Exhibition in Landau

I spent five days in Landau (Pfalz), to attend the European Citizens Convention on volunteering. My presence at such event was mainly justified to exhibit “Structurally recyclable, basically disposable“, which represented a more critical take on the issue of volunteering, or more precisely, a statement on how internship is too often mingled with volunteering (and that, as you know, is very wrong).
Coming from the NGO world as I do, I was also naturally interested in the rest of the event, mainly the talks and seminars all around volunteering. Being skeptical by nature, I was a little afraid that the convention was simply going to focus on the great aspects of the volunteering sector without much attention to the context in which volunteering is inserted, that (to name one) is the realization that volunteers have basically become a self-evident reality without which no cultural event would ever take place.
I was very happy to have been proven wrong: this event had a lot of interesting content. However, fear not, you will have your share of critical analysis yet again.
As far as my exhibition is concerned, you can see a little video and read a full report as well (both by “Europe and Me“, media partner at the event).

The problem of gathering and presenting data

The convention was officially opened by a speech delivered by Dr. Peter Heuberger of the Staatskanzlei Rheinland-Pfalz, in which he reported on a lot of interesting data on volunteering:
- 3/10 of Europeans volunteer
- For every euro that goes into supporting of volunteering activities, 3 to 4 Euros are gained.
- Volunteering makes up 2 to 7% of the GDP of national economies (48 billion pounds in the UK)

Visitors in Landau

Citing data from a study commissioned by the European Commission, he then went on to say that volunteering is unevenly distributed: there is a high engagement rate in Scandinavian countries, to then descend all the way to the bottom, Italy.
From the same study, it appears that more men then women volunteer (40% vs. 32%), that families with many children dedicate more time to volunteering than singles, that people seem to be more active in rural areas than in cities and that there is still a huge potential because one third of those who don’t volunteer would like to do so. It also looks as though, whereas there has been a slight decrease in youth engagement, there have been increasingly more volunteers among those of sixty years and older. The main motivations to volunteer remain to “shape society and to meet people with similar interests”. However, if in the 60s and 70s the focus was more around doing charity work, it looks as if nowadays the motivation is more individualist in nature and revolves around doing something for others to feel better about oneself and to build a certain identity.
Dr. Peter Heuberger used much of these data on the following day as well, during the plenary session at the University of Landau, which preceded the working groups on various specific topics. During this presentation he highlighted the importance of volunteering “as a power for social integration” because of its high social meaning that is detached from the way a business works in that it is “trust based, takes place in the public sphere, it is transparent and solidarity driven and is consensus oriented”. Civil society is seen as a social sector and a collective subject and it gains more and more importance because, due to the current crisis within national parties politics which has been influencing the European institutions as well, lawmakers would not do without the citizens.
He then highlighted many of the problems and challenges around volunteering, mainly the lack of a legal framework, social protections, insurance and a proper code of conduct. There are also some legal constraints around volunteering which limit the time that some categories (retirees and unemployed) can devote to volunteering activities in some countries.

The problem of dealing with data that are then to be presented to the public, and a response to Dr. Heuberger’s speech, was addressed during the plenary session by Agnes Uherczky of the Association of Voluntary Service Organisations (AVSO), who shed some light on the mentioned study. She pointed out that the data introduced did not fully reflect reality as the study commissioned by EU had not been well funded. The researchers then had to do a lot of desk research, which resulted in stats that do not always take into account the different local realities. For example, she mentioned that the poor scoring of Italy in terms of engagement does not integrate the fact that volunteering is different in this country where it is not as common to ask for fees to participate into an association (in sharp contract to Scandinavian countries). As a participant pointed out during the discussion, in Austria firefighters in rural areas are mainly volunteers, and these are mostly men. Surely these local specificities were not mentioned.
She summarizes the problem by stating that “European politicians think that volunteering is free”. However, it is not.

The influence of the private sector on the volunteering sector

All this is nice and well, but Dr. Heuberger could not stop using the words social capital (volunteering creates social competences that are requested by companies) and productivity. Volunteering, he asserted, generates benefits and productivity that neither the State nor the economy can provide.
He then closed his first speech mentioning social responsibility and the need for a new social contract, because “if you’re not at the table, chances are you’re on the menu“.

This excessive (to me at least) focus on productivity and social capital, even when it is mitigated by the concession that volunteering needs more recognition and that its value is not and cannot be monetary, is an interesting indicator that even within the framework of a conference where no direct potential donors are present, we (as a collective) are constantly driven to justify the presence of an activity whose value and positive impact cannot be directly and quickly assessed.
As you might have guessed by the highlighted terms in the previous paragraph, the private sector has been slowly taking over many volunteering activities. Dr. Rosário Costa-Schott, a consultant and project manager, mentioned during the panel discussion that in Germany this has become a very professionalized and formal sector and many of the Big organizations (Caritas, Red Cross, Diakonie, etc..) seem to face problems in receiving, qualifying and accepting non-formal volunteering. These non-formal volunteering activities are not represented in the process and do not make into the study. If through the increasing popularity of “social responsibility” the private sector enters the process, is this really a good idea to leave it all to them?

The supposed self-evidence of the voluntariness in cultural activities

I then took part to a seminar titled “The supposed self-evidence of the voluntariness in cultural activities”, and I was also encouraged to share some of the problems that I have faced while looking for funding for my projects.
The seminar was led by a local arts professor, Mrs. Tina Stolt, and it started by acknowledging that “without Volunteering in cultural and art activities, education and exhibitions, there would be not much more than nothing”.

I found this little (and not too well-attended) workshop very refreshing and down to Earth.
We started by highlighting the obvious contradictions that exist around art: on the one hand art is considered as a “volunteer job”, where artists have no economic security and are not expected to be making much money from their work. Most artists are in fact almost “forced” to be volunteers (let’s not forget that one of the defining characteristics of volunteering is the element of free will), and there seems to be a general “uneasiness” to talk about money when setting up an exhibition or working on a project (see here).
On the other hand, art is taken for granted, it is expected to be there. It is considered as a luxury, something to cut back on when economic crisis sets in, but still expected to work and mostly adapt to the logic of the capitalist market. This results in funding coming mainly from the private sector, which cuts out a large part of “non conventional” artists.
Not only are many governments cutting funding for cultural activities, they are at the same time spending an enormous amount of money setting up large exhibitions featuring some big names to display abroad. Artists are expected to compete into the market and no one seemed to know where this underestimation of art came from. The consequences: all is left to the private sector and to volunteers.
I have to mention that we had a wonderful guest during the seminar: a representative of the women artists association GEDOK (specifically the Karlsruhe branch), who told us a bit about the history of the organization and the struggle to get women into shows and exhibitions.

So the page has now been updated and there’s a link to the gallery, where you can see the results!

(…) debate on active Citizenship and volunteerig (and) opportunities for an exchange of experience and ideas

Since my work is a particularly critical take on “free labour”, which is erroneously branded as “volunteering” in many job descriptions, I am sure the exhibition will be a good opportunity to question some of these practices. I will give you more information on the opening, which should be on Thursday afternoon, and I will be surely tweeting and blogging from the convention.

In continuous evolution…
From the series: Visions of humans

Made with: Rollei Crossbird 35mm film ISO 200

Writing proposals/descriptions/budgets for a photography project can be a drag. I am not sure I can teach a lot, but I can for sure share what I learned by working on “Structurally recyclable, basically disposable“. Even though I had some experience writing funding requests and project descriptions thanks to my prior job in the human rights NGO sector, I found myself a little lost at the beginning.
Hopefully through this “project planner” series, I can be of help (albeit small) to anyone who is frantically researching ways to get started.

First things first

Let’s first define what we’re talking about. You had an idea for an artistic project (mainly expressed through photography, in my case) and you think it could be interesting for a lot of people. However, you need funding to carry it out: to gather the supplies (films, props, etc), to pay for the rent (in case you’re renting a venue), to cover your own honorary and that of other people who might be working with you, to pay for electricity, postage costs, trips (if that is part of your project), printing costs (think of brochures, flyers, posters), advertisement, etc..
If you are working analog, you might need to get the films developed, processed and you will eventually have to pay to get the prints. If you are doing all of the above by yourself, you will need to have some sort of honorary for all these activities.
In the best case scenario, you will get all the funding you need to cover the costs and your honoraries. Otherwise, you will have to think on where to cut.
Now, depending on the kind of project you are working on, you will have to seek different types of funding options (but this is not the point of this post). However, regardless of the type of funding institution you are going to, you will need to provide a project description, a budget and a time plan. Some institutions provide you with a relatively strict list of documents you need to provide and some even post a questionnaire you have to fill out.
However, a plan and a project description are necessary, at least as a starting point that can be adapted to each potential donor. Also, you will need a plan for yourself, to keep track of your progress and to adjust should anything go wrong.

Planning ahead

The first thing to say is that writing a project description can be perceived as a distraction, as a waste of time, as an activity that does not allow you to fully focus on the artistic development of the project. At least, this is how I often see it.
However, I found that writing things down in the form of a structured text forced me to think things through, to see the loopholes in the concept, where possible problems could arise and eventually to come up with answers to these issues. It also helped me develop the concept, and I went back to the project description as I came up with a better way (or shorter way) of formulating things.

A project description is a text that explains your vision, your objectives and the means that you will be using to achieve them. All of this has to be restricted somewhat in time: a project starts and ends within a foreseeable period of time. This means that you will need to think ahead and give yourself a minute to figure out how long you want to commit yourself to this particular project.
Your own willingness to commit has to be calculated in the light of the time that it will take for the different phases to be complete. You will take a certain period of time to do the shootings, to process the images, to exhibit your work and none of these phases should be rushed. These phases depend on the kind of project you are woking on: do you need to travel to a particular place to do the shootings? If yes, how long are you planning to stay? Are you shooting in places for which you need a permit? How long does it take to obtain it? Do you need to find subjects? if yes, how many and how much time will it take for you to photograph them? do you have to travel to them? How long will it take you to process your images? How long will it take you to get your prints? Do you already have a trusted lab that does your printing or should you maybe start testing different places? How long do you plan on exhibiting your work? How many exhibitions are you planning? Have you already a specific place in mind? Do they have a long waiting period?
On top of all this, add a margin of maneuver to allow for problems and delays (even if you think you won’t, you will need it, believe me).

The questions above are only an indicator of the type of things you will need to take into account, but each specific project has its own needs.

This is only the first phase: brainstorming and jotting down things you will need to know. Hopefully with the next posts, I will be able to share what I learned in the different phases of the project.

I mentioned that “Structurally recyclable, basically disposable” has been to Geneva for what it will probably be its last show.
Here are a couple of photographs showing the exhibition and the venue.

This is the wall outside of the university, in case the photograph is not clear enough.

Even though it wasn’t quite a piece of cake to get this exhibition up, I eventually prevailed and this is how the panels (grilles) were put together to channel people through the two installations.

Since the exhibition did not go on for a long time, I spent the entire week in Geneva and one of my favorite spots was the first floor, which allowed me to work, read and keep an eye on the exhibition all at the same time.

So the project is now officially over and I plan on writing a longer summary of my impressions in the following days.
By the way, you can now access all the exhibitions’ archives from one page.

Now I am here for the rest of week, occasionally coming by the university to check that everything is in place. If anyone intends to come and ask me questions or have a chat, please let me know in advance so that I can make sure to be there at that time.

I also have to announce that due to the aforementioned issues, I will demount the exhibition on Friday evening, which means that the photos will not be up anymore on Saturday. It’s a security measure because I need to catch a train on Saturday and I can’t risk to miss due to the absence of university personnel.

Please do come to see the exhibition while it’s there, as it will probably be the last show for “Structurally recyclable, basically disposable“.

I will personally be there during the seven days of the show, from the 12th to the 19th in the hall of the University of Geneva, Uni-Mail building.
The building is closed on Sundays, it’s open Mondays to Fridays from 7h30 to 23h00 and from 7h30 to 17h30 on Saturdays.
The vernissage will be held on Saturday the 12th, from 16h00 to 18h00. The fixed hours are due to the special nature of the building: being a university, we only have limited margin of maneuver.
Also, please note that the on the last day, Saturday the 19th, the exhibition will only be visible until 10 am as I have to catch a train in the early afternoon.

Notwithstanding the technicalities, I am very excited to bring the photographs to Geneva, to hear and see some feedback and most of all, to meet the visitors. Drinks and snacks will be available the night of the vernissage, so don’t miss the opportunity.

Information about the exhibition and the project in French are also available: click here to download the press folder.