Online work and discussion time, Malta, 2020.

Pilot Study Malta

University of Malta, NSFW – Culture Venture supported by MGRM

The main objective of this study is to create a theatre production that puts a focus on the stigma of people living with HIV in Malta. 
The specific research questions that this study aims to address are:
How can theatre advocate for the rights of HIV positive persons?
Can theatre have an impact on people’s attitudes towards discrimination?
Can research in the field help to develop characters that will provide new roles for Maltese speaking professional actors?
Research methods include a pre- and post-online survey, interviews with participants, an evaluation of the online theatrical production (rehearsed reading) and a paper and pencil survey of the visitors of the public theatrical production.

Toni Attard and Simon Bartolo, 2020. NSFW Project, Malta.

Pilot Study Czech Republic

Charles University, Prague

Using mixed methods based on Participatory Action Research, art based and a/r/tographical approaches, this research project investigated the possibilities of home art gallery education during the pandemic. It aimed to understand what educational models can be designed to meet creative, critical and art based learning requirements when people are isolated from cultural resources? And what is the artist´s role in these processes?

The pilot study´s accent was educational. However, the pilot study included artistic creative processes (taking photos; creating glass installations; family performance, etc.) and communication with participants (direct oral and distance). The goal was to overcome the participants’ isolation, to provoke and support communication about the glass objects and related family identities and memories. Glass objects were used as a tool for transferring the family memory.

Home Glass Sharing, Magdalena Novotna, 2020.

Home Glass Sharing, Magdalena Novotna, 2020.

Pilot Study Hungary

Corvinus University, Budapest

This research project intends to empower young Roma girls and women to effectively express themselves online, develop a powerful presence and give voice to contemporary, social issues and achievements. Roma artists were invited as sources of inspiration and mentoring. Innovative project methodology: Social media have not been utilised before to provide artistic content and thus utilise the Arts to overcome barriers between the communities of the majority (Hungarians) and minority (Hungarian Roma) and promote discussions about common problems. These involve integrated schooling versus segregation, prejudices versus facts based assessment of Roma lifestyles and recognition of artistic achievements.

1. Is it possible to change the mindset of Hungarian youth through arts-based social media messages reflecting Roma achievements? 
2. Can young women of Roma heritage establish themselves in social media through cultural messages?
3. Do they have an appeal and impact beyond their own community, also among Hungarian youth?
4. Can they have an impact on the attitudes and publication practices of mass media covering Roma issues?

Participant reading during the break, 2020.

Pilot Study Italy

PACO Collaborative, Milan (supported by L’ Albero della Vita)

The project deals with the marginalisation that kids and teenagers living in the suburban areas of Milan feel every day. These areas are often dominated by neglect and crime. The challenge is to give youth an opportunity to become active citizens and to help them imagine and design a better place to live in.

How can participatory art help youth to become agents of change in their own community? How can participatory art give youth the possibility to look beyond everyday realities? 

Research methods included meetings with the participants’ parents, WhatsApp connections, Zoom and Miro presentations, group interviews,  note-taking and recordings. PACO used photography as a research tool. Photography gave the youth the possibility to focus their minds on details that their daily routine hid from them. This is the starting point for becoming agents of change and to reflect on the power they have to improve the environment they live in. 

 

#baggiodaimieiocchi, third lecture, Milan, 2020.

Pilot Study Portugal

Associação de Professores de Expressão e Comunicação Visual, Viseu

This research project worked to improve access to educational activities by persons with mental disabilities living in rural areas. The study aimed to understand the nature of learning spaces through arts-based and educational activities that made use of photovoice. Designers, artists, educators, caregivers and other facilitators contributed to the social emancipation and social inclusion of participants.

Working with research methods ranging from participant observation, photovoice and Gentle Teaching practices (a form of therapy that relies on the creation of strong connections and a sense of trust between participants and caregivers), APECV promoted art making and collaborative learning experiences to foster emotional well being.

Carlos Sousa and Juliana Ferreira Os Lugares, Viseu, 2020.

Pilot Study Finland

University of Lapland, Rovaniemi

The project approached the city of Rovaniemi as a common home for all its inhabitants. Neighbourhood and Love Talks arose from the need to meet, interact and connect with another person -- a neighbour, an unknown person on the street, a family member – open-mindedly and without preconceived notions. Intercultural connections were strongly present in one of the artistic works by immigrants to Finland: as asylum seekers they chose to build a scaled model of the Ishtar Gate, which symbolises a show of love for their new home country Finland.

Methods for data collection included workshops, participant observations, interviews (focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews) and video documentation. The workshops were organised by lead artists.

Love Talks, Mirja Hiltunen, 2020. Rovaniemi.

Work between the Pilot Studies: AMASS reflexive dialogues: how relationships are formed and sustained in art-based projects?

University of Leeds, the UK

Common practices of Art as Social Sculpture focus on experimentation and process where artists create work and re-iterate principles to structure and shape society and society's impacts. Artists, working together with individuals and communities actively explore and identify alternatives to the formal production and consumption of art practices and outcomes. An open-ended focus on the process instead of the outcome means that projects sometimes do not succeed as intended. 

Our team at the School of Design, University of Leeds are undertaking research that aims to identify and describe threads or themes of connection and association within the participatory art-based projects - a complex set of interconnected contexts. In October 2020, a series of workshops have been conducted with each partner in the AMASS project. A set of bespoke participatory tools were developed to capture project partners' relationships throughout the development of the grant application and the ongoing development of their work after the project started. 

Data analysis is currently underway. A range of themes will be identified to form the basis of our reflection upon the development of future-facing, sustainable relationships for research partnerships.

Tang Tang and Paul Wilson, 2020. University of Leeds.