Mediating art in Amsterdam's public spaces 

image: wall by Dewar & Giquel, Rokin subway station, Amsterdam. Mediator: QArt

In February of this year, the Amsterdam City Curatorium published the advice Connectors in a City. On the future of mediating art in Amsterdam's public spaces.. The City Curatorium provides solicited and unsolicited advice to the Amsterdam Municipal Executive on art in public space. Although the advice in the publication focuses on the Amsterdam situation, it may also be relevant to artists, officials and mediators in other municipalities. 

Stadscuratorium Amsterdam (SCA) signaled that "the qualities of mediators in the realization of public works of art in the city could be used more optimally and that both the field of work and the mediator's conception of their role could use new impulses."

In a series of expert meetings, the RCA engaged with individuals professionally involved in art in public spaces in various roles. The above opinion appeared as a result of those conversations. The expert meetings with mediators and artists were followed by a article at BK Information and a larger City dialogue on mediation, also in collaboration with BK Information.

"If we want the art in public spaces to develop, the collection of outdoor art to be pluralistic and in line with trends in the city, it is important to work with different types of mediators and to allow these (and future) mediators to develop as well," the RCA said. 

Mediation

Mediators are individuals who, apart from the artists involved, organize and develop art projects and sometimes supervise their execution. SCA understands the mediator to be primarily a curator or art advisor, distinguished from a producer by his artistic expertise. The mediator has the ability to move from specific knowledge and experience in complex (spatial, administrative and substantive) contexts. The role includes analyzing spatial assignments, selecting artists, facilitating the selection and design process, and assisting in the formation of contracts, in the execution (as a link between client and artist), in participation processes and in the communication and documentation of the art project. 

The opinions

The city curatorium recommends that, in principle, a mediator always be involved in the design of art projects, that his or her role and tasks be well secured in the municipal organizational chart and in commissioning agreements, and that the mediator be involved in the concept phase of the project.

In addition, the advice is not to place public participation solely in the hands of the artist, but to invest in carefully embedding the project in the community from the concept phase, together with a mediator. Sufficient time and resources should be allocated for participation, and forms of participation should be used at a meaningful and meaningful time.

SCA recommends investing in expanding the network of mediators and other professionals in the field of art in public spaces, by mapping this network and facilitating knowledge sharing and course opportunities.

Finally, SCA recommends guaranteeing room for experimentation in the design (and in the choices to be made) of an art project by giving more weight to the expertise of the curator/mediator; by allowing artistic research and more temporary artistic expressions to be more often the interpretation of the project, and by ensuring that detailed preconditions and expectations do not unduly limit the artistic possibilities. Mediators can stimulate artistic research by making connections in the design of art projects with broader social phenomena that influence the use and organization of public space, and thus contribute to placemaking for the development of an area.