According to Carmen Mörsch, Head of the Research Institute for Art Education at Zurich University of the Arts, «cultural mediation—and in my eyes this is its most important function, one for which there is no substitute—allows space for a resistant cultural practice, removed from elite enclaves of art appreciation and populist strategies of audience development.»
The aim of mediation is the regulation of connections, critical consideration of current events and dialogue with the viewer, and also the role of cultural intermediary, which is the goal of the mediation program Around the Garages. It will allow visitors to be in contact with art in the context of a range of Garage programs and in the Museum’s various spaces. While there are no exhibitions, the mediation program is constructed as a series of events of different formats in different locations.
A mediator is an intermediary between the institution and visitors who communicates with tour or masterclass participants as equals. A mediator can express their identity, share their opinion, and encourage participants to do the same. The aim of mediation is not to teach but to provoke interest and excite.
Nine mediators, selected as the result of an open call and having undergone a two-month training course, will become guides for visitors to the Museum’s space and, in future, to the Narkomfin Building.
The title of the program appeared after a discussion between the curator of the program and the mediators. For them it was important to stress the mosaic-like nature of participation: each participant will see their own Garage when taking part in the mediation program.
In the main Garage building, the Seasons of the Year pavilion, mediations will cover Oleg Baranov’s project Going Down, special sessions in the World Gone By computer class, and also the collection of artist’s books in Garage Library. At Garage Studios at VDNKh there will be meetings with residents and discussion of their artistic practice.
You can take part in one mediation or visit every «garage» by participating in all of them.
The mediators have also developed a program of meetings about collective writing practices for adults and two programs for teens: a series of four meetings about contemporary museums and a two-month program on working with text.
Mediation Program Curator: Maria Romanova