Periodic Reporting for period 1 - YouthInMuseums (Educational provision and professional training for youth in contemporary art museums)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2020-09-14 al 2023-09-13
Young people, aged 15 to 25, were for long the untouchables of museums audiences. Museum’s skepticism towards youth audiences grounds itself in the preconceived ideas about the challenges of working with this age group, lack of staff training, and resources. The answer to why turned to youth and shifted from the margins to the center of their practices, is not linear. Yet, a deeper awareness and concern with the visibility of their education mission, allied with the visitor-centred ethos that emerged in the last decades of the twentieth century, contributed to the growing investment of museums in their younger audiences. Historically, it is possible to highlight two main moments in the expansion of the art museums-youth relations: the mid-1990s and the mid 2000s. The former saw the launch of the first long-term programs outside of formal education for youth in the U.S. and the U.K which, despite all changes still exist today. The latter represents the establishment of these initiatives as a core part of museums educational provision for young people, especially in contemporary art museums across North America and Europe. Looking into the Portuguese context, the work being done with youth beyond school provision is at an early stage, although there is a strong interest from younger audiences to be actively involved in museums, which stresses the need to develop and research programs for this age group.
The main objective of the project YouthInMuseums was to research the educational provision and professional training available for youth in contemporary art museums, with an emphasis on Portuguese institutions, and how can these programs enhance young people’s sense of agency and career opportunities in the creative sector. Considering the emergent turn in contemporary art museums across Europe towards programs that offer young people professional training, the research project YouthInMuseum aimed to further analyze the potential of a tier-based structure when engaging with this age group, as this gives participants distinct access points into the life of museums, as well as new possibilities for their personal, social and or professional growth outside formal education. Overall, it aimed to: 1) further embed young people’s voices in Portuguese cultural institutions, and 2) expand their professional routes in the creative sector. Part A. Mapping of the research plan aimed to describe the youth programs of a selected group of museums, what they do with and for young people – goals, strategies and evaluation, and what were the key social, cultural and organizational factors that have influenced their engagement with this age group. Focusing on the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon, Part B. Co-Development of the research plan aimed to further expand and embed their youth program in the local ecology – young people, community organizations and peer institutions, as well as internally. Part C. Creative Careers of the research plan aimed to map the turn to professional training for youth in contemporary art museums. Focusing on the analysis of MAAT’s internship program the main objective was to develop strategies for recruitment and training to further engage local young people, mainly from underrepresented groups.
The project was planned before the COVID-19 pandemic and it started in September 2020, when most museums were still operating under very restricted conditions. The contingency plan implemented by the researcher incorporated the issues raised by the pandemic in order to further understand how due to their specificity, namely being long-term and youth-led, youth programs in contemporary art museums were in a unique position to respond to the challenges imposed by lockdown. The goal of this new strand of research was to analyse the collaborative methodologies tested when working online with youth during lockdown. Despite the idea that young people are fluent in digital activity, the abrupt turn to the digital realm, imposed by the pandemic, made visible equity issues around technology and opened new questions around digital safe spaces, well-being, and ethics.
The main objective of the project YouthInMuseums was to research the educational provision and professional training available for youth in contemporary art museums, with an emphasis on Portuguese institutions, and how can these programs enhance young people’s sense of agency and career opportunities in the creative sector. Considering the emergent turn in contemporary art museums across Europe towards programs that offer young people professional training, the research project YouthInMuseum aimed to further analyze the potential of a tier-based structure when engaging with this age group, as this gives participants distinct access points into the life of museums, as well as new possibilities for their personal, social and or professional growth outside formal education. Overall, it aimed to: 1) further embed young people’s voices in Portuguese cultural institutions, and 2) expand their professional routes in the creative sector. Part A. Mapping of the research plan aimed to describe the youth programs of a selected group of museums, what they do with and for young people – goals, strategies and evaluation, and what were the key social, cultural and organizational factors that have influenced their engagement with this age group. Focusing on the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon, Part B. Co-Development of the research plan aimed to further expand and embed their youth program in the local ecology – young people, community organizations and peer institutions, as well as internally. Part C. Creative Careers of the research plan aimed to map the turn to professional training for youth in contemporary art museums. Focusing on the analysis of MAAT’s internship program the main objective was to develop strategies for recruitment and training to further engage local young people, mainly from underrepresented groups.
The project was planned before the COVID-19 pandemic and it started in September 2020, when most museums were still operating under very restricted conditions. The contingency plan implemented by the researcher incorporated the issues raised by the pandemic in order to further understand how due to their specificity, namely being long-term and youth-led, youth programs in contemporary art museums were in a unique position to respond to the challenges imposed by lockdown. The goal of this new strand of research was to analyse the collaborative methodologies tested when working online with youth during lockdown. Despite the idea that young people are fluent in digital activity, the abrupt turn to the digital realm, imposed by the pandemic, made visible equity issues around technology and opened new questions around digital safe spaces, well-being, and ethics.
In order to achieve the identified objectives the YouthInMuseums project developed a research partnership with five cultural institutions in Lisbon, including MAAT, the main partner, as well as Casa da Cerca – Contemporary Art Centre, BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Art Museum, the Municipal Galleries, and LU.CA – Luís de Camões Theater, which are all mainly based in the adjacent boroughs of Belém, Ajuda and Alcântara in Lisbon. The key research activities developed to achieve the identified objectives included: A) the “Listening Lab – Youth, Culture, Participation”, a cross-institutional and cross-sector youth advisory board that engaged more than 50 young people, aged 15 to 25, in 12 group discussions to address issues related to youth cultural participation; B) a Pilot Youth Forum, co-developed with MAAT’s educational team and which engaged a group of 15 young people, aged 17 to 21, in an eight-month collaborative art program through which they co-created two creative projects with contemporary artists; and C) the analysis of MAAT’s internship project, which offers training opportunities for young people in the museum.
Exploitable results include: 1) the youth advisory board “Listening Lab – Youth, Culture, Participation”, whose impact was threefold: a) enhancement of cross-institutional youth programming, b) youth’s critical awareness of their participation in museums, and c) design of new participatory research methodologies; 2) The pilot youth forum of the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT), which a) led to an ongoing new strand of programming for and with youth in the museum, b) organizational change; and c) co-development of collaborative pedagogical and artistic strategies to work with youth that can be exploited in other museums nationally as well as internationally; and 3) analysis of MAAT’s internship program, which can contribute to a) designing more inclusive recruitment strategies that further engage underrepresented youth, and b) understand the impact and potentialities of training programs in museums on young people’s life trajectories, namely when accessing the labour market.
Exploitable results include: 1) the youth advisory board “Listening Lab – Youth, Culture, Participation”, whose impact was threefold: a) enhancement of cross-institutional youth programming, b) youth’s critical awareness of their participation in museums, and c) design of new participatory research methodologies; 2) The pilot youth forum of the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT), which a) led to an ongoing new strand of programming for and with youth in the museum, b) organizational change; and c) co-development of collaborative pedagogical and artistic strategies to work with youth that can be exploited in other museums nationally as well as internationally; and 3) analysis of MAAT’s internship program, which can contribute to a) designing more inclusive recruitment strategies that further engage underrepresented youth, and b) understand the impact and potentialities of training programs in museums on young people’s life trajectories, namely when accessing the labour market.
The main contributions to the state of the art were: A) the problematization of a tier-based approach to youth programming in museums from a cross-institutional perspective, allowing for a higher rate of participation, as well as to more sustainable and long-term relationships between museums and youth; B) identifying the relations between youth cultural participation and their life trajectories, and how this engagement is often connected to turning points in their educational, professional and or personal journeys; and C) the theorization of the relation between the progressive movement in education and the establishment of professional opportunities for young people in museums.
The research has a potential impact for Portuguese, as well as international, cultural and youth policies, namely through the emphasis given to participatory processes that engage young people in decision making and leadership opportunities with/in cultural institutions. Potential users of the project results include mainly professionals of museums and other cultural institutions interested in working with youth or other underrepresented groups.
The research has a potential impact for Portuguese, as well as international, cultural and youth policies, namely through the emphasis given to participatory processes that engage young people in decision making and leadership opportunities with/in cultural institutions. Potential users of the project results include mainly professionals of museums and other cultural institutions interested in working with youth or other underrepresented groups.