In this week’s discussion, I examine the visions, goals, ethics, and values of a range of organizations used as exemplars.
One of the teams I worked with focused on the rather specific case of SLIENCE UNIVERSITY (which seems quite different from other arts center organizations) and I examined their working practices and their local and global contexts, which I can tentatively define as a civic knowledge exchange platform for the public good – -An ‘educational platform free from immigration laws, language restrictions and other bureaucratic barriers’. It is made up of migrants and displaced persons with problematic status and a group of migrants, also mainly from the Third World, who lead the discipline and provide transversal teaching programs as lecturers, advisors, and researchers. Their work is dedicated to educating people “who have received professional and academic training in their home countries but who, for various reasons related to their status, are unable to use their skills or professional training”, enabling them to obtain equal access to education and make a difference in their place of immigration.
At the heart of the organization’s ethical principles is the first of these, “Everyone has the right to education”, followed by the revolutionary “immediate recognition of academic backgrounds”, the transcendence of language and law, the adoption of an outlawed bureaucratic management model, and decolonized pedagogy. The university aims to address and reactivate the knowledge of its participants and to make the exchange process mutually beneficial by inventing alternative currencies instead of money or free voluntary services.
Such groundbreaking and revolutionary innovations, while adding to the dynamism of the organization in practice, also invariably add more complexity and difficulty to the practice. In the first instance, two items in the section on “Principles and requirements” highlight the potential contradictions and problems of such a public interest organization: in education, “a decentralized, participatory, horizontal and autonomous model of education, rather than a centralized, authoritarian, oppressive and compulsory one. ” This implies stronger participation for the members of the organization and for the sharing of knowledge, which in practice is made more difficult by the fact that for many of these migrants in difficult circumstances, the educational environment and time of day are not guaranteed. Politically, one of the aims of the organization is to provide asylum for refugees, and “we are in solidarity with other refugee struggles and collectives around the world”, trying to “transcend the confines of border politics”, which adds pressure to the organization. Economically, as a self-governing organization, the organization has been able to work in partnership with the refugees. Financially, as a self-organized community of knowledge for the public good, the question of how to obtain financial support to continue operating is a crucial one. As more and more people join the organization, or access knowledge through its platform, inevitably costs will increase.
But overall, the organization is still undeniably a highly desirable and ground-breaking one. Breaking the shackles of segregated knowledge, spreading it equally, and providing equal access to education for more people in need is a very good thing. But good intentions and ideals alone are not enough, I think it still requires better planning and seeking the help of capable organizations to help them go further.
But this project has inspired what I think is a good point to think about arts organizations. It made me think about the very moving values of an organization: freedom and equal opportunity. Such values guide the construction of an environment of freedom and equality in practice.
So when thinking about ethical principles, I initially thought about the following, which seemed to fit the context in which I was thinking
1. protecting the right of every person to participate in learning
2. constructing decentralized organizational governance
3. develop mutually beneficial learning and business models
4. ensure financial transparency
5. creating an organizational culture with a human face
And through the organizational form of contemporary art practice, I think it is a great way to work towards providing a space for the voices of oppressed and excluded minorities to be heard. We can make minority artists, oppressed non-professional artists, and struggling artists with artistic talent our targets, as well as important members of our organization.
Through any form, video, painting, installation, or text, one can realize their artwork within the art organization. And thinking about the relationship between organizing such an exhibition and the artist, I see its function as providing a space for people to realize their values (for the artist), and for the audience, based on a context of empathy and exchange of understanding. It is a harmonious and comfortable relationship, as much as the telling of a story. In terms of curatorial content, thematically, by integrating the genres of the artists’ artworks and extracting keywords, the concepts of similar artists are fused into one big theme. Determining the exhibition space and dates, translating the concept of the exhibition into advertisements and posters that are directed towards the community after considering a viable audience. And ultimately there is no getting around the economic issues, as an arts organization undertaking an exhibition, a rough budget plan can be made for the basic required purchases and allocations, with the organization executing the installation of the exhibition in terms of financial support, through collaboration with relevant businesses and sponsorship in the form of charity events.
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