Opening of the 2024 “Mediation and Cultural Democracy” call for projects: a national and rural dimension

In 2020 and 2022, the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation launched the first two editions of the “Mediation and Cultural Democracy” call for projects in the Hauts-de-France region. This experimental program has encouraged the emergence of 23 artistic proposals carried out by ecosystems of actors from various backgrounds: citizens, artists, elected officials, professionals in the cultural, social and educational fields. Today, we are extending the call to the whole of the national territory and locating it in rural areas, with the hope that new local alliances can emerge.

Acting from a perspective of cultural democracy

Cultural policies have been based on the notion of democratization: an approach focused on bringing art and artists together with citizens; towards the accessibility of the cultural offer to as many people as possible. This top-down dynamic is now being called into question by many actors in the cultural field: “all cultures are based on the active participation of people, both individually and collectively,” reads the framework note of the call for projects (available below). The notion of cultural democracy, which drives our experiment, makes it possible to reinvest in this field by recognizing the plurality and equality of cultures, by “considering each person as the bearer of a cultural identity and, as such, as a true cultural actor.”

Encouraging citizen initiatives in rural areas

We are re-situating this call for projects in order to contribute to the emergence of new citizen synergies in rural areas, weakened by socio-economic difficulties, problems of geographical mobility or the networking of a scattered cultural offer. For us, it is a question of promoting the cooperation of all stakeholders, over several years, in projects developed in resonance with a territory and its particularities. “The Foundation intends to enable project leaders to embark on new, singular and innovative initiatives, by offering them a space for experimentation over the long term, to test new forms of participation and creation.”

An overview of past experiments

In 2020 and 2022, 23 projects were supported in the Hauts-de-France. These experiments, which took place in urban or rural areas, involved a wide variety of ecosystems. A lively path of artistic and living projects has been traced to connect the inhabitants of a working-class neighborhood and the people with mental disabilities of a medico-educational institute [FAB Lab Butterfly Effect]; the members and users of an association have organised a creative cohabitation with homeless people occupying a city passage, between two frequented areas [Le Pas Sage]; artists and citizens have artistically surveyed a territory on the borders of two administrative regions, to create a common work [Par les deux bouts / Parler debout]; a show company and an artistic association have organised a cultural office in the heart of a village [Aux Arts citoyens]. So many initiatives “with meaning and potential for transformation” that revitalize links and places.

“We were given financial means, but also symbolic means: it is because we were trusted in the commitment to an ideal that we dared to carry out our project. It is important to understand that we are in a rural area where it is sometimes difficult to convince people of the interest of cultural mediation, and the help of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation has played a role in external approval that has legitimized us. »

Caroline Panzera explains.

Supporting projects in maturation or deployment

Artists, residents, elected officials, professionals in culture, education, the environment, urban planning, social action, and representatives of local economic life are encouraged to cooperate and analyse their practices. Whatever the disciplinary fields concerned — visual arts, music, dance, theater, literature, cinema, photography, architecture, design, scientific culture, etc. — the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation supports, through funding and targeted actions, projects in the “deployment” phase and initiatives in the “maturation” phase, which need to be consolidated.

TERMS

Call for projects Mediation and cultural democracy

Launch date: Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Deadline for submitting funding applications: Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at 6 p.m., exclusively online via the dedicated platform.

All the information and practical questions are presented in the framework note to be downloaded at the bottom of the page.

Photo credits: ©DR