Grundtvig Learning partnership COMART

The Grundtvig Learning partnership COMART dealt with the analization of arts as a tool for communication in adult education. From 2011 till 2013 in total twelve partners from ten different European countries took part in the partnership. At six different conferences different aspects of the role of art in communication have been discussed and analized by the participating organizations and their representatives.
The Learning partnership COMART had its start at the first conference that took place in Mannheim, Germany. This meeting was the initial chance for all participating organizations and their members to get to know each other and to use the conference days to plan and structure the two year partnership, to exchange about the objectives and the motivation of the project.
The second meeting of COMART took place in Madrid, Spain and the conference mainly dealt with the role of arts in helping to integrate socially marginalized people, respectively disabled persons and the methods that can be used. This, for example, was shown in an impressive way by Vojko Gasperut, a Slovenian artist. As a disabled person and artist he is only able to paint with his mouth. Together with the artist Osvaldo Giuliani who is active in the field of landart they are using their artistic work to transport their ideas and messages. This is just one example how this topic has been discussed by all partners.
The third conference of the COMART partnership took place in Udine, Italy, and the main topic of the conference was the role of arts in urban development (urban art) and the discussion of the question in which way the art can be used to help cities to develop and to produce a more sustainable fundament for urban space. A very good example in which way urban space can profit from artistic creativity was a location in the city of Udine. The participants visited an art park that is giving especially youngsters the opportunity and space to develop and use graffiti, sports and other elements of art in the city. The conference was accompanied by different lectures from university professors and artists and by visiting industrial complexes that are being transformed through different artistic approaches.
The fourth conference of the COMART project took place in St. Helens, England. The main theme and topic of the conference was to analize the role of Arts & Media for Social Inclusion. During the beginning of the conference the hosting organization Charisma Community Projects demonstrated in which way the arts and media can strengthen the local community in a socially divided area and the delegates were able to experience and discuss this influence of arts and media during the conference on a theoretical and practical basis. The delegates benefited from the direct access provided to members of the local community, which encouraged communication, exchange and hence learning to take place in both formal and informal parts of the programme.
The fifth COMART conference took part in Vienna and was hosted by the adult education center in Hietzing. The main topic of the conference was to analize the question of how the art can be used as a means of communication in adult education institutions. More than this the conference also broached the issue about the role of arts in the work with mentally ill and disabled persons. This was being analized through the visit of the famous Gugging Museum which presents the art of mentally ill and disabled persons (art brut) and by a speech of an art teacher, Brigitte Gadnik-Jiskra, who is working artistically with dement patients in a geriatric center in Vienna.
The sixth and final conference in Budapest gave room for a reflection over the last two year project period and to exchange about the activities and the results of the partnership. Furthermore it was analized in which way the objectives of the partnership have been reached and in which way the individual organizations are able to profit from the partnership within their own organization. Besides the general reflection and conclusion of the project COMART, the Hungarian partners gave room and the opportunity to learn more about the Hungarian art after 1945 and about the time during the communist regime. At the final conference the collage project of the learning partnership called “How is Europe - How are you?” was also presented. Almost all partner organizations created a collage during the project time which symbolized an artistic reference to the current situation in their own country.
It can be concluded that the learning partnership was not only successful in organizing the six conferences and in analyzing and discussing various different topics from different perspectives. More than this, the partnership COMART was an important step to foster the networking among the twelve participating European organizations. This implies an additional benefit for all participating organizations that will continue to exist even after the project period.