My first academic year as head of Sint Lucas Antwerp – School of Arts is almost over. The least one can say is that it was an unconventional year. I was appointed in full lockdown. We left Malta without being able to say goodbye in a proper way. The year started in a semi-ok way, but after a month we were again in a lockdown with restricted possibilities to lecture and coach students.
But here we are, proud and happy to present the exhibitions of our bachelor, master en premaster students. Times have been challenging for them, but the results are there based on passion, drive and skills supported and coached by a super dedicated staff. I’m honoured to be their dean.
When you are around do not miss the shows
Oh … and colleagues and friends in Malta. We are planning to come over in September to have the goodbye party 😉
In 2017 I had the pleasure to work with the great team of the Erasmus Hogeschool (EhB) – Department of Design and Technology – in Brussels on a new curriculum called 
In the last days of the exhibition I would like to leave a short reflection as a curator on collaboration and on the influence of a room on the final result. When Stefan and I started to develop the idea we had that particular space in mind as well as a selection of the current showcased works of art and hoped they would work together and create an interesting atmosphere together. The storyline we had in our head was vague, but pointing in a certain direction: a showcase of high level Maltese art in a Flemish ‘palazzo’-like setting in a year where Valletta would be one of the Cultural Capitals of Europe. We were able to convince the director of the space as well as the artists of our idea. What followed was a co-creation process between artists and curators. The title of the exhibition, the final storyline and the adaptation of the works to that context all happend in collaboration.
This week the book The Leader Reader – Narratives of Experience arrived in Malta. It brings together more then 100 essays/reflections of educators around the world. What reads through all narratives if each writer’s passion for teaching. We were asked for a very personal view on our Leadership moment in lecturing/teaching … From that came my reflection on my experience as a lecturer in arts education. The challenges, but also the strengths the arts have in relation to other disciplines in education and in society.
So happy that this can develop further over the next years
Here the project enters a new stage which Valletta 2018 is proud to support over the next years, helping Pamela Baldacchino in close collaboration with the oncology centre, to set up a series of artist workshops that aim to create site specifc artwork together with a series of sensory workshops for cancer survivors. There is also the possibility of an artist in residence programme being integrated. The main goals would be to create artwork based on DSP research outcomes and interaction with those involved, namely, Dr. Benna Chase, the Oncology staff and other contributing artists.
It has been a pleasure to have been part of the last stages of this exciting process and to be on the panel about artistic excellence on which I talked about measuring the unmeasurable and about the peer assessment exercise with the students of Digital Arts.
Ann Laenen 