when they enter the room, that they immediately find themselves in a different “world”. The children should then, this was the plan, get inspired and come to their own interpretation of the cosmos and to their own compositions. And for that we changed seats and tables from their orientation to the front. We made a half circle, with space in the middle to come together and talk closer on eye to eye level.

These classes, I do remember as harmonious. It seemed to me, that I saw many sparks of enthusiasm in the children’s eyes. And that we experienced some moments of wonder. The drawings of the children became very diverse and creative.

During these day and after a second reflection with the artteacher our lessons became much clearer and clearer. We integrated ideas from the artteacher and integrated elements of technical transfer. All in all, it was a rich, improvised, exchange and learning process in arts teaching, communication, intercultural dialogue and team work.

  Painting Department, Art College, Sukhum/i

In the course of the discussions, it seemed to me that our discussion had assumed that there is a fundamental difference, when, in fact, there is a more gradual one: Also in education in Switzerland, at least as far as art education is concerned, it is necessary to know the techniques of screen printing, painting, and ceramics etc.  In my view the difference in Swiss education lies in the practice, that the techniques follow a content much earlier in the institution’s curriculum. Both processes – learning a technique that can transmit a content, as well as reflecting about a content which a technique can realise – are conducted in parallel at the ZHdK. In this way, it seems to us, it is more likely to be able to rid oneself of technique in favor of a content in order to create a new content – a not insignificant circumstance when it comes to the horizon of creativity and ingenuity, which we consider an important medium of social action to be expanded.

      Sculpture Departement,  Art College, Sukhum/i

One question that often cropped up in conversations with the students and teachers from Sukhum/i was that of technique. In general, at least I understand, Sukhum/i’s academia assumes that first a basic technique has to be learned (building a figure, perspective, techniques of painting, sculpture, graphics …), before an individual can develop its personal talent. That means, ability is absolutely necessary to go beyond, whereas in Europe the opposite attitude has existed for some time.

Art Academy Suchum/i

Due to this very comprehensible process, it seems urgent to invite the cooperation partner to be equally involved in the leadership of the Bülach part of the exchange. How / by what means this can be prepared, remains to be worked out. One possibility is to agree on a content and to work on each content with the resources available and the personal interests of each student. In this way, Sukhum/i and Zurich student’s familiar (academic) structures will begin to mix.

  View form Sukhum/i’s Art College

In the course of the process I try to describe, it became apparent that planning our collaboration in such a way that it left the initial starting point or subject open, resulted in exactly those hierarchical problems that one theoretically, in the honest conviction, sought to avoid: that there is always somebody who will take the lead. In most constellations, it was the students from Zurich who quickly drove the open process in a certain direction to get out of perplexity.

There were also structural reasons for this:  The team from Zurich had already met several times, before the cooperation partners came along.  And these came from different institutions. Equally strong was the fact that our cooperation partner lives in an isolated territory and was therefore open-minded, even wished for, something new – but actually we did as well!