Contemporary Cypriot video art: an investigation of artistic practice and its educational implications for the visual arts curriculum

This qualitative project concentrates on the creative research processes of contemporary Cypriot video artists and on their interrelation with the field of visual arts education, examined through the triple role of artist/researcher/teacher. The project contains evidence of the achievement of a tangible research product in the form of an Educational Guide, accompanied by a DVD collection as a creative outcome that presents, in 10 DVDs, the video profiles of 10 local artists with a selection of their video artwork.
The project adopts a pluralistic research methodology, and identifies and presents multiple results that are extracted from the artists’ case studies, together with a self-study concerning artistic research approaches to video art-making. The results are transformed through a hermeneutical and semiotic approach into educational suggestions for the employment of video art as an art form, and video as a medium into the visual arts educational context.
The body of knowledge presented contributes to three major areas: the documentation and accessibility of the artistic practices of contemporary living Cypriot artists, the understanding of their artistic research processes, and the attribution of pedagogical value to video art’s content and context through the creation of educational materials that consider the availability of the artists’ video works. The outcome of the project is intended for general and visual arts educators, artists, art historians and gallery and museum professionals who wish to study the insights of video art in Cyprus through an audio-visual presentation.
The overall contribution of the project to professional practice is summarised in the bridging of the gap between the sister fields of visual arts and contemporary visual arts education, by transforming everyday artistic practice in appropriate material for pedagogical contexts.