CONCLUSION

"Learning a lifetime is the starting point "

How does Het Nieuwe Institute tackle 21st century art education through social engagement and citizenship?

-Policy plan het Nieuwe Instituut

The Nieuwe Instituut challenges its visitors to critically examine and rethink the role of architecture, design and visual culture in their everyday existence. By using visual inputs from these design disciplines audiences are invited to reflect on how these everyday objects or systems affect them, and different kinds of people, in varying ways. In their tours and exhibitions the museum provides a platform for multiple voices to emerge, both in terms of the artists it represented, but also in the varying areas of expertise of their museum guides, and by illuminating topics from varying viewpoints, such as the political, artistic and sociological.

More literally, by emphasizing the interaction between educators and students, a space is opened up for discussion in which these multiple voices may discuss, debate, and negotiate. As such visitors are confronted with the existence of a multiplicity of perspectives and meaning, and may be challenged to critically examine their position in relation to their environment and the larger systems they inhibit, with the hope that they experience an increased agency towards shaping this environment through design and empathy.