Episode 1. Yana Klichuk. Understanding the role of a mediator in a cultural organization

Mediators and educators are often considered to be so-called ambassadors of the institution, developing new audiences, and strengthening their engagement. It is assumed that they admire the institutional vision as well as the curatorial programme and unconditionally commit to its promotion among diverse groups of people. At the same time, cultural mediators are mostly hired for projects on fixed-term contracts, which do not include either time or (office) space required for building trust, loyalty, and sense of belonging. The talk will focus on the political and ethical position of mediators in cultural institutions and projects in an attempt to understand whose interests s/he is supposed to advocate – those of institution, curators, artists, audience, or his/her own? In her professional experience, cultural worker and educator.

Episode 2. Kaija Kaitavuori. It’s all mediating! Art institutions as contact/conflict zones

The episode looks at the professional layer between the production and the reception or consumption of art.The focus is on its public-facing side, i.e. activities directed towards the audiences and visitors, working between partly contrasting expectations of widening participation and democratization of access, and a preoccupation with excellence and quality.

Episode 3. François Matarasso. Building Capabilities: Art, Human Rights and Social Change

The talk looks at what the right ‘to participate in the cultural life of the community’ (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 27) means in practice and suggests how the capability approach can be a route to empowerment and social change.

Q&A with François Matarasso on MeM Agents Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=135057848554886

Episode 4. Ieva Niedre. Applied Theater as a Mediator in Community Work

As a culture production platform, Foundation INITIUM works with applied theatre and combines different contemporary methods and tools: verbatim, sight-specific theatre, immersive theatre, contemporary dance, etc. With partners from Lithuania and Estonia, INITIUM organizes workshops for professional artists and facilitators who connect artistic teams and communities. With concrete examples, Ieva Niedre tells how collective exploration of social or political issues and people’s needs results in an applied theatre performance.

Q&A with Ieva Niedre on MeM Agents Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=3674850052644248

Episode 5. Martina Marti. How Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Relate to Art

What do diversity, equality, and inclusion mean, and how can we integrate them into our everyday thinking and doing? How do these issues relate to art? Do we need them in the context of art, or do they clash with the idea of art as independent and universal? How do they relate to artistic freedom? The session aims at giving listeners a foundation on which they can build their understanding of the terms within the specificities of their work.

Q&A with Martina Marti on MeM Agents of Change Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=174931984500675

Episode 6. Darla Deardorff. Developing Intercultural Competences through Story Circles

The episode focuses on a very successful intercultural methodology called Story Circles. Story Circles help participants develop and practice key intercultural competencies.

Q&A with Darla Deardorff on MeM Agents of Change Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=218258736326776

Episode 7. Csilla Ariese. Practicing Decoloniality: Museum Examples to Inspire Cultural Actors

Practicing decoloniality in the museum is the many approaches through which the current day hooks of the colonial beast are untangled from the museum institution. In this presentation, we discuss the challenges of decolonizing museums and present our upcoming book with many different practical examples to help museums find ways to decolonize.

The publication “Practicing Decoloniality: A Practical Guide with Examples from Museums” by Csilla Ariese and Magdalena Wróblewska is a part of the ECHOES project which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

Q&A with Magdalena Wroblewska, Csilla Ariese’s co-author of the book “Practicing Decoloniality. A Practical Guide with Examples from Museums”  on MeM Agents of Change Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=747713869250696

Episode 8. Armando Perla. Making Space for Historically Excluded Voices

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic not only forced us to rethink our daily lives and the way we work, but also the way the cultural sector maintains and perpetuates inequality and oppression. This has exposed the shocking impoverishment existing in all the sectors of our societies. The current crises facing the world today are a clear indication that working towards decolonization is needed now more than ever. However, decolonisation should only be considered as a means to an end and not the goal itself. This presentation will explore how decolonization can be a tool for making space for those historically excluded voices.

Q&A with Armando Perla on MeM Agents of Change Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=224232475806405

Bonus episode: Daniela Ramos Arias. On art mediation practices in Bergen

In her talk, Daniela presents two projects that have shaped her practice: the Education and Mediation Platform for Bergen Assembly 2019 and Translating Togetherness, a mediation program at Hordaland Kunstсenter during 2020-2021.

MeM Impact Evaluation by MA, MEd, independent researcher Sadjad Shokoohi

The evaluation of the project has started from the very beginning as an integral part of all the project activities. The evaluators team participated in all the project partner meetings, as well as in all the international and part of the local educational and networking events and provided the partners with ongoing feedback. 

In order to provide the project organizers with formative and summative evaluations regarding the impacts of the project, qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed. This was accomplished through continuous collection and analysis of data; however, three main phases of the study were baseline, medium and final phases. This final report builds on the baseline, mid-term and final data and presents evaluation findings on the achievements of the project in regards to its impacts. Hence, the report provides answers to the following main questions: To what extent has MeM achieved its intended impacts?  and What unintended impacts (positive and/or negative) has MeM produced? 

The report is produced to be disseminated to the project partner institutions and relevant organizations. 

Contact information:  Sadjad Shokoohi, sadjad.shokoohi@gmail.com.

MeM Impact Evaluation by MA, MEd, independent researcher Sadjad Shokoohi

The evaluation of the project has started from the very beginning as an integral part of all the project activities. The evaluators team participated in all the project partner meetings, as well as in all the international and part of the local educational and networking events and provided the partners with ongoing feedback. 

In order to provide the project organizers with formative and summative evaluations regarding the impacts of the project, qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed. This was accomplished through continuous collection and analysis of data; however, three main phases of the study were baseline, medium and final phases. This final report builds on the baseline, mid-term and final data and presents evaluation findings on the achievements of the project in regards to its impacts. Hence, the report provides answers to the following main questions: To what extent has MeM achieved its intended impacts?  and What unintended impacts (positive and/or negative) has MeM produced? 

The report is produced to be disseminated to the project partner institutions and relevant organizations. 

Contact information:  Sadjad Shokoohi, sadjad.shokoohi@gmail.com.