online-studio-culture.org is a publicly accessible blog that seeks to provide information and overview of tools, resources, (best) practices as well as guidelines, protocols and policies that contribute towards a sustainable online culture for creative studio practices.

 

In the early months of 2020, the lock-downs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic forced many academics and teachers first in Asia, then around the world to quite suddenly change their classes, assignments and assessments in practical creative studio disciplines to be delivered in “online mode”. This site is inspired and based on the many heroic efforts of visual arts academics and instructors from around the world – and especially tour colleagues at AVA – who have taken up the challenge of transferring their respective classes, courses, and practices to online modes as the Covid-19 pandemic overtook the world.

Even after this immediate crisis with its demand for “social distancing” will be resolved, the experiences had and the things learnt from them will not go away again. As the situation develops and changes, online-studio-culture.org is intended as an open access information resource and repository of practices to inform and shape future online teaching in the visual arts, as many of the new practices and experiences developing these days are certainly worth retaining beyond the current crisis.

Online mode is here to stay, and a culture that integrates distant teaching and learning of creative studio practices will continue to be in demand for a variety of reasons – globalisation, further digitisation of societies, reduction of mobility for climate crisis, the next epidemic etc. Additionally, distant teaching and learning also offers plenty of potential and significant opportunities, not least access to new student bases and general audiences and innovative economic models to sustain art schools and/or creative programmes.

We hope staff and students from AVA and/or other institutions will find our efforts informative and inspiring, and welcome your efforts and contributions towards our building an online studio culture with us.