Image: detail 'Love or Generosity' by Nicole Eisenman (Amsterdam, 2020)

This article is based on three interviews with those involved in art in public space in Amsterdam: (potentiële) mediators, artists, curators, contemplators, policy makers and educators. Much of what was shared in these conversations is also applicable to other cities and areas. At the end of this article, we call on you, our readers, to share your experiences with us.

Multi-voicedness. This term can be found in many policy documents of governments, companies and other organizations. Even when realizing art in public spaces, the goal is to have artworks reflect society as much as possible and therefore to have many voices heard in the creation process.

Art projects in the public domain already involve many people with different expertise and different 'languages': the artist, who seeks space for imagination within the frameworks of the commission; civil servants, who, often as commissioning party, must pave the way for the work of art with a feeling for political relations and the perception of citizens; contractors and constructors, who must translate a visual design into technical requirements and possibilities, with a great deal of prototyping and calculations. Then there are those involved in collection management, in permits, and in management and maintenance. Cultural codes (Governance, Diversity & Inclusion, Fair Practice) must also be observed. Sometimes this requires coordination by someone who speaks these different languages, understands the diverse interests and assists the individual stakeholders with specific knowledge and experience: the mediator.

Public domain art projects involve many people with different "languages

Since the 2012 cultural budget cuts, however, the mediator's playing field has changed significantly. Mediators used to be generally employed by organizations (SKOR, provincial and city CBKs) that sometimes contributed budgets, that often also implemented artists' policies, and that maintained long-term relationships with landscape managers, (semi)governments and implementing agencies such as the Department of Public Works. Many of these organizations have disappeared and or are now offering their services at an hourly rate. With these organizations, much knowledge and knowledge sharing, networking and memory were also lost. Intermediaries became self-employed (competitors) and are bound more than before to the frameworks set by their clients.

One consequence of this development is that the intermediary's field of work has become smaller. Especially for art commissions of above-average size, clients call on the same names over and over again, with a preference for agencies that can present an extensive track record. Mediation is increasingly seen as a business service, in which smooth and speedy progress and the avoidance (or even prevention) of obstacles are valued above all.

New (types of) mediators are needed so that art in public space does not retreat into a niche

While the further professionalization of the profession is to be welcomed, this development also has some drawbacks. Essential aspects of the mediator's role become underexposed. There is an incentive to avoid risk. And it becomes more difficult for those who want to develop (further) into (and as) mediators to gain a position in the field. After all, there is no training for it. New (types of) mediators are needed because they bring with them new artistic visions and networks, so that art in public space does not retreat into a niche, but remains relevant part of a vital contemporary art production. This is characterized, among other things, by artists with a very hybrid practice (not óf sculpture, performance or social-artistic work, but ėn-ėn), by research qualities made manifest, by a discourse focused on contextualization and by a grown political-social sensitivity. These are all qualities that you want to see reflected in art in public spaces. The way in which commissions are set up may have to change as well, but that is a subject for an article. in itself.

At home in all markets

The term mediator implies a position between different parties to whom, if the mediation is successful, the idea remains that they themselves have arrived at a settlement or successful approach. The mediator is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the communication at the completion of works of art, let alone in the lore of the project afterwards, which rather often presents the artwork as a spontaneous inspiration and intervention of the artist, based on a fantastic idea of the client. The mediator is chameleonic, less through its invisibility than through its ability to assume different guises.

A well-designed public space is a shared task and responsibility. Realizing art in public space is also a joint effort, which also takes the necessary time. At the beginning of the process, the role of mediator is different from the role it plays during the implementation process or when the completed work of art is made accessible. It is not unthinkable to have different people play the role of mediator in separate phases, just as other parties working together on a spatial task sometimes pass the baton among themselves. At the very beginning of an area development process, for example, the mediator can already make an analysis of that integral spatial task and of the potential for artists' interventions, by reading the planning area and its history and by mapping out possible parties and defining a substantive focus.ërun (with an eye for current issues of concern to artists). It would be nice if not only spatial tasks, but also social issues, for example, could be a reason and starting point for a commission, co-financed from other than art budgets.

A well-designed public space is a shared task and responsibility

In practice, the mediator regularly comes to the table only when possible locations for an art object have already been marked on the floor plan, the need has arisen for a list of artists and for someone to take the lead in the selection and design process. (As an aside, who defines the brief if the facilitator is not already on board from the beginning?) Following that is the role as sparring partner for the client (in contract formation and anticipating obstacles of various kinds) and for the artist (whose solitary position in the face of a larger commissioning organization is not without risk). A role in a participatory process is also often expected. And finally, the mediator helps with fencing off, management and maintenance agreements, reporting, documentation and external communication.

Art Enabler

Like spatial assignments, art projects differ in scale and intensity, and thus the expertise required also differs. The desired profile of the mediator involved can therefore be diverse. There is the maker-mediator, with an understanding of materiality, production options and possible subcontractors. Traditionally, many of these types of mediators started out as artists themselves. There are also production agencies that gradually also began to mediate in terms of organization and content. Then there is the curator-mediator, who can develop an independent artistic vision, has a good overview of the field of artists and current trends, and knows how to place the (importance of the) occasional project in a broader context. The curatorial mediator, as a member of an artistic committee, can make well-reasoned nominations of artists. Exhibitionists who want to work outside the framework of a presentation institution, for example, can thus assume the role of mediator, whether or not from within that institution. There are also advisors who can take on a mediating role from a specific (experiential) expertise, in inclusion and participation projects, as a representative of a community, in complex administrative and/or communication trajectories or from a landscape, ecological, heritage engineering and other art or science disciplines. It is precisely from this angle that new mediators with an alternative profile could emerge, who could also give shape in art commissions to goals that governments set for themselves, such as working integrally and decompartmentalizing between policy domains or strengthening diversity policy.

Many mediators combine aspects of different types within them, but no one is the sheep with the five legs. They will always have to acquire additional competencies. New forms of cooperation can also be considered. Moreover, new challenges keep presenting themselves. There are opportunities for art when an integral approach is chosen at an early stage with an art intervention as a more natural part of it. In this way, better matching between private and public resources is also achieved. Possibly due to declining public funding this will become dire and the mediator will have to be a pathfinder and connector. In areas that are being developed, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are often used, but the arts are quite often not well represented in them.ïntegrated, even if there is a percentage rule to be implemented.

Many mediators combine aspects of different types, but no one is the sheep with the five legs

Working within such a construction, especially if it is worked out in tender procedures, has consequences for the role of the mediator, who must monitor the very strict frameworks of commissioning because any deviation from the agreed performance agreement can lead to sanctions. Artists are a (too) vulnerable party in this. It might be advisable in this case not to include the mediator in a consortium, but to allow the artist financially to use his own mediator for the accepted commission.

Even in assignments not set up as PPPs, mediators are increasingly expected to relieve the client in a society with growing antagonism, distrust in the government and a claim culture, by avoiding fuss in the (social) media and preventing any conceivable damage to or as a result of the work of art. The artistic contribution and integrity with which the ideal mediator distinguishes himself are then in danger of being given less weight. It may then help if it becomes clearer that this contribution is not about isolated, personal preferences or opinions of the individual consultant, but that it is backed up by a robust, professional and artistic discourse.

Learning community

The members of Stadscuratorium Amsterdam (SCA) provide the City of Amsterdam with solicited and unsolicited advice on its art in public space. In the so-called Stadsdialogen, SCA enters into discussions with parties from the city to further explore themes involved in that practice. Interlocutors with experience in higher (art) education in and outside of Amsterdam also took part in the Urban Dialogue Mediatorship organized so far, with the question of what a form and accompanying curriculum could be for a (post-)training program for (new) mediators. One envisioned an offer at the master or postgraduate level, for students who already have some overview of developments in art and/or related fields of knowledge. There are already examples of internships or traineeships at institutions that employ mediators. The duration of such pathways is a concern, given the average turnaround time of an art assignment of oriëntation phase to completion.

Hosting a training program at an educational institute, museum, archive or other cultural institution provides weight and continuousïteit. It is questionable, however, whether such top-down infill represents sufficient innovative impetus for mediatorship. Highly experienced mediators can still learn a lot from younger professionals, from their focus on collaboration and collectivity (documenta fifteen), for example, and from their vastly different cultural frames of reference. A training offer for mediators could therefore benefit from a peer-to-peer format, from an open platform for gathering and sharing knowledge. There are numerous self-organized learning communities in the arts (the Indepent School for the City in Rotterdam, for example), communities of practice, summer schools and (including at museums) independent study programs (ISPs) that can serve as examples in this regard.

Speakers' Corner: speak out

The City Dialogue Mediation is not yet complete. Stadscuratorium is strengthened in the idea that there is fertile ground for a renewal impulse to mediate art in public space, in Amsterdam and possibly also (inter)nationally. SCA wants to further explore the issues raised during the conversations/dialogues, and if possible, also set up a pilot program for and with new and future mediators.

Invitation to closing dialogue on June 19

SCA would like to, with BK Information, also know your views on the development of the mediator's role. We invite you to send a written response to BK Information. The editors, in cooperation with SCA, will discuss these responses and ask some of the respondents to present their views as contributions to the so-called Speakers' Corner which will be part of a concluding City Dialogue meeting on June 19, 2024. Also, in one of the next issues of BK Information attention will be paid to the findings.

Please send your response to Esther Didden, please no later than June 1 at esther@bk-info.nl

Stadscuratorium Amsterdam (SCA) provides solicited and unsolicited advice to the Municipal Executive of the capital city on art in public space. This includes advice on existing works of art that make up Amsterdam's outdoor art collection, on new art commissions to be realized, particularly in area development, but also on overarching themes that help shape practice, such as how to deal with collection disclosure, or how art can contribute to a more inclusive public space.
Through City Dialogues (round table, lectures, debate, etc.), SCA engages with the city and the field.
Currently, City Curatorium is considering, with BK Information as a partner, about (future) mediatorship. The above article reflects that.
Learn more about City Curatorium Amsterdam

final editing: Jeroen Boomgaard, Claudia Linders and Radna Rumping
Text: Nils van Beek
With thanks to the participants in the City Dialogues: Nancy van Asseldonk, Marjo van Baar, René Boer, Helmut Dick, Esther Didden, Selby Gildemacher, Petra Heck, Jules van den Langenberg, Rob de Melker, Xandra Nibbeling, Mette Samkalden, Alice Smits, Suzanne Sanders, Mirjam Snow Runner, Annemarie de Wildt, Marianna van der Zwaag