Case Studies of a Trans-Generational Pedagogy of Art and Design

This study reports on pedagogical practices aimed at bridging knowledge between retired researchers and professors in art and design, and current art and design students. Ethnographic interviews were carried out with artists and designers who attended the School of Fine Arts of Porto during the 1960s and 1970s, some of them later becoming professors; these interviews enabled the identification of best pedagogical practices during this period. The interviews further revealed knowledge of artistic practices and experiences beyond the school context. Based on the outcomes of the interviews, two workshops were held at two universities with art and design BA courses, aiming at promoting transgenerational knowledge transfer through illustrated and typographic narratives. Materials collected in the interviews were presented to students, who based their work on this source material, complementing it with further research carried out using their own initiative. The results were promising: most of the students gained an awareness of the interviewed artists, who are ultimately part of local history despite the relative anonymity of some; the workshops contributed toward an inscription of these artists’ legacy into curricular repertoire; students benefited from sharing experiences between peers with different backgrounds and, in specific cases, benefited from direct contact with these retired artists, thus increasing the flow of trans-generational knowledge and experiences. The outcomes of the workshops are now a source for ongoing public exhibitions and editions, both amplifying the resonance of the content among cultural and academic contexts and potentiating further inter-generational dynamics