The first reading task I had to complete for this course was a piece by Polly Savage on the history and experiences of Mozambican artists who studied in the USSR in the 1980s (2022). My initial reaction to this was somewhat negative as this is a topic very different to the ones I am used to reading in my academic and teaching practice. However, I am generally a very curious person who likes learning about various things, so once I started reading, I quickly became more and more interested.
The paper used the life, experiences and evolving practice of artist Celestino Matavele (also known as Cejumo) as the focal point but included other examples of artists from the same period who also worked and studied with Cejumo. However, I was more fascinated with the history and social aspect of the circumstances in which the artists found themselves rather than their art practice. The artists moved to a different country, in this case the USSR, to advance their education which was not too dissimilar to myself, as I also moved away from home to pursue higher education. The programme that the artists participated in also reminded me of similar schemes that existed in Cyprus, where I am from, at a similar time, were students could receive scholarships to study mostly STEM and Medicine in the USSR (CIA, 1968; Katsakioris, 2019). In both cases, the programmes and scholarships were expected to replace colonial administrators, teachers and officials in newly created countries.
The artists spoke about their experiences being educated in a foreign country and language, how they sometimes had a hard time understanding the assessment requirements and, being enrolled in an arts programme, how it was hard to embed their personal and artistic viewpoints in their work as they did not always fit the Soviet art movement practices. The artists particularly mentioned a ‘dogma’ that they felt that they had to follow in order to be accepted as successful artists, despite their tutors and the School’s philosophy seemingly being open mindedness and globalisation. While I did not study arts but rather life sciences, which are more objective and most governing theories are accepted globally, I can understand and empathise with the notion of following a country’s ‘dogma’ and I can even see the implications of this in my academic practice. Despite whether I agree with certain practices or not, having been educated and worked in the UK HE system for the entirety of my academic career, I now feel obliged to follow certain practices that are part of the UK ‘educational dogma’. Even before reading this article, I was acutely aware of the difference between educational systems and practices between countries and cultures, and have always tried to keep a dynamic balance in my academic practice, especially when dealing with newcomer international students whom might have previously experienced a completely different approach to learning. This article, while seemingly an analysis of the artists’ practice and influences from a different culture, has helped me consolidate my belief that educational systems should allow students to explore their own identities and provide multiple media to do so – of course, I also understand that there will always be ‘frameworks’ and ‘rules’ to follow, but by allowing students to develop their unique approaches to any discipline, we enrich the collective knowledge with multiple viewpoints and help shape a multidimensional society.
References:
CIA (1968) Assessment of the Soviet program to provide academic training for students from the less developed countries. Washington DC: Central Intelligence Unit, USA. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000326290.pdf (Accessed: 22 February 2025).
Katsakioris, C. (2019) ‘The Lumumba University in Moscow: higher education for a Soviet–Third World alliance, 1960–91’, Journal of global history, 14(2), pp. 281–300. doi: 10.1017/S174002281900007X.
Savage, P. (2022) ‘‘The New Life’: Mozambican Art Students in the USSR, and the Aesthetic Epistemologies of Anti‐Colonial Solidarity’, Art history, 45(5), pp. 1078–1100. doi: 10.1111/1467-8365.12692.