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A Brief Review of the Preparatory Art Mediation Workshops for Dhaka Art Summit 2018

by Dr. Rachel Mader, Head of the Competence Centre for Art and Design in Public Space, HSLU in Lucerne, Switzerland

Most, if not all, of the participants of the workshop on art mediation in Dhaka were hearing this term for the first time. Their persistent questioning of what exactly the term art mediation meant, was therefore not only an expression of a deep interest in the subject, but proved to be a fruitful start to discussing how art mediation could be practiced in a context like the Dhaka Art Summit.

SKETCH ESSAY: DAS 2018 Art Mediation Training Workshop

by Lena Eriksson, Lecturer, Lucerne School of Art and Design

In September 2017, the Samdani Art Foundation placed an open call for Bangladeshi art enthusiasts (over 22 years old) to apply for the opportunity to participate in a unique art mediation programme. The idea of Art Mediation was very new to Bangladesh, but from a pool of 65 applicants, 25 art mediators were selected from a diversity of backgrounds, to be trained as art mediators by Dr. Rachel Mader and Lena Eriksson in a series of workshops between the 2 - 6 October 2017.

RESIDENCY: Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty - The Meaning of Mediation

by Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty

mediation: to intervene between two conflicting parties to promote reconciliation, settlement, or compromise.

This word ‘mediation’ – or the act of ‘mediating’ – especially when applied to the act of viewing art, was a new concept to me before I travelled to the city of Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala, earlier in 2017. I had been invited to attend an ‘Art Mediation’ workshop co-organised by Prohelvetia New Delhi and faculty members at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland during the third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.

OPEN CALL: Join the Art Mediation Team for the Dhaka Art Summit 2018

In partnership with Swiss Arts Council Prohelvetia, New Delhi and the Lucerne University of Applied Science and Art, the Samdani Art Foundation is looking for art enthusiasts to work as Art Mediators during the Dhaka Art Summit 2018.

Art Mediation intends to widen access to art for different audiences, especially those not very familiar with art. Recently invented mediation formats break with the traditional idea of art mediation where experts explain the arts.

INTRODUCING: DAS 2018 Guest Curator, Cosmin Costinas

Cosmin Costinas, Director at Para-Site in Hong Kong, will be joining the Dhaka Art Summit 2018 team as one of nine invited Guest Curators. Costinas exhibition A beast, a god and a line will form an important part of DAS 2018's offer, weaving together various historical connections across a geography with Bengal at its core, and widening DAS's focus, for the first time, to include connections to Southeast Asia. As his curatorial research develops, we caught up with Costinas to find out more about his interests as a curator and his career to date.

RESIDENCY: Abhijan Gupta in Residence at HSLU – University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Luzern, Switzerland

by Abhijan Gupta, Curatorial Intern, Dhaka Art Summit

In May 2017, ProHelvetia New Delhi invited me to participate in a two-week research residency focusing on the techniques and methodologies of art mediation at HSLU – Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Hochschule Luzern . For those unfamiliar with art mediation, it is a technique that creates an alternative to the traditional top-down approach of information exchange between curator and visitor to create a dialogue that draws opinions from the visitor about the work they are engaging with, producing a non-hierarchical cultural space where all opinions are valid.

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