The School is not a School
The School is an independent organization that conducts research on improving the relationship between the city, its inhabitants and (art) schools. The School operates in vacant spaces and then invites participants (students, alumni, professionals, schools, and locals) to join in researching the chosen topic in that specific neighborhood. The School activates this research through creative experiments, participatory projects such as exhibitions, art festivals, performances, etc. This consistently results in publications, whether online or in print. The improved dialogue in the community or on the subject matter leads to new agenda items for city and art school policymakers. The School approaches this in an activistic or negotiating manner, never protesting, always creating. The scale of the organization in a space starts small and expands based on what the neighborhood or project allows.
Current Projects
FAX
The research project FAX, located at Maastrichterstraat 9 in Hasselt, is focussed on makers in the city center. Six makers transformed this space, which was previously Sports United and before that Cinema Eden. In their research they develop maker spaces but also presentation spaces. At regular intervals they organize public experiments. The research questions are divers: Which makers are disappearing from the city? What new makers does the city need? What does a maker need? How do makers present themselves? What does the tourist, inhabitant, consumer… want to buy or trade?
FAX is an abbreviation for facsimile, a compound from Latin: fac simile, making like.
Click here to join our makerspace!
Nomad City
The Nomad City project was initiated in January 2023 as a reaction to the social and ecological challenges that are overwhelming us in todays society. Within this project we aim to locate and activate unused plots of land where we invite artists, designers, architects, and permaculturists to research sustainable and communal living. By organizing workshops, lectures, interventions and gatherings we want to enact both structural and behavioral changes within a small community and observe the far-reaching ripples it could create within the surrounding city
Learn more about Nomad City
2019-2023: Maison Florida
In 2019 The School was granted 6000 m2 of space by VDAB Limburg for artistic research, experiment & space making. Maison Florida was born, a house for the fierce individual and a pitstop for temporary wildness. When the Maison Florida chapter came towards its end, there were more than 80 residents present within it’s borders. How can we find new space for upcoming artists? How can we provide them with the tools to detect and occupy space within the city? How can we convince building owners and the municipality of the value that artists have within a city. What if there was a Maison Florida in every neighborhood?
See Projects
2017-2019: Stationsbuurt
The School was originated in the Bampslaan, a rough neighborhood near the station of Hasselt. Here local and international residents were invited to realize more art and less testosterone. Here we occupied five abandoned buildings, each with their own focus but all with the same common goal: Can a city open itself in all its aspects to its inhabitants and visitors , curious and full of energy to find the seed of a good city? Päpershøp provided a platform for dialogue through paper. Klub Kitch opened it’s doors for interactions in an atypical setting. Kabaal ripped a hole in the cities fabric which was filled with all kinds of sounds. Absurd and Kunstschip were both spaces for performances and exhibitions.
See Projects
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