A Portrait Is for Not Being Alone: The Handbook

A Portrait Is for Not Being Alone & Portret je način, da nisi sam

This booklet, serves as a handbook for educators interested in applying strategies derived from contemporary portrait practices to their own work. It is based on a pedagogical model of actuation developed over many years by visual artist, cultural worker, and art teacher Francisco Tomsich. (…) The aims of A Portrait Is for Not Being Alone are not only to plant, grow, and cultivate competencies—such as observation, concentration and interaction—and skills (techniques), but above all to foster and at the same time represent a sense of belonging. It employs a contemporary approach to portraiture as a means of building knowledge about ourselves, others, and our community. Therefore, it seeks to create conditions that allow for both perceiving and representing a privileged situation: being together here and now. The practice focuses on drawing to highlight the importance of time spent seeing, recognizing, observing, and understanding better (for longer than usual) ourselves and others. However, it does not avoid the use of any available technology at hand, and emphasizes grasping how technologies (of representation) shape our perception of things, spaces, and persons. (…) Due to its emphasis on collaborative learning, nonverbal communication and interaction, and the balance between activities designed for individual participants and those involving the group as a whole, this method is particularly well-suited for use in vulnerable communities, as well as in groups affected by age, language, and socioeconomic disparities.
(From the Introduction of A Portrait Is for Not Being Alone)

Published by the Cultural and Artistic Association Boja
Izola, Slovenia, 2025

E-book available for downloading at: http://kudaacboja.wordpress.com

This publication is done in the framework of the project Portret je način, da nismo sami, developed by the Cultural and Artistic Association Boja (Izola), in partnership with the Izola and Koper oﬃces of JSKD (Public Fund for Cultural Activities of the Republic of Slovenia) and the Association of Friends of Youth of Izola. Supported by PiNA and ISKRA – Hub for Non-Governmental Organizations of Istria and Karst. Co-ﬁnanced by the Ministry of Public Administration from the NGO Fund.