Direct Complement: to promote specialization in cultural mediation

At the Foundation we conceive cultural mediation as a fundamental vehicle for social transformation through art. Aware of the need to support the specificity of the figure of the mediator and to promote the professionalization of the sector, we launched together with the hablarenarte association Complement Directo, a program of scholarships and cultural mediation accompaniment that supports the strengthening of a key profession in the development of a critical society.

Support for cultural mediation and its multiple possibilities as a tool for social cohesion is one of the Foundation’s main commitments. Mediation practices are a direct stimulus to the curiosity, critical spirit and empowerment of citizens through artistic and cultural practices, making mediation professionals fundamental agents in the democratization of culture and the exercise of cultural rights.

Within this framework, we launched Complement Directo, a programme to support higher education in cultural mediation, in collaboration with the cultural association hablarenarte. The initiative will award 14 scholarships to carry out postgraduate studies focused on or linked to cultural mediation, at universities or study centers in Spain, during the 2021-22 academic year.

Aware that postgraduate training in mediation is taught in very localised geographical areas and unevenly distributed throughout the territory, we also trust that these grants will promote equal opportunities to access these studies, regardless of the place of origin of those who wish to study them.

In addition to the financial support of €2,500 per scholarship, Complement Directo is enriched with a mentoring program that will provide beneficiaries with additional training to their formal studies, effective immersion in the professional network and support in professional guidance at the end of postgraduate studies, through accompaniment sessions, individual and collective, which will function as spaces for mutual care and learning.

This scholarship program is intended for people of any nationality who are pre-registered, admitted or enrolled in any of the cultural mediation study programs, or related, available in Spain. We will give priority to the applications of those people who have more difficulty accessing higher education due to income issues, as well as proposals to pursue studies whose contents are more aligned with the approach of the call. Cultural diversity, gender, profiles and trajectories, as well as destination universities, will also be assessment criteria in the selection process.

This scholarship program is intended for people of any nationality who are pre-registered, admitted or enrolled in any of the cultural mediation study programs, or related, available in Spain. We will give priority to the applications of those people who have more difficulty accessing higher education due to income issues, as well as proposals to pursue studies whose contents are more aligned with the approach of the call. Cultural diversity, gender, profiles and trajectories, as well as destination universities, will also be assessment criteria in the selection process.

A path for a new necessary

institutionalityThe practices of mediation and cultural education are fundamental for the generation of other possible relationships between institutions and citizens, blurring traditional boundaries and favoring more democratic and participatory institutional forms that contribute to a true cultural democracy.

At the Foundation we believe in the power of transformation that cultural mediation brings about and the possibilities to contribute to a better society. Through our Citizen Art line, we have supported since our inception numerous educational projects in cultural institutions, cultural mediation and collaborative artistic practices that demonstrate their potential.

An example of our concern is the study Foto Fija On the situation of cultural mediation in the Spanish State 2018-19 that we promoted together with Pedagogías Invisibles and which confirmed some fundamental aspects that have served to guide our action in this field more precisely, such as the diversity of terminologies, the fragility of mediation as a professional profile, the lack of formal training or the scarcity of economic resources allocated to education in cultural institutions. The results of this study reveal the crucial role of specialised training, both in contributing to the visibility and legitimisation of the figure of the mediator and in improving the employability and working conditions of mediators.

But we have also promoted relations between civil society and institutions through the accompaniment of cultural mediation projects with the call Alliances for a Cultural Democracy, a commitment that has made it possible to support different initiatives that promote other possible ways of approaching the arts from the exchange of experiences, mutual support and the co-construction of new imaginaries; o Concomitentes, an initiative that promotes the creation of works of art and in which mediation professionals facilitate the process between the civil society that commissions them and the artists who produce them.

Complement Directo is another example of our commitment to continue contributing to the strengthening of the ecosystem of cultural mediation, its agents and work networks, but also to the enhancement of its possibilities inside and outside the institutions to build fairer, more inclusive and sustainable societies in all its dimensions.

Direct Complement. Support programme for higher education in cultural mediation

• 14 scholarships for postgraduate studies in cultural mediation or related studies at universities or study centres in Spain.
• Intended for students of any nationality pre-registered in the studies for which the aid is requested.
• Financial support of €2,500 per scholarship.
• Mentoring and accompaniment programme for beneficiaries.
• Application open until September 12, 2021.