Lecturer Violeta Dobrovolskienė and Assoc. Prof. Dr Jovita Dargienė, who teaches the spring internship, sought to convey the theoretical knowledge of the subject “Management of Artistic Projects and Fundamentals of Practical Research Methodology” to students through experiential learning. Therefore, future image design specialists performed daily tasks and gained experience in an unusual environment, i.e. by visiting educational spaces and museums abroad. At the invitation of the social partner Aleksandr Vasiljev Foundation, the lecturers, together with the students, went to the exhibition “Christian DIOR Women’s Elegance” at the Keila-Joa Castle in Estonia and deepened their professional knowledge in the field of fashion history and image design.
Taking advantage of the Erasmus+ short-term internship opportunities, the students drew ideas for their spring internship projects not only from the exhibition of exhibits of the Aleksandr Vasiljev Foundation in Estonia, but also from the Tallinn Kumu Art Museum, the Tartu Science Center AHHAA, the Riga Art Nouveau and Fashion Museums, and Rundāle Castle.
V. Dobrovolskienė emphasised that museums are an excellent environment for experimental practice, which is mistakenly understood by a large part of society only as a form of leisure. However, this is not correct. During the Renaissance, works of art began to be collected and preserved on the initiative of patrons of artists. Later, these became museums, the functions of which included restoration/conservation and education of the general public.
Therefore, using foreign educational spaces, the lecturers prepared tasks for the implementation of which future image design specialists had to write reflections, recording not only impressions, but also connections with image design, develop creativity by observing the environment and generating project ideas, and test research methods (interviews, data collection, customer profile analysis) not in their usual classrooms, but in educational spaces in other countries.
Such an experience fascinated the students broadened their horizons, and improved the skills necessary for image design. Upon returning to the Academy of Arts, the future specialists presented the ideas of the spring internship project to their colleagues and shared the inspirations they brought home. Some of them:
People are reluctant to look up, looking only down or horizontally. The idea for the project “Seeing more where you don’t think to look” arose, which would encourage people to look up;
The Riga Art Nouveau Museum and the dilapidated Art Nouveau architecture on the city streets highlighted the concept of combining beauty and practicality. This is strongly related to the work of an image designer;
The posters of the Splendid Palace cinema suggested the idea of talking about pop culture expressions in different periods/decades and their synthesis;
At the Tartu AHHAA Science Centre, using interactive exhibits, it was possible to record hands placed on the body a few seconds ago with the help of a thermal camera. Such an experience inspired the creation of a project on the theme “The Past Leaves Traces in the Present and the Future”.
Learning directly from the objects preserved in museums and the city’s architecture encouraged the students to put into practice the advice of lecturer V. Dobrovolskienė – to look at everything with open eyes and listen with open ears, because, according to another lecturer, Assoc. Prof. Dr J. Dargienė, you never know what you might find around the corner. As the future image design specialists said, there were many angles and discoveries in this experiential practice. Taking advantage of the invitation of the Aleksandr Vasiljev Foundation, a social partner of Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution, the students brought home extensive knowledge about the history of fashion, and elements reflecting different fashion eras.
