Allowing space for imagination and the ability to shape

Anke Coumans

This publication is an initiative of Anke Coumans, Professor Image in Context, Minerva Art Academy, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen.

This publication was made possible with the support of the Hanzehogeschool Groningen.

[ENGLISH EDITION, for DUTCH SEE THE DUTCH EDITION]

‘In recent years, the practices of artists in non-artistic environments have set my mind in motion. Where before I could marvel at the visual outcomes of the artistic process and would want to understand how processes of creating meaning could be described, I am now particularly struck by the way in which artists are present, by their way of looking, how they make decisions, when and how they act, how they take responsibility. I have conversations with them and ask questions to better understand their processes, and I explore literature to find people with a similar quest. This process of moving and being moved lies at the heart of the book The Artistic Attitude.’

– Anke Coumans, Professor Image in Context, Minerva Art Academy, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen 

 The Artistic Attitude includes interviews with: Sanne Boekel, Jeroen Boomgaard, Barend van Heusden, Anita Koops, Jedidja Smalbil, Jonas Staal and Bibi Straatman

About the author: Anke Coumans (1962) is Professor Image in Context at the Research Centre Art & Society of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen in the Netherlands and affiliated with Minerva Art Academy’s undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Within her professorship, she develops projects – with fellow researchers comprising students, tutors, artists and citizens – in which art practices lead to new ways of shaping the community. Central to her research are questions concerning the added value of artists and designers, the qualities they bring to the table, the shareability of artistic attitudes and how art schools can equip their students to play a catalytic role in social contexts.