A platform to investigate other institutional forms
MAR arises from the need to generate structures of support and collective thinking for professionals and organizations linked to cultural mediation in Spain. The project is based on problems identified by the sector itself, such as job insecurity, the difficulty in sustaining long-term community processes or the lack of shared tools to document methodologies and learning.
The platform works from an open and flexible logic that its promoters define as an “amoebic” structure. The three nodes of the project maintain continuous exchanges and adapt their work formats to the needs detected in each context.
From the Citizen Art axis of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, MAR promotes more horizontal relationships between cultural institutions, educational agents, mediation professionals and participating communities.
Three connected nodes
ALZAR articulates a national network of working groups and spaces for exchange between cultural mediation professionals. Its activities address issues related to care, hiring, labor agreements, professional sustainability and memory of community cultural practices.
NOTE develops residencies and research linked to critical pedagogies and collective learning processes. The program launches public calls aimed at artists, mediators, and cultural agents interested in experimental methodologies and situated work.
CAJA brings together a digital archive of tools, methodologies and open materials on artistic mediation and art + education. The repository seeks to facilitate the circulation and reuse of knowledge generated inside and outside the platform.
Research, meetings and shared resources
In addition to its permanent lines of work, MAR organises public meetings and collective research activities. These include REMEDIAR, a conference focused on cultural mediation and alter-institutionality that brought together professionals, researchers and cultural agents to discuss models of organisation and sustainability in the sector.
The platform also works on the construction of documentary resources and shared archives with cultural institutions such as the Reina Sofía Museum. The aim is to strengthen the visibility and legitimisation of mediation practices within the contemporary cultural ecosystem.