BORN FREE

Over the past few years, the Norwegian artist Una Hunderi has visited and documented families who are unconvinced that school is such a good place. These parents believe that the strict indoctrination, and the consensus represented at school is of no benefit to children – that instead of triggering or fostering their natural motivation to learn – it destroys it. As a result, these families have chosen to step out of mainstream society, in order to create their own framework and lead life the way they feel is best. They believe in a more intuitive approach to basic education and follow the ideas of unschooling, which allow children to decide themselves when they will learn and absorb new knowledge.

This may seem like a somewhat radical idea to most of us, I would guess. It goes against society’s conventions and consensus on how life should be structured, how a family’s days should be organized. But who’s to say what is more ‘natural’ and ‘true’? Is it to control every last detail, or to disconnect from the hustle and bustle, and lead a life that moves at a more intuitive pace? Is conventional schooling the only way to go, or is it also possible for children to grow into decent human beings by applying the philosophy of unschooling?

Blending photography with insightful interviews, this book offers an unbiased and considerate look at an entirely different mentality when it comes to how life and learning are best facilitated and organized. And even if unschooling perhaps isn’t the answer, the current consensus might learn from some of these opposing views and counter-ideas. If not for the sake of changing the current state of things, then at least for the sake of a more conscious reflection on why mainstream society is structured the way it is, and why most of us live our lives accordingly.


Monica Holmen

Co-editor at KUNSTforum and curator at Akershus Kunstsenter