06-07 April 2020 - Rooms NI.110-111-112
In the context of the migrant and refugee crisis, the EU Member States
and the European Union itself have recently demonstrated sensitivity toward
exploring the ways in which media, the arts and performative practices are able
to both facilitate intercultural dialogue among migrant and host communities –
thereby empowering their participation in social life –, and to promote
cultural diversity (different ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic
backgrounds and heritage) within European societies. Indeed, different
“liberal” and “applied” arts (film, theatre & performance, photography,
crafts, architecture, design, etc.) as well as emerging cross-media forms
(interactive and social media, games, street art, circus and performative
practices, etc.), have a pivotal role to play in this direction. In a nutshell,
“artistic and cultural expressions can help us to communicate with each other,
in an immediate manner, and allow us to understand our similarities as well our
differences, in an area where we must also resolve disputes “ (Report How
culture and the arts can promote intercultural dialogue in the context of the
migratory and refugee crisis, 2017, p. 10).
Despite this high potential for opening new perspectives on EU societies
based on integration and a willingness to engage in dialogue, these guidelines
seem mostly unexplored and little discussed within the academic communities –
primarily focused on the current regime of representation of migrant people and
newcomers. Moreover, it can hardly be disregarded that a practical
implementation of these guidelines faces many difficulties: national cultural
policies affect cultural productions by institutionalizing the process of
othering through rhetorical discourses and hegemonic representations; the
projects and practices in this field are often vital but fragmented and poorly
reciprocally connected (also due to their strong roots in specific areas and
territories); the skills and professional figures associated with these
processes are poorly defined and have no particular training centres; and
finally, the evaluation methods of the initiatives are different and lacking
consolidated protocols. The combination of all these factors produces a
fundamental weakness in a sector that in any case, remains extremely lively and
promising.
On this basis, and within the framework of a research program that the
UCSC’s Department of Communication Sciences and Performing Arts has been
developing over the last two years Migrations / Mediations. Media and
performative arts as tools for the intercultural dialogue: this International Conference intends to
gather academic and independent researchers, artists, cultural providers,
public and private funders, and policymakers – both at a local and at an
international level – with the aims to:
- Reflect on the role of media, arts and culture in the management of policies devoted to migration phenomena, also on the basis of an exchange of best and worst practices;
- Focus on the ways and the degrees in which media, arts and culture have been considered as critical tools for intercultural dialogue by policymakers, at different levels (local, national, European).
- Draw attention to the ways through which artists and cultural providers can create and develop models of action in territories oriented toward bringing host populations into contact with migrants and refugees, as well as to empower newcomers themselves by offering a space for dialogue and a basis for voice-attaining and self-organising;
- Empower the professional figure of the cultural provider in contexts of intercultural and shifting societies, by defining its skills, methods of work, and formation paths.
- Develop a specific set of tools and a methodology to assess the social, cultural and economic impact of intercultural dialogue activities through arts, media and culture. Along with quantitative indicators of success, such as counting audiences reached or scoring intercultural stakeholders included in the action, it is worthwhile to elaborate new models of evaluation for the measurement and assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of such projects.
On these bases, we invite abstracts on any of the following topics.
- Practices of empowerment of intercultural dialogue through media, arts and performative activities.
- Networks (formal and informal) with publicly-funded cultural organizations, civil society and other stakeholders.
- Employment opportunities for migrants in cultural and creative industries.
- Comparisons between the approaches of public and private media.
- The role of immigrant/diaspora/minority media.
- Participatory media and arts projects devoted to working directly with refugee and migrant groups in socially engaged practice.
- Audience development strategies aiming at promoting cultural diversity.
- Practices and experiences in assessing projects in the field of intercultural dialogue
- Fundraising creative projects to support intercultural dialogue and migrants
- The formation of cultural providers and the role of intercultural dialogue professionals in supporting cultural and artistic projects for the integration of refugees and migrants.
Please note, this is not an exhaustive list of topics, and we will
review any abstracts related to the media and
migration/immigration/multiculturalism and related topics. Especially welcome
are submissions rooted in media studies, visual, performative and cultural
studies, critical data studies, postcolonial studies and from scholars who
build bridges between academia, policy, public and private funding, media
system, arts and public debate, and stakeholders’ networks.
The deadline for the submissions is 1 February 2020. Interested
contributors should send a 300-500 word abstract and a short biographical note
at the following e-mail address: migrations-mediations@unicatt.it.
The accepted proposals will be notified by 15 February 2020. The languages
of the conference are Italian and English (the latter is preferred).
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