SUBMISSION DEADLINE 12.9.2021!
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Diversity Agents address a range of challenging and crucial issues such as structural racism, lack of equality and accessibility. As change makers and organizers, Diversity Agents offer ways to reflect, to develop tools, and to implement ways we can work towards a more equitable society. In this second edition of the Diversity Agent course special attention is given to recognizing structural racism and introducing anti-racist practices. The course encompasses lectures, meetings, and a diversity training clinic in collaboration with a local arts and culture organization.

Culture for All Service is partnering with Globe Art Point (G.A.P.) to bring the Diversity Agent 2.0 course to a wider audience across Finland. The course is coordinated by Culture for All Service, an organization committed to equity, inclusivity, accessibility, and diversity in all its activities and in the recruitment of new staff, and the organization supports the Finnish art and culture field in these issues. Culture for All Services and G.A.P. support all genders and people belonging to different minorities, regardless of e. g. gender or gender identity, ethnic background, potential disabilities, religion or age.

Target Group
Diversity Agent 2.0 Course is open for professionals of all art and culture fields, both those working as freelancers and those working or employed within arts and culture institutions.

We are looking for people with a professional background in the arts and culture and a keen interest in anti-racist practices and diversity. The course language is English; knowledge of the Finnish language can be useful but is not a requirement, and we also welcome applicants with knowledge of other languages. Those with experiences and/or an education from outside of Finland are also appreciated.

For this course we encourage applicants with migrant and foreign backgrounds or people belonging to language and cultural minorities.

Learning Objectives
The aim of the course is to offer tools for developing anti-racist practices and diversity in the arts and culture sector.

After the course, participants
+ will be familiar with key concepts such as anti-racism, diversity, equality, accessibility, norm criticism, structural racism and inclusion,
+ will have knowledge about the arts and culture sector in Finland as well as cultural policy,
+ will have tools and techniques required in facilitating a process of change towards a more diverse and equitable arts and culture field,
+ will know how to identify racist structures and how to address them in the workplace,
+ will have met experts in the field of arts and culture, diversity, anti-racism, equity and organizational change, and
+ will have practical and firsthand experience of strengthening Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Arts and Culture Sector.

Course Content
The course introduces participants to topics and practices related to anti-racism and applying a lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in an institutional context. Participants will become familiar with current issues and debates within the arts and culture sector and cultural policy in Finland related to diversity and equity. The course encompasses virtual meetings, seminars and lectures as well as facilitating an online diversity training clinic with an arts and culture institution. The aim is to provide participants with practical and immediately applicable antiracist tools and to build a network of arts and culture organizations and Diversity Agents.

The diversity training clinic provides an opportunity for Diversity Agents to meet with a local arts and culture organization to discuss ways to implement diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism practices within the organization.

Implementation
Participation is limited to 10 people, and it is free of charge. The course is held remotely via Microsoft Teams. Active attendance is required upon admittance to the course.

The call for Diversity Agent 2.0 Course opens September 1st and the deadline to apply is on September 12th. You are informed via email of your acceptance by September 19th.

Application form link: 
https://forms.gle/vRRJN8X7Va5qE7mY6

Please fill out the online application form by September 12, 2021. Send your CV (mandatory) to Arlene Tucker, Diversity Agent 2.0 course coordinator and portfolio (optional) at arlene.tucker@cultureforall.fi. 

Write your application in English. 

It has been a pleasure working with Frame’s Programme Officer Dahlia El Broul and I look forward to meeting my matched curators and artists! I'm looking forward to connecting with them to discuss, develop and figure out how we can build bridges together.

Arlene

I am very happy to be one of the eight chosen artists/artist groups to be highlighted in PORTAL. The website recently launched so check it out! pportal.fi

"PORTAL is a platform where artists can meet up, share knowledge and create new collaborations. We want to create possibilities to network and form new ways of collaboration between groups, artists, institutions and other agents within the field of performative arts."

Stay tuned!

​XO arlene

Olen erittäin iloinen voidessani olla yksi kahdeksasta valitusta taiteilijasta / taiteilijaryhmästä, jotka nostetaan esiin PORTALissa. Sivusto on hiljattain perustettu, joten tarkista se! Pportal.fi

"PORTAL on paikka, jossa tekijät voivat kohdata, jakaa osaamistaan ja luoda uusia yhteistöitä. Tavoitteenamme on olla alusta verkostojen ja yhteistöiden rakentamiseksi vapaiden ryhmien, taiteilijoiden ja instituutioiden ja eri esitystaiteen toimijoiden välille."

Pysy kanavalla!

​XO arlene​

(English version below)

Avaus-hankkeet: moninaisuus pitää ottaa paremmin huomioon taide- ja kulttuurialallaAvaus-hankkeiden loppuraportti on julkaistu. Raportissa esitellään kahta hanketta: Avaus. Toimijaksi suomalaisella taide- ja kulttuurikentällä sekä Avaus 2.0 – Toimijasta mentoriksi.
 
Avaus-hankkeet ja niissä kerätty tutkimustieto osoittivat, että moninaisuuden parempaa huomioimista tarvitaan taide- ja kulttuurialalla. Moninaisuuden tulisi olla osa kokonaisvaltainen osa taide- ja kulttuurilaitosten strategista työtä. Taide- ja kulttuurilaitoksilla tulisi olla linjauksia ja suunnitelmia moninaisuutta edustavasta henkilöstöpolitiikasta. Rasismiin ja syrjintään tulee puuttua aktiivisesti. Taide- ja kulttuurialan henkilöstö tarvitsee lisää koulutusta rasismin ja syrjinnän tunnistamisesta ja siihen puuttumisesta. Ulkomaalaistaustaisten – ja rodullistettujen – taiteilijoiden ja kulttuurialan ammattilaisten vuoropuhelua taide- ja kulttuurilaitosten kanssa tarvitaan. Kannustamme taide- ja kulttuurialan laitoksia hyödyntämään Avaus 2.0 -hankkeessa koulutettujen moninaisuusagenttien asiantuntemusta.
 
Avaus-hankkeet 2017–2020. Loppuraportti [PDF]
Avaus-hankkeet 2017–2020. Loppuraportti [DOCX]
 
Kulttuuria kaikille -palvelun koordinoima ja yhdessä Kulttuuripolitiikan tutkimuskeskus Cuporen ja Globe Art Point ry:n kanssa toteuttama hanke Avaus. Toimijaksi suomalaisella taide- ja kulttuurikentällä (2017–2019) kartoitti miten suomalaiset taide- ja kulttuurilaitokset huomioivat kulttuurista moninaisuutta. Hanketta rahoittivat opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö sekä Opetushallitus.
 
Avaus 2.0 – Toimijasta mentoriksi -hanke (2019–2020) oli jatkohanke, joka sai Opetushallitukselta rahoitusta. Avaus 2.0 -hankkeen tavoite oli edistää kulttuurista moninaisuutta taide- ja kulttuurikentällä kouluttamalla ulkomaalaissyntyisiä ja -taustaisia taiteilijoita ja kulttuurialan ammattilaisia moninaisuusagenteiksi.
 
Tutustu myös muihin Avaus-hankkeissa tuotettuihin materiaaleihin:
Avaus-moninaisuustietopaketti (PDF)
Avaus-moninaisuustietopaketti (saavutettava DOCX)
 
Tietoa moninaisuusagenteista ja esite
Cuporen tutkimus Avaus. Ulkomaalaistaustaisten taide- ja kulttuurialan ammattilaisten asema Suomessa
Avaus-hankkeen loppuseminaarin tallenne 2020 (YouTube)
Lue lisää Avaus-hankkeesta.
 
Kulttuuria kaikille -palveluRaportin julkaisija Kulttuuria kaikille -palvelu / Yhdenvertaisen kulttuurin puolesta ry edistää osallistumiselle avoimia ja monenlaisia yleisöjä ja tekijöitä huomioivia kulttuuripalveluja. Se tarjoaa tietoa ja työkaluja taidealan saavutettavuuden, moninaisuuden ja yhdenvertaisuuden edistämiseen. www.kulttuuriakaikille.fi

Parhaillaan vietetään rasisminvastaista viikkoa.

Tästä viikosta alkaen pitkin kevättä järjestetään lastenkulttuuriin liitännäisenä kulttuurin moninaisuuden toimintaa teemalla "juhlat".

Jokaisessa maassa juhlitaan keväisin erinäisiä asioita. Viiden kunnan koululaiset pääsevät maailmanympärysmatkalle sukeltamaan eri maiden kulttuureihin animaatiokoosteen, näyttelyn, taidetehtävien ja työpajojen välityksellä. Toimintaan osallistuu Forssa, Tammela, Jokioinen, Humppila ja Ypäjä.

Työpajojen avulla on tarkoitus oppia uusia asioita eri maiden kulttuureista ja luoda samalla jotain uutta taiteen avulla. Työpajoja vetävät ulkomaalaistaustaiset taiteilijat Anastasia Artemeva, Arlene Tucker ja Tomie Cho. Toiminta liittyy Taiken kulttuurin moninaisuuden kehittämisohjelmaan yhteistyössä usean eri tahon kanssa.

Rasisminvastainen viikko pohjaa vuoteen 1966, jolloin YK:n yleiskokous julisti maaliskuun 21. päivän kansainväliseksi rotusyrjinnän vastaiseksi päiväksi, ja kehotti kansainvälistä yhteisöä lisäämään ponnistuksiaan kaiken rotusyrjinnän poistamiseksi.

​Kirjoittaja: Maikki Kantola

Anti-Racism Week is currently being celebrated.

From this week onwards, cultural diversity activities with the theme of "celebrations" will be organized alongside spring, in addition to children's culture.

Every country celebrates different things in the spring. Schoolchildren from five municipalities can travel around the world to dive into the cultures of different countries through an animation, an exhibition, art assignments and workshops. Children in Forssa, Tammela, Jokioinen, Humppila and Ypäjä participate in the activities.

The purpose of the workshops is to learn new things about the cultures of different countries and at the same time create something new through art. The workshops will be led by artists with a foreign background Anastasia Artemeva, Arlene Tucker and Tomie Cho. The activities are related to Taike's cultural diversity development program in cooperation with several different parties.

​Anti-Racism Week dates back to 1966, when the UN General Assembly declared 21 March International Day against Racial Discrimination and called on the international community to step up its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

Author: Maikki Kantola

I am very happy that Dear You will be a part of Valencia Design Education Forum 2020 / #VDEF2020! The theme of this year’s forum is Analogue+Digital.

Welcome to the presentation/workshop “Mail Art + Pen Friends = Dear You Art Project” on Thursday, November 5th from 11-12 (EEST) and from 17-18 (EEST) there will be a Spanish speaking translator. Both presentations will happen via ZOOM. Register by emailing Arlene at arlene.dearyou(at)gmail.com. You will receive the ZOOM link after registration.

Dear You connects children, their teachers, and artists internationally by making and sharing art with new friends from abroad. Through this process of exchange, a child’s worldview is widened and their skills for self-expression are honed. The exchange of process-based art projects with their new friends living in all corners of the world opens up dialogue, perspectives, and understanding. 

Arlene Tucker, the founder and creator of Dear You, will share how the project has evolved since its inception in 2013. She will also give insight as to how digital and analogue practises have supported the project and exchange between all participants living in all corners of the world. Due to COVID-19, Dear You's methodology and practise of inclusion and exchange have been challenged.  She will share and open discussion how these challenges have pushed for more innovation to blossom. We will put these concepts into practise in an online process-based exercise.  By opening dialogue through art practise, we can create meaningful experiences and inclusive spaces.

Valencia Design Education Forum 2020 / #VDEF2020 is organised by the team of the New Art School, Glug Valencia and EASDV.

The mission of the VDEF2020 is to bring together industry, lecturers and students to discover new ways of working together, forging curriculum that is more appropriate for this time. VDEF2020 is a practitioner’s conference that seeks solutions that are immediately applicable for the betterment of Art and Design Education as a whole. We are looking to have an honest and open conversation about the current state of practice based art and design education.

For questions and submissions please email: design@newartschool.education

LIVE STREAM LINKS for #VDEF2020
MAIN STREAM CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/c/thenewartschool

Also available at:
https://www.facebook.com/designeducationtalks
https://www.facebook.com/newartschool
https://www.twitch.tv/thenewartschool
https://www.pscp.tv/newartschool
https://www.pscp.tv/GlugValencia/

As I was tidying up today, I came across a paper and presentation I wrote for Semiosalong back in 2014.  The paper is a collection of interviews from people who have shared their thoughts on failure and error.  Click here to hear and see more.

 "Semiosalong is an ongoing biweekly salon style afterhours semiotic meetingplace. Semiosalong on Eesti Semiootika Seltsi egiidi all tegutsev mitteformaalne seminarisari, kus rakendatakse semiootilist analüüsimeetodit erinevatele maailma nähtustele ning tähistatakse seda, kui äge on semiootika." semiootika.ee/uritused/semiosalongid/semiosalong-2011-2015/

The book Sõbralik semiootika (editors Piret Karro and Kristin Orav) contains the texts of twenty-two Semiosalong lecturers, which are divided into three topics: art, culture and literature, and error, the latter according to special seminars on ERROR held in Tallinn in 2014. The collection includes articles from lecturers from the very first season in 2011 as well as from all the intermediate ones until this year, when regular and extraordinary seminars took place in Tartu and Tallinn.  To purchase this book, click here.

Excerpt from my chapter:
The difference between an error and failure can be seen playfully. Generally, in games we first lose points before we lose the game. In this sense, errors are a sum of the whole. Sometimes they can be viewed as tiny setbacks or if you’re lucky as a free pass. These mistakes count just as much as any other loss and tally up depending on the point system, but the damage depends on the players and rules of the game.
 
What is an error?
 
Christian Graupner (Artist): An error is when something went wrong.  Failure sounds more absolute, dead-end like. An error is a part of the creative process.
 
Therese Bogan (Therapist): I feel an error is small and it’s really an opportunity for adjustment.
 
Giorgio Convertito (Dancer and Dance maker): Most dance choreography is success-based: the movements, the spatial organization and the timing are often so precise that the possibility for error is very high. Basically, dancers are set-up for failure. On top of that there are technical errors always looming, in the form of music or light cue not being executed at the right time.
 
Setting yourself up for failure and being open to errors relieves the pressure for perfection or even mild success, for that matter. But I can’t help but think why are we going through all this trouble? Who’s being failed? I suppose we can fail ourselves, our audience, and what we think we have failed from the public’s perspective. If it’s all from subjective view then what if they didn’t know we made a mistake? Like a mask, we hide our errors and hope that nobody notices. Mishaps and boo-boos are bound to happen. Yes, they may have disappointed you, but on the other hand that’s how the cookie crumbled. The advantage is that no one will know it’s a mistake because you are the creator of your world. So why not befriend the enemy and incorporate errors into the plan?

From this angle, it looks ok:
Wambui Njuguna (Ashtanga Yoga teacher): Well, anytime someone needs a 'prop' to get into the pose. For example, in the first pose of the second series, pasasana, some people cannot put their heels to the floor due to stiffness, age or body type. So they put a rolled up mat or towel under the heels in order to balance in the pose. Is this failure or an ongoing error?
 
Anu: Laughter Yoga is based on the fact that fake laughter is just as good as real laughter so therefore I can't really think of laughter as failure nor error.​
​
If failure is understood and gauged by a set of criteria for success and its parameters then perhaps we should try to inch our way towards not having any expectations. Another option would be to create a pre-emptive strike and set our selves up for failure. Here is a suggested guideline for that:
1. Think of what would be the ideal situation for whatever you are trying to achieve or are going through at the moment.
2. Point out major and minor elements of the story.
3. Now exchange those parts with what you think would be the opposite of the ideal. I recommend playing around with how wretched and horrifying you imagine your nightmare to be.

I wonder how I would approach failure and error these days, but I know that what I did back then got me here, which I'm quite happy at this very moment. With that said, I continue to welcome and be grateful all the mistakes and hiccups that I have made along the way.

Numerous studies have shown that art and cultural activities strengthen the cultural capital of children, while supporting their identities and capacities to actively participate in society (Arts Equal, 2019). How can we expand diversity, high-quality and equal accessibility to these activities for all children? How can we affirm diversity and identity through children’s culture and education?

Panelist will share best practices, lessons learned, new ideas that can be applied as well as new questions and challenges to meet. These actors have a key role in pushing the limits in children's culture and education and many of them are actively working to overcome these challenges. Most of them are working in public institutions and/or in the third sector in Helsinki and the Metropolitan area. This Panel celebrates the 5th Anniversary of Kolibrí Festival.

PANELISTS:
- Cátia Suomalainen Pedrosa Suomalainen Pedroza, Helsinki City, Kulttuurikeskus Caisa 's Director
- Pirjetta Mulari, Helsinki City, Annantalo's Acting Director
- Ines Montalvao, Heureka the Finnish Science Centre; Concept & Experience Designer/Finnish Bio Art Society
- Analía Capponi-Savolainen, ArtsEqual research initiative Researcher

MODERATOR:
Arlene Tucker artist, educator and diversity agent

Language: English
Duration: 1.45 min
Production: Kulttuurikeskus Ninho ry thanks to the support of Svenska kulturfonden & Globe Art Point. & Caisa

COORDINATION:
Laura Gazzotti info(at)ninho.fi

Kolibrí is a unique multicultural, free and open art festival for the most diverse, plurilingual and intergenerational audiences. On this 5th anniversary of Kolibrí we will travel to the AMAZONIA, the heart of the World. We’ll get to know and be amazed by its biodiversity, the variety of its indigenous communities and their ancestral knowledge and cultures.

I am so proud to be the moderator for the panel discussion Children’s Culture & Diversity: Pushing Limits on Wednesday, September 23 from 17:00-19:00.  We will open up, challenge, and be critical of the following questions; How can we create diverse, high-quality and accessible activities to children? How can we promote diversity and identity through children’s culture and education?

We've got a great line up of talented, experienced, and extremely knowledgeable panelists. They will share best practices, lessons learned and new ideas as well as new questions and challenges to be faced.

Panelists:

• Cátia Suomalainen Pedroza, Helsinki City, Director of Kulttuurikeskus Caisa
• Eva Wilenius, Espoo City HelMet, Services Manager at Sello Library
• Pirjetta Mulari, Helsinki City, Acting Director of Annantalo
• Inês Montalvão, Heureka – the Finnish Science Centre Concept & Experience Designer. Finnish BioArt Society
• Analía Capponi-Savolainen, researcher at Sibelius Academy, UniArts Helsinki
• Johanna Nonna Mattila, theater practitioner, Chairwoman at Kulttuuriyhdistys Suomen Eucrea ry and culture secretary at Kynnys ry.
  
  

Welcome to Caisa in Helsinki or join online via Zoom. Register and join via Zoom by sending an email to info-kolibri(at)ninho.fi with "Diversity Panel" in the subject line.

See you there!

X arlene