The Alternative, Denmark: Political party-in-residence

Residency: April 18–November 5, 2018 
 

The Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University, one of the largest in North America, welcomes Danish political party The Alternative as its political party-in-residence. Concordia students, working alongside leaders from The Alternative, will engage in the project-led course Making Art. Making Politics. during three intensive sessions from April to November.

The Alternative 
The Alternative is a generous, action-oriented international party and social movement that places special focus on creating serious sustainable transition, introducing a new political culture, and harnessing the entrepreneurial creative power of society and individuals. 

Of particular interest to the Faculty of Fine Arts is the fact that The Alternative is one of the few parties to publicly emphasize the role and significance of culture and art in the development of other life values and life strategies aside from material consumption and financial gain.

A strong cultural and artistic commitment runs through all of its political proposals, events and actions which creates verve, dynamics, and a feeling of freedom in everything they say, do, and recommend.

The residency
Making Art. Making Politics. is led by a cohort of independent study students with faculty supervisors from across the entire University. At its core, the residency is guided by mentors and members of The Alternative from Denmark and the UK, as well as municipal and cultural leaders from Montreal.

Hosted by the Faculty’s Institute for Urban Futures, the residency is an open-ended, collaborative experience. Participants experience a non-traditional learning format that promotes responsive, project-based action that is communally shaped and delivered through a variety of modes ranging from multi-day intensive sessions, in-person and online independent study, collective conceptual and logistical planning, both on campus and off-site in the city of Montreal.

“Given my background within education, I feel the space between politics and education is one of the important domains of our time,” says Uffe Elbaek, founder and leader of The Alternative, former culture minister for the Danish Social Liberal Party and current candidate for prime minister of Denmark.

“We need a critical, alert and alive generation of young people to navigate the problems that face us today. Climate change, mass migration, political strongmen rising across the world — solving these challenges will require every ounce of insight and creativity from all of our youth.”

Faculty
The Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University is one of the most multi-disciplinary environments in North America. With over 4,000 students, the Faculty engages design thinking, live performance, community fieldwork, aesthetic activism, technical experimentation, historical scholarship, as well as traditional and digital fabrication at the undergraduate and graduate level. PhD programs through the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture, as well as MA and PhD tracks in the Individualized Program, have offered two of the most experimental advanced research degrees for over a decade.