Heinz-Brandt-Schule

The Heinz-Brandt-Schule has been a long-standing cooperation partner of KW. Since 2011, the school has been part of the program Kulturagente für kreative Schule Berlin, which highlights the important role of artistic education within the institution. Currently, two to three times a year, groups of students from different classes choose to spend a week at KW, engaging deeply with the exhibitions while at the same time developing their own creative ideas. These groups are led and supported by art educators. At the end of each workshop week, the students present their works at the last workshop day at the school. 

Throughout the workshops, students explore art, aesthetic and artistic techniques. They engage in discussions on social issues and benefit from collaborative learning in a new and inspiring environment. 

The Heinz-Brandt-Schule also took part in the long-term project When Education Turns to Art, organized with other cooperation partners and hosted at KW. 

When Education turns to Art 

When Education Turns to Art was a project that ran from 2014 to 2017. As part of this collaborative initiative, students from the Heinz-Brandt-Schule took on the role of “Art Scouts,” acting as art mediators to develop their own thematic and experimental workshops. These formats incorporate ideas and topics from ongoing exhibitions at KW and were created in collaboration with artists and university students from weißensee kunsthochschule berlin. On their designated visiting days, the students invited up to 400 fellow students from Heinz-Brandt-Schule to participate in the workshops. The outcome were presented within in the exhibition context of KW and shared on online platforms such as Instagram, as well as on a dedicated project website.

During the course of When Education Turns to Art students visited a wide range of shows by diverse artists, including Hanne Lippard, Ian Wilson and Kate Coopers as well as group exhibitions like Fire and Forget and the Berlin Biennale 9. Over the three years the project produced a website, filmed videos and created temporay interventions throughout the building. Dance and performance workshops also emphasized the body as a central element of artistic exploration.

The project focused on engaging participants and ehncouraging them to explore their personal perspectives within the context of contemporary art. This dialogue was reciprocal – broadening the institution’s understanding of art while providing students with a foundation in contemporary artistic practice. Regardless of medium or  technique, the project aimed to foster a meaningful an enriching experience of art and exhibition spaces through intergenerational and cross-social exchange, the discovery for personal connections, and the development of creative expression in each student‘s own voice.