Between Spaces: We Use Words But Think in Images

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Beit Berl's HaMidrasha-Faculty of Arts partnered with Breitner Academy in Amsterdam in a joint course called "Between Spaces: We Use Words But Think in Images," focusing on the intra-cultural relationship between personal space and public space. The course was taught jointly by two Beit Berl lecturers, Dr. Vered Heruti and Orly Sever, and two lecturers from Breitner.

Although the format for the course was conceived prior to Covid-19, the long-distance concept was ideal for the pandemic since the use of digital platforms for distance learning became widespread around the world in 2020.

Sixteen Dutch and Israeli Art Education and Art students met once a week, in intensive sessions, to discuss contemporary art related to the subject of space. The classes were conducted in English and the students were divided into Israeli-Dutch pairs. Throughout the course, the binational pairs collaborated on joint assignments, creating visual projects based on the classroom discussions, which they uploaded to an online bulletin board. They used the Microsoft Teams digital platform as well as Padlet to upload and share content in different media.

Using distance-learning in a creative and effective way, students combined theoretical knowledge with artistic projects in joint hands-on projects. Remarkably, the pairs were able to create cohesive works of art even though they were physically in two different places and belonged to two different cultures.

For both the Beit Berl and Breitner students, the process of learning to work closely with peers in a different country was as important as the course's actual academic content.

"Despite the distance between Israel and the Netherlands, I have discovered that very often we think in similar ways and have common interests. For me, it was a very meaningful and special learning experience, and I'm glad that I was a part of it," said one student. Another added: "The fact that people from two countries are in the same lesson at the same time made me think how learning is spaceless, but at the same time it is everywhere. Because we worked far away from each other, it made us think about how we can create and work together in different ways despite the distance."