Art-mediation and Inclusion educational podcast has been designed as a substitute to live meetings between experts and participants of the educational programme, which is an essential part of the MeM project. Our speakers are renowned experts in the fields of mediation, art history, community engagement, and inclusion. The subtitles to the episodes are available in English, Swedish, Finnish, Latvian, Finnish and Russian languages. Tune in to learn more about art-mediation practices!
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.