Ool
Graphic art to publicize the first edition of CASA-ESCOLA. Photo: Disclosure

A Casa do Povo has just launched CASA-ESCOLA, a pedagogical program conceived by the São Paulo institution together with the various collectives that inhabit it. Entitled Ool – name inspired by a text by Ursula K. Le Guin translated by the magazine Present -, the first edition of the immersive program, lasting 5 months, was developed by Casa in partnership with artist and educator Luiza Crosman. Applications for the program (which will undergo a selection) can be made until Monday, July 5th.   

According to Ool's presentation text: “The objective of the program is to find people who are already involved with collective practices that touch the arts, and who, in some way, seek to refine their collective doing. During the months of programming, CASA-ESCOLA intends to function as a common learning space, where participants can exchange tools, use Casa do Povo (and its networks) and design their own training paths, whether individual or collective”. The presentation also highlights that the program aims to promote collective projects, the sedimentation of networks and the sharing of methodologies and protocols for systemic action.

Just like most of the institution activities – created in the 1940s by progressive Jews in Bom Retiro and which, after a period of crisis, experienced an intense recovery in the last decade -, the idea of ​​the new program is that of a joint action, where dialogue and processes gain great relevance. The proposal is also to discuss thoughts and actions that have concrete results in improving people's lives: “If a Casa do Povo school is a way of putting memory into action, it also needs to be developed as a space for action; in other words, it needs to be a school of activism, activating memories, bodies, ancestry and knowledge to act in the present”, explains the course text.

Open Kitchen
“Open Kitchen”, 2019, action by the collective Universidad Desconocida on the facade of Casa Do Povo. Photo: Laura Viana

We highlight some more excerpts from the text: “Ool will address questions about the idea of ​​collectivity from a contemporary perspective: what are the meanings of collectivity today and how to practice it. THE theme part of the recognition that, currently, the way we group ourselves is no longer the same. Social networks, platforms, nationalisms and the pandemic, resignify what it is to be together, to create together, to attack together, to resist together, etc. Furthermore, the asymmetric climate risk impels us to reinvent the relationship between the human and the planet, which also leads us to rethink what humanism is. These are points that require a reformulation both in the collective imagination and in the infrastructures that make it possible. During the program we will explore poetic and pragmatic formats of action, comprising both proposals for activist actions and the creation of new fictions.”

“Through workshops with guests, we will investigate questions that give more complex contours to the idea of ​​collectivity. What forms of public life do physical space and the digital environment make possible? What forms of economy can we experiment with in order not only to expand the distribution of financial resources, but also to foster complex and sustainable ecosystems? How to think about the city from the intersection between culture and specific points of social, political and technological infrastructure? How to think about collective time management between action and contemplation? What are the different formats of action and narrative needed to account for the forms of organization at the intersection of art, politics and technology?”

Ool is divided into two groups, between August 2021 and June 2022. Each group will last 5 months and will have the participation of three tutors (Guilherme Marcondes, Alice Noujaim and Amara Moira) and 10 online workshops. Participants will also have access to a budget earmarked for the group's collective actions. know details and access the registration form here.


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