School of the Damned: Interim Show

Current Manifesto:

The School Of The Damned is a course run by its students and supported by a growing circle of visiting lecturers and tutors. 
It challenges the monetary value of today’s system of higher education, providing artists with the opportunity to study within an educational construct, which allows for critical discourse and a sustained re-assessment of students art practices.

The course aims to establish a new network of artists, academics and institutions, which not only advocates free education, but also demands a universal acknowledgment of education as a fundamental right. This action is a necessary response to the increasingly precarious working-living situation, a lack of time and space is a reality for many practicing artists today. The School Of The Damned facilitates essential time for contemplation and critique of each individuals practice within a constructive framework.

We demand a level of rigour and commitment similar to that of an accredited MA. The course is constantly re-assessing itself in conversation with outside advisers that come from a range of auto-didactic and academic backgrounds.

Integral to The School Of The Damned ethos is the labour exchange. Trading time for time is a subversion of the current financial corruption of the educational system; we rally against the present model of free labour and exploitation within the creative industries. The School Of The Damned does not advocate or condone an independent system of education based on entrepreneurial values, philanthropy, libertarianism or self-reliance.

As current occupants of the School, we trust that this protest will continue into the future.