At present I live in Drottningholm outside Stockholm, Sweden, and work part-time as an art teacher for children and teenagers, part-time with a number of other projects of different kinds. The reason I have taken the trouble to create this site is because I have reached the age (57 yearly cycles) when one begins to realise that it's about time to pass on to others, especially the younger generation, some of the insights that have rubbed off during a fairly active and varied life. The following should give some idea of who I am, and why I have the nerve to believe that I have a story worth telling. I should add that this website is a newer version of KOSMIKON, which some of you may have visited previously. I have removed Kosmikon from the net (it was getting out of hand - up to 50 MB). The new site is at present very thin - in an early stage of development. During the next few months I hope to fill it out with information on most of the activities mentioned below. Even then, changes will constantly be made - everything worthwhile is in a state of flux, including a website.

BASIC EDUCATION
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St. Edwards School, Oxford ................... 1950-'60
GCE O-level: 8 subjects; A-level: History, English (distinction), Art.
Sport: Rowing, cross-country running, rugby.

ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES
Oxford School of Architecture .......................... 1960-1965

Intermediate qualification (architecture). Course voluntarily terminated after 4th year, followed by one year living in a catholic monastery (Rosminian order), painting a series of four murals for the monastery chapel (Three-fold Madonna, St. Joseph, Crucifixion, Ascension).

Six months practice in architect’s office in Karlstad, Sweden ....... 1965
Work in architect’s office in Oxford (mostly hospital design) ............... 1965-'69

SWEDEN
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Move to Sweden ............... 1969
Guest student at Royal Academy of Fine Art, Stockholm ............... 1970-'71

THE UPPLAND LANDSCAPE
Move to farm outside Knivsta, north of Stockholm (Province of Uppland) ............... 1970
Responsible for looking after 5 riding horses in exchange for free accomodation .............. 1970-'78
Painting landscape (oils) and plant-life (water colours) in the area. Several one-man exhibitions in Uppsala

Between two country churches. Initiator of multi-disciplinary student project in Uppsala University (archaeology, botany, geology, ethnology, etc.) studying changes in the Knivsta area in time and space, from the retreat of the ice-sheet to today. Own paintings of plants and landscape (including reconstructions of the past) integrated with the scientific material ....... 1976

Work as illustrator for archeologists at Uppsala University (Noel Broadbent) ...............1976-'78
Series of illustrations of rose quartz artifacts from 5,000 year-old hunter-gatherer site in northern Sweden, as well as reconstructions of life in the settlement (Lundfors, outside Skellefteå).

THEATRE
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Dramatic Institute, Stockholm (2 year course in stage design) ............... 1978-1980

Seminar on Death. Initiator of 2 day, multi-disciplinary seminar at the Dramatic Institute (DI), involving psychologists, cancer doctors, and ethnologists, as well as actors, dramatists, and directors.. 1979

Play of Birth and Death. A project that explored the idea of linking, in a dramatic presentation, current knowledge about the physical processes of dying and being born, including both psychological and spiritual dimensions. 20 amateur actors were involved in this project
(own script & direction) ........ 1976-'78

Pan Theatre. 3 months on Gotland with the same group of actors, living in our own constructed stone-age camp by the sea, and making theatre on the streets in Visby ............... 1978

STAGE DESIGN
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Work as stage designer............... 1979-1990

Many school productions with UNG-RIKS (National Youth Theatre).
Work with several independant companies, eg with Jordcirkus: Julsagan (A Christmas Carol), a two year professional/amateur project in a suburban area of Stockholm (Skarpnäck) ....... 1977-'78

Larger scale productions, eg Czaren (The Czar - Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm) with Ernst-Hugo Järgård, set design based entirely on multi-projection of 300 slides on net screens (scrim) ....... 1982

MULTI-MEDIA PRODUCTIONS
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Kosmikon ............... 1982
Multi-media production at Fylkingen (Modern Music Association). Cooperative project with composer Tommy Zwedberg, based on material developed during work with Solaris Research (see below). Computer-controlled picture show. Hundreds of slides projected in depth on multiple layers of net. Early attempt at "virtual reality" experience using primitive technology.

Lövsånger (Leafsongs) ............... 1982
Kilen, Kulturhuset, Stockholm . Development of Kosmikon project. Cooperative project with artist Cilla Ericson and musicians Thomas "Mera" Garz and Anita Livstrand. Hundreds of slides of Cilla’s paintings of trees and plants (full picture & details) projected on net screens.

SCIENTIFIC PROJECTS
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Solaris Research ............... 1980-1990
Ten years cooperation with researcher Göran Windelius, illustrating his theories about the nature of the solar system and the mechanisms of climate change. Numerous illustrated reports on various aspects of the work, eg: Klimat 2000 - ett framtidsstudie (Climate 2000 - a study of the future); Windelius/Tucker 1989; a report commissioned by Telia’s (Swedish Telecom) research dept.
(click to illustration: Solaris, the Solar Screw on PETER'S ART)

Illustrations for theoretical physicists (Stig Flodmark) and geologists (Nils-Axel Mörner).

Exhibition of coloured illustrations of Earth, Sun and solar system at Inst. of Theoretical Physics, Stockholm University ... 1985

The Creative Brain - human consciousness in a nutshell. Over the last few years I have studied the latest research in brain neurology, cognitive science, and other disciplines dealing with the nature of the brain and human consciousness. I have attempted to give visual form to the often rather abstract ideas of the scientists and philospophers in a series of drawings. Some of these drawings have been transfered to overhead film and form the basis of a dramatic presentation of the subject aimed at a wide range of audiences, from late school age onwards. I am also preparing the manuscript of a "picture book" on the brain aimed at young people, as well as the basic structure of an educational CD-ROM (click to illustrations on PETER'S ART)

WORK WITH CHILDREN
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Painting Academy for Children (Målarakademin för Barn) ............1980-1996
Cooperation with artist Cilla Ericson. Continuous work as freelance art teachers in dayhomes and schools in the Stockholm area. Also large outdoor murals in shopping centres and similar public places in suburban areas of Stockholm (eg Farsta, Alby Centrum, Hökarängen), painted "on the street" together with children and youth from the neighborhood.
Own methods of teaching developed. Own painting school since 1990.

Many courses on our working methods in different parts of the country for pre-school and school teachers, trainee teachers etc. Special intensive two months course for artists wishing to learn how to work with children.

Publication of a book describing our methods of work with smaller children: Det Målande Barnet (The Painting Child), Swedish. Liber Utbildning (1991). This book includes over 70 reproductions of acrylic paintings by children from two to seven years of age, all of whom took part in various of our painting projects during the late '80's. As important are the comments attached to each work, made by each child after painting, and recorded verbatim at the time. Since publication, the book has been used widely in Sweden as a teaching aid.

Det Målande Barnet. Exhibition of 120 acrylic paintings by our children commissioned by the Swedish Institute in 1993. Exhibition on tour in Taiwan and Estonia (1994). Seminars given for university audiences in both those countries in conjunction with the exhibition.

Work with refugee children in Stockholm area ....... 1993-'95
Bromma and Gebers refugee centres (4-7 year olds from ex-Yugoslavia) ....... 1993
Grimsta school, Vällingby (12-16 years olds from ex-Yugoslavia, and many other countries) ....... 1994
Rågsved school, Stockholm (14 year olds from Bosnia) ....... 1995

(Material from our work with traumatised refugee children can be found on this site, see: Children & Art)

FILMS
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Häxorna och Macbeth (The Witches and Macbeth) ....... 1993
55 min. educational, documentary film (in Swedish) based on four months filming work on a production of Shakespeare’s play at the City Theatre, Stockholm (Statsteatern). Play. Director: Ralf Långbacka, Macbeth: Sven Wolter, Lady Macbeth: Viveka Seldahl. Film. Foto: Marius van Niekerk. Direction and editing: Peter Tucker

Behind the Lines of the Mind .......1991-'95
Cooperative project with Marius van Niekerk (filmmaker and ex-paratrooper in the South African army). Subject: PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) among ex-soldiers from the bush wars of the 1980’s. Several years study, script-writing etc. and many attempts to find resources to make a film on this important subject. The film project finally reached fruition: a 55 min. drama-documentary, Nomansland (English language) made by Marius and shown at the Gothenburg Film Festival in 1996.

Ögon Som Sett För Mycket (Eyes That Have Seen Too Much) .......1994-'97
Cooperative project with Marius van Niekerk. 55 min. documentary film (in Swedish & Bosnian - swedish subtitles) describing the inner mental life of children who have had first-hand experience of war. Based on an experimental art therapy project in Rågsved school, Stockholm, during spring 1995, where Peter, together with Anka Rylander, a Croatian psychologist, worked with a group of 8 teenagers from Bosnia. Entire process filmed on Betacam, including in-depth interviews with the families involved. Final post-production work never completed because of lack of funds.
(click to illustrations on PETER'S ART)

Änglarna Dansar i Himlen (The Angels Are Dancing In Heaven) .......1995-'97
Cooperative project with Marius van Niekerk. 30 min. documentary film (in Swedish) about how children can work through the trauma of death and dying through creative art work. Based partly on paintings made by young children at the Painting Academy for Children during the weeks after the Estonia disaster, partly on paintings made by a five year old girl during and after the death of her father from brain tumor. Interviews with the children involved. Final post-production work never completed because of lack of funds.

ILLUSTRATIONS
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Countless theatre posters. Other small-scale illustrative work over the years.

Latest large-scale project: Series of nine A4 coloured illustrations for Telias broshure on the current and future nature of the telenet in Sweden: Telenät över alla gränser ........ 1995
(English edition: A seamless network - a presentation of Telia’s telecom network) 
(for illustration The Network Tree click to PETER'S ART)

BOOKS
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The Base Drum of the Solar System - a primer of solar-planetary relations
By Göran Windelius and Peter Tucker. Kosmikon, Stockholm, 1989. 50 pages. A shortened, English version of the report Klimat 2000 (see above, Solaris Research). Describes the basic mechanisms governing the movement of the planets and Sun, and Windelius' theories about how the solar-planetary reaction affects the Earth's climate.

Behind the Lines of the Mind - Healing the Mental Scars of War
300 page book by Peter Tucker & Marius van Niekerk. Subject: combat-related PTSD. Based on Marius’ experiences, but covering the entire spectrum of PTSD studies: symptoms, recovery process, social and political implications etc. The final result of several years spent working on the film project. Unpublished. (Several chapters from the book can be found on SAVA's Home Page. See Site Contents: No.13: Dreams: Nightmares of War, and Personal and Primaeval Forces)

Work on several pamphlets aimed at ex-soldiers in South Africa (eg Hints to Group Leaders, and other texts). Part of the process of laying the foundation for SAVA (South African Veterans Association), a project that Marius intends to set in motion on his return to SA in 1998-99. Also pamphlets on combat-related PTSD aimed at Swedish ÙN soldiers suffering from their experiences in Bosnia, as well as refugee ex-soldiers in Sweden, both texts in Swedish. (See also on this site: THE SOLDIER AND PTSD)

A Gylanic History of Europe
By Peter Tucker. Unfinished manuscript. Presentation of loosely "feminist" re-interpretation of European history based on several year's study of thinkers and researchers working in this field, especially archaeologist Marija Gimbutas and poet Robert Bly

The Painting Child
By Peter Tucker & Cilla Ericson. Unpublished manuscript. Extended english version of Det Målande Barnet (Cilla Ericson in cooperation with Peter Tucker; Almkvist & Wiksell, Liber Utbildning, 1991). Describes our work with children in greater depth. Explores the way of thinking and seeing of children, and the importance of art work in education, and especially for children with language or other difficulties, eg. refugee children, hyperactive, or mentally handicapped children, specially gifted children etc. (material from this project can be found in this site: see CHILDREN'S ART).

Eyes That Have Seen Too Much
Report (40 pages, A5) on an art therapy project with Bosnian teenagers in a Stockholm school, involving classroom cooperation between a psychologist and art teacher (drawings from this project can be found on this on this site: see CHILDREN'S ART)

for further information click CURRENT WORK

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CURRENT WORK
CHILDREN AND PTSD | THE SOLDIER AND PTSD
CHILDREN'S ART | PETER'S ART | CORRIDOR ART
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