The definition of home.

What is home? For some it is a house, for others - people.  For others it is where them and their loved ones are. No mater where in the world, no matter what cultures they are endorsed into. As long as they have their close ones next to them, they are at home.

Home for us is where we feel free, where we feel needed, where we feel the belonging. Home can be anywhere where there is a feeling of warmth and genuinity from people who surround us. We want a place where we can be accepted the way we are and do not have to constantly prove ourselves. We want a place with occasional sad faces, we don’t want to be only surrounded by fake smiles. We want to be able to read into people’s minds, their worries, try to understand them, try to help them.

We want a place where we can have time to care about other people. We also want a decent level of life, we want some certainty in the future where we see a good future for our next generation. We want to be living in communities where there is a sharing of values, where people have a common goal to pursue. Decent life does not cost much, if we construct it in a clever way, it can cost nothing. Money were invented by us people anyway, as a product of exchange. It can be replaced by the sharing of knowledge and capabilities.

We can all feel home wherever we are.

The importance of Art Education

Researching into Art and its importance of giving it a significant placement within our societies.

Personal perspective:

The more we travel the more capabilities we have to absorb and critically overlook our world with its people and surroundings. We grow, we learn, we get wiser, but it does not become easier, rather the opposite, to understand this world, humanity in general. Traveling the world and speaking several languages does not solve any problems and cannot contribute to the magic formula of gaining the control over the world structure. It raises even more questions instead, seeing all the complexities of human soul, you cannot but wonder about its similarities, as well is it predictabilities. You become overly self-critical as you recognize some of flaws in yourself, seeing yourself from many perspective sets you in a difficult position of occasional over analysis, which sometimes is critical to our happiness and careless existence. But as much as you would have wanted to turn the clocks backwards and go back to simplicity and childish view of the world, it is impossible. You want to climb more to fill in all the gaps, to get all your questions answered. The biggest challenge in this case is to start moving in the opposite direction: to learn how to stop, relax, embrace yourself in the moment and meditate. Another solution is to stop caring about your own fulfillment, which is very much propagandised by many western societies, but rather start caring about others, which might save yourself a soul and sanity. Such journey can be difficult and it easy to get lost among endless opportunities and ideas.

Here comes the importance of creativity and art. Vision of the world as something that is based on principles, grids and models is rather abstract and to be honest, rather depressing thought. Any creative act, be it traveling, attending an art exhibition, or having a stimulating and challenging conversation, let us start re-evaluating our personal ambitions, dreams, challenges acquired perspectives, values and principles. Art and ‘creative act’ keep our motivation on the high, without letting us to get bored by accepting our life routines. 

Art also challenges our materialistic values. The importance of family and love is evident and yet many people in the western world tend to forget this simple truth. What one might call ‘simple’ life, is one of the richest in reality. What can be more important that being in the company of people who you know care about you, love you in any way. What can be more valuable then a walk or a chat to a person whose words you know will stay with you and become part of your soul forever. All things material age, people die, but their souls, their love and their creations live on. So isn’t it the most valuable thing in the world? Art helps societies, communities and younger generations to find this spiritual connection through creative exercises. Some might argue that this is an overly simplistic, or maybe overly spiritualistic way of looking at things, that we need economic growth, we need stimuli to keep the humanity grow and develop and this is also very right. I believe that everyone chooses how to balance their lives, which consequently creates a balance on the bigger scale in this world between people of all kinds – sky walkers, dreamers, thinkers, painters, high climbers, money and power grabbers. In the ideal world everyone has this balance within one selves, where we have place for love, care, our children, our work, our passions and hobbies. But it is difficult to achieve in the society where arrogance and money serve as main stimuli. We need to rethink. We need to invest more in non-material things, such as education, art, sustainability and communities.  

Creative Engagements with Visual Culture, Communicative Knowing, Citizenship and

Contemporary Visual Art Education

Kathryn Grushka, University of Newcastle

Article discusses why it is important to develop students’ capacities to engage creatively with learning in environments that provide opportunities for thoughtful participatory understanding about self as a citizen of the world, or as a member of one’s national or local community.

Abstract

New learning in a global society gives attention to the need for learners to engage in constructive, meaningful and transformative processes which have communicative relevance to themselves. It acknowledges the need for cultural sustainability, and the vital role cultural engagement, particularly visual culture plays in development of values and the transferring of belief systems.

Visual art making acknowledges previous learning, personal meaningmaking, the real world and audience while providing authentic learning experiences. It presents as a platform for critical self-reflection and a space to facilitate the ongoing mediation of society, cultural values and citizenship. An examination of visual art curriculum, 5 years of Higher School Certificate art works in NSW and student reflections reveal a rich imagery of how student artists use their art making to affirm their consciousness about the world and self through creative engagement and communicative knowing and is presented as a legitimate site for the negotiation of ones subjectivities and life worlds

Russia Competitiveness Report

Very detailed report on sustainable prospects of Russia. Looks good on paper, but is it implementable in the real world? My views of Russian global perspective are still rather pessimistic, but this is something worth researching into, as Russia seems to start getting involved in many 'green' projects in collaboration with Scandinavian countries, so it could have a positive impact on Russian politics? - big question mark.
The Russia Competitiveness Report 2011

OUR PLANET'S FUTURE DEPENDS ON SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Our planet cannot hold its waste forever. We have to rethink the way we use materials and the way we dispose waste. Sustainability - studying the ways nature solves problems will provide a lot of solutions.

‘If you want to build a fleet of ships you don’t sit around talking about carpentry, but you rather need to set people souls ablaze with visions of exploring distant shores’