Between Practice and Theory. Comments on the Specificity of Art History and Art Education in Poland and Ukraine

Changes taking place in the area of artistic practice happen in parallel with transformations in the social area. Artistic and architectural activity coexists with theoretical reflection in the field of art. Changes of this kind also translate into assumptions that guide research in the area of art history. Contemporary art is characterized by dynamic changes and re-evaluations, in which practice and theory are intertwined. The nature of these phenomena is also a challenge on the level of academic education dealing with the subject of art, architecture and art history. The specificity of the analyzed phenomena makes it necessary to combine theoretical knowledge with broadly understood practice in this process. The aesthetic premises of contemporary art are widely used in the process of artistic education. An example of this can be activities undertaken by the Kiev National University of Construction and Architecture (KNUCA). Successive lecturers at this university have consistently combined theory with creative practice in the educational process. These premises have found application in architectural design that uses plastic elements. The ties between theory and practice are also inherently inscribed in the history of the history of art department at the University of Lodz. It was largely influenced by the specificity of Łódź as an artistic center in which, very early, before World War II, there was an interest in modern art at the level of theory, practice and museology. This attitude was also close to the academic activity of prof. G. Sztabiński who successfully combined in-depth aesthetic and theoretical reflections with the experiences of an artistic practitioner