Ethos

The fundamental principle of The School is that tradition is continual renewal. Experiencing the traditional arts as living skills students participate in their vibrancy and regeneration.  

 

Although theoretical programmes exist at postgraduate level at many western universities, there are few, if any colleges, apart from The Prince’s School, where the practical skills of the traditional arts are taught at this level.  The School holds that the practice of the traditional arts is a contemplative process based upon universal spiritual truths. Art is seen as an integral part of everyday life and not a luxury; neither is it a subjective psychological experiment, nor a whimsical exercise in nostalgia.   

 

The School’s programmes aim to encourage an awareness amongst students that form, pattern and colour as manifested in the various branches of the traditional arts, are not simply pleasing to the senses, or demonstrations of good design, but are created to embody beauty — the beauty of the permanent that shines through into the world of the transient.  The distinction made today between ‘Fine Art’ and ‘Craft’ is entirely modern.  In a traditional society painting, pottery, carpentry, agriculture and music were all expressions of art or making and the artist’s practical activity was integrated, not only into the wider community but also into a more profound order.   

  

Whether a traditional art is representational (iconic) or non-representational (aniconic) it will always be structured on the principles of ordered space.   All civilisations have acknowledged that geometry is fundamental to the cosmic order, or as Plato explained,  “…geometry is the knowledge of the eternally existent” (Republic, Book 7, 527b).  The School teaches geometry, not only as an objective language informing the traditional arts of the world, but also as an essentially sacred language.  Students learn that the patterns of traditional art reflect nature and are underpinned by the same geometry that is the basis of the natural world.  Thus geometry is seen as a reflection of a universal order, as was taught by the ancient Greeks and recognised by the great Arab architects and scientists, as well as the cathedral builders of the MiddleAges.           

                                                                                                                               

 

Many of the world’s sacred traditions and traditional art forms have already been destroyed.  It is one of the objectives of The School to work on a practical solution to reduce the threat of further extinction. The main solution is the teaching and promotion of the practice of these arts and crafts.  Students who attend The School, from all over the world and from many different cultures, may, in turn, pass on these practical skills, together with an awareness of the universal principles underlying them.  Thus The School is in a unique position to promote understanding and tolerance between cultures, helping to forge links and encourage recognition of the common values held by all.