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Wind and Water Course
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Project report Wind and Water course

Click here to read the expedition's blog, initiated by Ann-Sophie Gadegaard
Read article (Swedish) in Gotlands Allehanda

See art work made by Marja Junnikkala, during the expedition
See selection of images of Wind and Water, made by Jussi Mäkelä
See selection of images by Emilia Siltanen
See selection of images by Maija Savolainen
See the current location of the schooner Helena
Click here to access the Wind and Water Intranet (password protected)
 


This EDDA Norden intensive course entailed a distant learning period (17-31 March 2009); a sailing and working period (19-29 April 2009); and a period for preparation of a temporary exhibition and evaluation (30 April - 3 May 2009). Participation on the course required taking part in all three parts of the course.
The participants were students from Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, at EDDA Norden institutions that offer teacher training in art, media and design.
Teachers were doctorate students Mari von Boehm and Jan van Boeckel from TaiK, Finland. Mari and Jan are part of a research group on arts-based environmental education.
The core of the course was the voyage on the sailing vessel through the seas that are connecting us, the Nordic and Baltic people. The schooner Helena sailed from Kiel – via Gotland – to Uusikaupunki (Finland).
 


 

During the course the participants investigated the ways in which art can be of added value in the context of environmental education on marine ecosystems and climate change. The participants travelled the natural slow way by wind-power, and concentrated on the basic experience and appreciation of the small size of humans in the whole, on engagement with the environment, and on what the preconditions are for creating art in extraordinary circumstances.
It was the first time that it is carried out on this basis and with this structure as a pan-Nordic project. It built further upon the established tradition within EDDA Norden of using nature as a resource in art education (Snow and Ice Sculpting at Laino Snow Village, Finland, in 2007; and the Light and Fire workshop in Notodden, Norway, in 2008).

Theme of the course: arts-based environmental education

Generally, people in the modern Western world – including art teachers and students – have very little access to and experiences in the natural world. Most experiences of nature come indirectly – by reading about them or seeing nature documentaries. The course "Wind and Water" aimed to offer the participants a deep experience of wild and open nature: on the waves of the Baltic Sea. The teachers at this course were as doctorate researchers member of a research group at the University of Art and Design on the theme of arts-based environmental education. Their focus is on what the pedagogical possibilities are of using artistic methods when learning about nature.
In 1995, Finnish art educator Meri-Helga Mantere defined arts-based environmental education as a form of learning that aims to develop environmental understanding and responsibility "by becoming more receptive to sense perceptions and observations and by using artistic methods to express personal environmental experiences and thoughts." According to her, artistic experiences improve one’s ability to see; they help one in knowing and understanding: "Arts-based environmental education is a method that supports fresh perception, the nearby, personal enjoyment and pleasure (and sometimes agony as well) of perceiving the world from the heart. It aims at an openness to sensitivity, new and personal ways to articulate and share one’s environmental experiences (…). In short, aesthetic environmental education is grounded on the belief that sensitivity to the environment can be developed by artistic activities."
During the Wind and Water course the participants made art in which they relate in a very direct way to the marine environment around them. Because the voyage was a "24-hour" activity, it also involved practical tasks related to sailing and taking part in the scheduled duties such as cleaning and preparation of food, and during the night also watch or guard duty. After the completion of the sailing trip the art pieces and writing that were made during the voyage were digitally documented for a future virtual exhibition on the internet.

Aim of the course

The aim of the Wind and Water intensive course was to give participants an increased understanding and appreciation of the characteristics and practices of arts-based environmental education. The project should contribute to a broader grasp of possibilities in the execution of art practices in the outdoors, as well as a heightened understanding and experience of working with art in groups ("community art").

Distance learning

Before the sailing journey, the course participants got an assignment on the intranet that was made especially for the course, which was to read the text "Ecology, Environmental Education and Art Teaching" by Meri-Helga Mantere (1992), and the report "The State of the Baltic Sea". The students were asked to write in about 600 words their own thoughts (their comments, criticism, and/or inspiration) after reading Meri-Helga Mantere’s introduction to arts-based environmental education. Subsequently, they were asked to try to design a art exercise combining art making and environmental education in which they would address the issues that are brought up in the State of the Baltic Sea report. They were also asked to try to say something as well on the reason for choosing the approach that they suggested (and what they expected would come out of it).
All participants were able to download course literature and upload their own introductory work at the EDDA Norden website. Using login codes they were able to access parts of the website that are only open for course participants.

Participants

The participants were 22 in total (next to the crew): 4 teachers, 16 students, and 2 non-EDDA members.
Below is an overview.

  • Denmark
    København Dag og Aften Seminarium (Copenhagen Day and Evening College of Teacher Education)
    Ann-Sophie Gadegaard.

  • Norway
    Högskolen i Telemark (Telemark University College)
    Aud Kjørseng Sæthern.

  • Finland
    Åbo Akademi i Vasa (Åbo Academy in Vasa)
    Kitti Skog (teacher), Elena Lönnqvist.

  • Taideteollinen Korkeakoulu (University of Art and Design, Helsinki, TaiK)
    Mari von Boehm (teacher), Jan van Boeckel (teacher), Jussi Mäkelä, Riikka Antonen, Helka Karjalainen, Marja Junnikkala, Sara Tobiasson.

  • Lapin Yliopisto (University of Lapland)
    Anniina Koivurova (teacher), Satu Karppinen, Maija Savolainen, Maria Ullner, Emilia Siltanen.

  • Sweden
    Konstfack, Stockholm (University College of Art, Crafts and Design in Stockholm)
    Johanna Siljeholm, Anders Dahlberg, Klara Schyberg, Anna-Maria Hilborn.

  • France, Netherlands
    (Not EDDA Norden members)
    Jérôme Pin, Tayo van Boeckel.
     

Outputs

The outputs were both of a qualitative, intangible nature and of a very concrete, quantifiable nature. Quantitative outputs were number of completed (distance learning) assignments by participants which were gathered on the intranet (fulfilled by all).
Other quantifiable outputs were the number of art works completed during the sailing trip and later during the art workshops on the island of Suomenlinna. Here also, all participants produced at least one film; audio piece; art installation; photo; or painting/drawing exhibition.
Qualitative outputs were in the first place the individual and collective unique learning experiences of being among a peer group out on the seas for more than a week, working together on the daily choirs, and making site (sea!) specific art using different media. Of a qualitative nature were also the reflections, made by every participant, on how they would integrate the course experiences in their further career as a becoming te4acher in art, media and design.
All students are awarded 4 credits for participating fully in and meeting up to the course requirements.


Day-to-day logbook of Wind & Water

Phase 1. Distant learning period and preparation of the voyage (17 March -18 April)
The weeks prior to the course were used to design and fine-tune the course, and to engage the participants in preparatory work. The course participants received course literature and assignments as preparation to the course. A project section for the project was accommodated for on the website www.eddanorden.net.

Saturday 18 April
Most participants arrived at the Kiel youth hostel on Saturday 18 April. However, due to engine problems on the Helena, the schooner arrived a day later than planned.

Sunday 19 April
Teacher Mari von Boehm used the extra day in Kiel to do different small workshops with the participants so that they would get to know each other, and would be encouraged to express their expectations from the course before starting. One exercise was to make a personal art work on a puzzle piece that was cut by scissors from a large piece of paper that represented the contours of the Helena. These pieces would be saved during the trip and later be pieced together again. Another exercise involved learning to make knots in ropes.


photo: Ann-Sophie Gadegaard


Monday 20 April
The Helena came through the Kiel Canal and the participants travelled by bus to the schooner, to save time. In the afternoon the Helena could depart for the Baltic Sea. There were 4 watch groups formed, which worked in shifts of 4 hours, 24 hours, on deck, but also taking care of preparation of food and cleaning the ship.

Tuesday 21 April
In the morning many people got seasick because of the heavy winds and rocking waves.

Wednesday 22 April
In afternoon the Helena harboured in the harbour of the island of Bornholm. Later, the participants together made sand sculptures on the beach without using words. At about 20.00 p.m., the Helena left the island again, and this time the crew and participants were able to hoist several sails, without having to rely on the engine to move forward.
The same day a short article on the course appeared in Gotlands Tidningar, on basis of an interview with Jan van Boeckel, who by then already was on the island (www.helagotland.se/gt/).


photo: Ann-Sophie Gadegaard


Thursday 23 April
In early morning the Helena arrived in Visby. One of the teachers, Jan van Boeckel, who had been preparing the course activities on the island of Gotland, welcomed the group. In the afternoon most of the group travelled with two minibuses to the eastern coast of the island, to a place called Katthammarsvik, to spend some relaxing hours on the rocky beach with pine trees coming very close to water. Some participants choose to make individual artworks there. Other participants had stayed in Visby. When everybody was reunited in the late afternoon, the group headed for Isums farm of Helena Andreeff and Staffan Laurin. Both are art teachers at Gotlands Konstskola (Gotland’s Art School). After the common meal an enormous art work was made with crayons on the big paper that was used as table cloth.

Friday 24 April
In the morning there was an intensive art lesson, that Staffan Laurin facilitated in one of the ateliers of Gotlands Konstskola (www.gotlandskonstskola.com). It involved drawing a live model ("croquis") in other than usual ways: In just a few seconds, one drawing on top of another, using the "wrong" hand to draw, etc.
When the group was back on the boat, Mari von Boehm was interviewed by Radio Gotland, and Jan by the daily newspaper Gotlands Allehanda. (See: www.helagotland.se/nyheter/artikel.aspx?ArticleId=5145559)
At the same time, Rector Torbjörn Limé of Gotlands Konstskola came to visit the Helena. Unfortunately, a message to lecturer/researcher Bertil Widbom, at the Högskolan på Gotland in Visby, reached him too late. Mr. Widbom was invited to give a presentation on the environmental problems in the Baltic Sea,
In the afternoon the participants travelled by minibuses to the southernmost tip of Gotland, to Holmhällar Pensionat. There people could stay in groups of 5 people each in cabins. In the evening there was a sauna.

Saturday 25 April
The morning started with arts-based environmental education exercises, facilitated by Jan van Boeckel. The course participants carried a chair to the raukar (limestone) coast, and formed a semi-circle facing the sea. Subsequently, three different art exercises where done: registering what one feels in one hand by making a drawing (with the eyes closed) with the other ("wrong" hand: drawing what one felt in the head with the eyes closed, and finally sculpting the own body, part by part, from clay, meanwhile being "talked through" the different body parts (with the eyes closed) by the workshop facilitator.


photo: Jan van Boeckel


photo: Helka Karjalainen

After lunch the group visited the environmental interpretation centre Naturum (www.naturumgotland.se) and the Lars Jonsson Museum (www.larsjonsson.se), near to Holmhällar. The famous bird painting artists Lars Jonsson gave a lecture and guided tour through his museum. In the afternoon, participants made their own individual art works on the beach or on the limestone formations of Holmhällar.
In the evening there was a mid-course review meeting, in which the teachers monitored how the experiences had been thus far, if they were meeting the expectations, and if things needed to be changed. In general the feedback was very positive and there was no need to make major changes in the programme. Also this night there was sauna.

Sunday 26 April
The next morning early, the accommodations needed to be cleaned. At 11.00 a.m. the participants were back at the Helena in Visby. After some preparations the course participants and crew were able to set for see again with the Helena and to leave Gotland after lunch. The weather was very good, and it was possible to hoist many sails.

Monday 27 April
Jan met the members of each of the four work groups in special students-teacher sessions, during which the participants talked about the ways in which they had been working on the assignments they received prior to the sailing part of the course. In the afternoon the Helena arrived at the "outpost" of the Swedish archipelago, the island of Utö. It was possible to have a guided visit to the lighthouse, and in the evening there was sauna.

Tuesday 28 April
The group was leaving Utö in the early morning, and out on the open water it was possible to learn some special sailing manoeuvres from the crew. Slowly, more and more islands of the archipelago became visible and close.
In the evening the Helena arrived, as has become tradition, at Katäänpa Island. There a campfire was built above which we could grill sausages.


photo: Jussi Mäkelä


Wednesday 29 April
The next day the Helena reached its home harbour Uusikaupunki. The last duty for the Helena was to take the big sails ashore. After that the participants travelled by bus to Helsinki.
After a common meal in Helsinki most participants proceeded to the youth hostel on the island of Suomenlinna, within short range by ferry from the Helsinki city centre.

Thursday 30 April
All course participants gathered at the youth hostel, where Jan gave a presentation on the theoretical background of arts-based environmental education. From there, the group walked to the seashore where an exercise was done in which the life lines on the hand were the point of departure to awaken memories of sensory experiences, in real historical or imaginary landscapes. In the afternoon the students started making their individual art works, in response to the experience of having been out on the Baltic Sea. Some choose to work with paper, pencil and/or paint; others used photography or film as medium. And there were some who used materials such as wool or stones and driftwood that were gathered along the way for this purpose.

Friday 1 May
Today was a free day but many participants used the time to continue working on their art projects.

Saturday 2 May
In the morning a temporary art exhibition was erected in two art studios on Suomenlinna, where students could show the artistic work they had been preparing in the form such as an installation, a painting or drawing, a video, an audio presentation, or selection of photographs.

Sunday 3 May
In the morning we again gathered all remaining students and teachers at the beach an had an in-depth closing circle, involving a guided day-to-day flash back to the main elements and highlights of the course, the writing of personal reflections and sharing of these in a so-called "talking stick" session. The writing of the personal reflections took 30 minutes per participant and each addressed a) the prior expectations with which they came to the course, b) the way the course has impacted them (what everybody got out of it, and finally, c) how they would integrate the course experience in their future activities (what they would "take home" from the experience.
After this all went there own separate ways again, and appointments have been made to meet up again in Stockholm in August, and to continue the dialogue on the wind and water blog (http://windwaterart.blogspot.com/)

Overview of study hours – 70 hours
Distance learning (reading materials and writing the assignment) in preparation of the course – 4 hours
Sailing instructions on board – at least 20 hours
Introduction to the contents and practices of arts-based environmental education – 20 hours
Personal artistic expression – at least 20 hours
Preparation for and individual presentation at virtual exhibition – 6 hours


Prepared by Jan van Boeckel, Helsinki, 9 May 2009.