Eleventh International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

This paper discusses the meaning and forms of participation by the examination of a collaborative approach inside and outside the museum in the 6th Biennale Exhibition of Contemporary Art held in Thessaloniki in 2017. For the first time in the history of the event, museum-educators had the chance to contribute in the exhibition process from the early stages, in the selection of artists and the discussion of the overarching exhibition theme. Furthermore, they developed a participatory project that involved visitors as co-creators enhancing inclusiveness. Teenagers and adults -over fifty- collaborated with a local artist and museum educators in a workshop to discuss the issue of “imagined homes” and create an animated video installation, which was exhibited in the Biennale venues. Visitors, curators, museum educators, the artist, and a group of university students shared their experiences from their involvement in the project. Data selected had been analyzed raising interesting issues about visitor participation in artistic projects, the importance given in the artistic quality of the end product when working with visitors, equality as a presupposition in pedagogical practice, and the contribution of inclusive projects in “learning from each other” procedures for museum professionals, artists, and visitors.