Interdisciplinary projects of Savremena students on graffiti art

Creativity is not the only characteristic of the classes in the Art and Design course at Savremena Gimnazija, and the new interdisciplinary project Find the Right Place for Banksy has proved just that.  

The syllabus for this course includes the research of graffiti art, but Art and Design teacher Tamara Rajinac, and English Language teacher in the Combined Programme Milica Aleksić designed a project task that required students not only to understand the messages of the graffiti painted by the famous and mysterious artist Banksy all over the world, but to provide an interpretation of their own for them, or to find a similar social issue or phenomenon in Serbia, and determine the best place for it, so that the graffiti would make the strongest impact on raising the youth awareness of the said issue. 

Graffiti as a means of conveying social messages 

Students first discussed graffiti art in Art and Design lessons, learning a lot about Banksy as an artist, his political and social engagement, criticism of consumerism, crime, war, glorification of materialism, instead of freedom and happiness. Then they analysed the most famous Banksy’s graffiti in English classes to better understand them. It is very interesting that Banksy skillfully uses wordplay in his works to reinforce the message he wants to convey. 

The aim was to encourage students to think more deeply about the problems and challenges of modern life and society. The task gave the students freedom to choose a graffiti on their own, and thus the social issue they wanted to address, but it was also specific enough to provide students with useful guidelines toward the final product. The oral defense of the papers was held in English, whereby the transition to online lessons did not interrupt the implementation of the project, because students were able to present the results of their work via Google Meet. 

Savremena teachers were extremely satisfied with the maturity their students demonstrated, their choice of social issues, critical selection of locations for the graffiti that involved deeper analysis, and especially with the ethical views and values their students possess and nurture.  

You can see some of their unique suggestions below.

I am extremely pleased and proud to be the parent of a Savremena student. During my first encounter with the school management, when I asked about my child’s potential enrolment, I saw how much love, enthusiasm and professionalism you put in your work. I was impressed by your approach, ideas and methods. I couldn’t believe something like this existed in our country! It doesn’t take long to realise that this is a school you would recommend to everyone. Creativity, modern technology, top-quality education, and most of all, the humaneness that can be seen throughout the school, make it truly different and worthy of its name – Savremena Gimnazija. With such an approach, the success of this school and, consequently, our children’s success, is unavoidable. Congratulations! Jelena Đorđević, Andrija’s mum
Contemporary in any sense of the word, our school offers functional knowledge and quality preparation for tertiary education in Serbia and abroad. Implementing modern and creative teaching in the classroom, where the teachers’ pedagogy and students’ performance are aligned with the highest academic standards for the high-school finals, our school develops linguistic, mathematical, scientific, artistic, cultural, technical and ICT competence, which is a prerequisite for further education and professional development. Teaching is supported by the interactive whiteboards and educational software, whereas practice exercises research and critical thinking.