ART AS CREATIVE IMPULSE

In a museum it is unthinkable for a visitor to take a painting off the wall and put it in a different place to see if it is shown more to its advantage there. That’s a shame, because  exactly the shifting and combining of artworks will give people a better insight into their own taste and what art actually is. Besides, creating an exhibition is an excellent way to improve the interaction within a group.   

The Van Abbemuseum has developed a workshop in which a group of people creates its own exhibition in an hour and a half. The works with which they create this exhibition are carefully copied artworks from the collection (replica’s). Under the guidance of a museum teacher, ten people at most get going with the artworks . The workshop concentrates on people who will have to intensively work together in the near future. Through this unusual assignment in a museum, people will get to know and utilise each other’s capabilities. The supporting teacher will answer questions about the artworks.  

The group will determine what works will be in the exhibition and where they should be placed. Staff members of the museum’s technical department will hang the works following their directions. The result will be an actual exhibition that could stay open for a longer time if desired, so it can be shown to other employees or contacts. There are lots of possibilities to turn this exhibition into an event, but, what’s more important: there are also plenty of possibilities to relate this activity to changes within your company. After all, personal efficiency and communication are elucidated when people are working together, so don’t hesitate to ask for the possibilities of professional coaching!

Finding new solutions requires creativity, not only in everyday life, but also within your company. Sometimes daily patterns need to be rigorously breached to be able to shine a new light on a situation. The profit of a different approach can be amazing: an impediment will be lost and it will offer insights on a new product or the improvement of a process.

Most people are more creative than they think they are. Artworks and playful skills for thinking can stir your imagination and develop your creativity. Anyone can do it, at their own level. This workshop at the Van Abbemuseum offers groups from the business world an opportunity to discover different ways, by getting inspiration from artworks under the expert guidance of an experienced coach. There are plenty of possibilities to link these workshops to subjects that are topical in your company. For example: in the visual arts Picasso’s work was renewing. How could you realise such a renewal in your business? One phone call will be enough to get this process started!    

‘Cut an article of your choice about a topic that you are interested in from the newspaper.’ This is how the workshop ‘topicality and art’ starts. Participants will search for a topic in the daily news that interests them. After that, people will individually visit some of the museum rooms, trying to find an artwork that fits the chosen topic.

It’s a nice and relaxed exercise in free association. You do not necessarily have to like the work you choose. If you have for example chosen an article on the war in Afghanistan, and in one of the rooms you will find an artwork that is equally horrendous, you have carried out the assignment. Once everyone has made their link, all participants will expound their chosen works through the newspaper article, under the guidance of the teacher. A group conversation on the artwork will follow. This way, the group will show itself around the museum. After everyone has had their say, the teacher will wind up the meeting and everyone will have discovered that they can say something meaningful about a work of art.

Of course personal associations tell a lot about the individual participant. This will quickly give the group members a (new) impression of each other. Therefore, this exchange can serve as a basis for further conversation and can certainly be linked to different subjects. Try and see how this workshop can help achieve your (cooperative) goals!