Untitled - Narodowe Centrum Kultury

18
What makes culture animators
different from, say, salespeople is that
they strive to satisfy needs, not generate
them. The paradox of this job is that in
the ideal world of animators’ dreams
they themselves are no longer needed.
several days, even if designed as an extensive programme of several
sessions, will not exhaust all important topics or develop all useful skills.
Firstly, a large portion of knowledge comes from experience which can
only be obtained first-hand. Secondly, trainings offer an “average”,
trimmed package – there is usually neither enough time nor place for
one-to-one work with each participant. That said, these projects certainly
help each participant to make the first step on her chosen path.
Example projects
Youth in Action Programme, Action 1.2: Youth Initiatives is dedicated
to informal groups of young people with ideas for local social
and cultural activities.
http://www.mlodziez.org.pl/akcja-1/przewodnik-po-akcji/
inicjatywy-mlodziezowe
Senior Citizens in Action, a project of the Association of Creative
Initiatives “ę” aimed at local leaders aged 55+. a mixture of grant competition
and workshops, the project offers participants the chance to
bring to life the ideas they have always put off.
http://seniorzywakcji.pl/
Young Cultural Managers, workshops, micro-grants and support
for young people from small towns to help them carry out original cultural
and social projects. a project of the Association of Creative Initiatives
“ę”.
http://mmk.e.org.pl/
Museum Without Walls, a series of education and art workshops
run by the Centre for Contemporary Art’s Laboratory of Creative Education.
The project is geared toward culture animators, teachers, museologists,
leaders – all those with an interest in methods of participatory
education and creation.
http://www.csw.art.pl/index.phpaction=edukacja&lang=&s2=labor
at_edu_two
School for Women Culture Animators, a leadership programme
for women organised by Konsola Women’s Association. After completing
the course, each participant received a micro-grant to carry
out her own idea.
http://konsola.org.pl/korzystaj/nasze_projekty/IDN=93
Model 5: The paratrooper swaps his
fish for a fishing rod
Joanna Bronisławska is a musician, composer and teacher. She performs
with several music groups and shares her passion with children
and youth as a teacher. She is also a travelling culture animator who
uses music as her tool. Joanna has been leading guest workshops for
many years. Originally, she travelled with her drums, rattles and other
instruments. The workshops were a huge success, but every time
she left people told her, “All’s great, but we don’t know what to do next
– we have no drums of our own.” She knew she had to change something,
so, being a fan of creative and offbeat methods, she decided to
make instruments on-site with workshop participants.
This is how Recycled Music was born – the idea to make sounds,
beats and tunes with plastic bags, glass jars, newspapers, tin pots,
metal lids, voices and grains inside Kinder Surprise shells.
Joanna’s idea exemplifies another model, akin to the first one
we discussed – the paratrooper model. In this model, the animator
also only stays for a short spell but brings with her not only a fish in
the form of one-off creative workshops, however interesting, but also
a fishing rod which she leaves behind with a chosen person or group.
Let’s imagine a travelling pinhole photography workshop. The animator
has four days to complete her project. For the first three days she
runs workshops for a dozen or so people using an improvised darkroom
(set up at a school or in a library) and tin-can cameras she has
brought along. On the fourth day a special session is held for a group
of willing participants and a representative of the host organisation.
Together, step by step, they learn how to build a camera obscura and
set up a darkroom as well as find out how and where to order photographic
materials online.
This might lead to a conversation about setting up a permanent
darkroom, e.g. in an unused utility room. After the meeting the animator
leaves, but the ball is now in the participants’ court – they are
able to continue the activities on their own. Whether they do it or not
is up to them.
The situation described is a model example. Obviously, not all
methods and tools can be passed on as easily as pinhole photography.