Untitled - Narodowe Centrum Kultury

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purpose of pieces such as this one is to make you pause for a moment, examine
your experiences and realise your choices rather than to establish
a set of obligatory methods, which would be doomed to fail.
Model 1: The paratrooper
and the fish
The starting point of some projects is the assumption that there are
places where people lack something – they have fewer opportunities,
including limited cultural opportunities, experience exclusion or live in
socially deprived areas. Brief descriptions of these projects often focus
on shortages and planned actions aim to reduce them. Sometimes, but
not always, these projects are developed within institutions and organisations
based in big cities (but, of course, not necessarily by native inhabitants
of the cities). They are created by culture animators and educators
who are ready to take their experiences, skills and tools with
them into the field – leave the city and bring workshops or other activities
to a village or a small town. This model, then, requires animators
to be mobile, able to work outside of their everyday environment, adapt
to new circumstances, use tools and methods that are as universal as
possible, have above average communication skills, and be ready to enter
into intensive but rather brief relationships. It should also involve indepth
research or at least a reconnaissance before the project is implemented.
In this model, therefore, the animator is part special agent and
paratrooper, part missionary, and part travelling magician.
She prepares and plans her projects (which usually takes a relatively
long time) in her home base, and then, in the field, runs a series
of activities, each of which follows a similar scenario but in a different
place and with different people. The main tool used in each activity
is the metaphorical fish brought to participants by the animator after
she had caught it or even cooked it.
It seems that the key advantage here is that travelling animators
bring these projects to people (often young people) who are happy to get
involved, gaining new and inspiring practical experiences. Final events of
the project often serve as an opportunity to take part in an informal meeting,
gather residents around the final effect, are a reason for celebration
and pride. Here lies their unquestionable strength. In addition, these projects
are – to use an ugly word – “efficient”. In a relatively short time and
with the help of an uncomplicated tool, they make it possible to reach
a wide audience, which in turn can ensure – to use project jargon – good
“performance metrics”. For the animator, this type of project means an intense
effort in a given (usually short) time; it can be scheduled for summer
vacation so that it does not clash with the daily routine.
The primary challenge of such projects is the role of the animator
who takes a momentary plunge into the local community. Dropping
like a paratrooper, she falls into a web of complex and delicate relationships.
The model offers no time to investigate these relationships, to
take account of them or include them in the project in any other way.
Typically, animators seek to find out the bare minimum that will allow
them to implement their project – it is usually enough to talk to the parish
priest, village administrator or school headmaster to legitimise and
gain approval for the proposed activities. But the animators who decide
on a short visit and, consequently, a shallow relationship, without taking
account of the local divisions, tensions and the unique character of
local relationships, must realise they can be rejected or misunderstood.
And if they succeed in engaging the interest of at least some community
members (which is usually the case), they face another problem.
When we offer a one-off activity, we don’t always remember (or we do
not want to or cannot remember) to leave participants a tool as well
as a necessary set of skills to enable them to continue the activities by
themselves, developing the newly unleashed creative potential. The key
question and a big challenge of this model lies in the ambiguous issue of
the animator’s responsibilities and the limits of her role.
Example projects
Zachęta on Wheels, a project run by the National Gallery of Art
Zachęta in small village schools in Kuyavia-Pomerania Province.
http://zachetanakolkach.blogspot.com/
http://www.akademiaorange.pl/projects/edukacja/0/info/
zacheta_na_kolkach/
4x3: Travelling Photography Workshops, photography workshops
for children from 12 locations in the four corners of Poland, a project
of the Sputnik Photos Association.
http://4x3.sputnikphotos.com/
Soundwalks, audio workshops and creative activities for residents
of small towns in Kuyavia-Pomerania Province, held by UTU Factory
Foundation.
http://dzwiekospacery.art.pl/
Poland 8–18, short photography workshops for children in 16
small towns and villages across Poland in 2008, a project of the Association
of Creative Initiatives “ę”.
http://e.org.pl/polska/