Young Mediators Program

Visit of the exhibition "Yesterday is returning and I can hear it" by Katia Kameli by the young mediators of the école du Général Jean Simon (75013). Photo : Rosa Mota Robles

The "Young Mediators Program" is a long-term pro­ject devel­oped by Bétonsalon since 2022. It is a space for dia­logue and trans­mis­sion deployed around the exhi­bi­tions and their inter­pre­ta­tion. This pro­ject and medi­a­tion pro­cess is part of a so-called "sit­u­ated" learning per­spec­tive. The par­tic­i­pants are accom­pa­nied in their dis­covery of an exhi­bi­tion by the edu­ca­tional team so that they can in turn become "medi­a­tors" of the exhi­bi­tion for their peers.
Through lis­tening, dis­cus­sion and sto­ry­telling, this pro­ject con­tributes to reversing the roles and voices tra­di­tion­ally asso­ci­ated with dis­course on art­works within the insti­tu­tion: the floor is up to the young vis­i­tors, who take on the task of ini­ti­ating their friends and family, sharing points of view and anec­dotes about the works of art and the artists, and encour­aging dia­logue in their turn. A com­mu­nity of learners is thus formed that embraces the exhi­bi­tion space as a play­ground for indi­vidual and col­lec­tive devel­op­ment, making the art center a space that is porous to the bodies and voices that tra­verse it.

Aimed at stu­dents from the fourth grade to the final year of high school, the "Young Mediators Program" allows a group to be accom­pa­nied in the dis­covery of an exhi­bi­tion at the art center so that each stu­dent can in turn pro­pose a com­mented visit to their peers.

Over the course of the prepara­tory ses­sions, the stu­dents prac­tice doc­u­men­tary research and public speaking while refining their crit­ical view of the artistic issues involved in the prac­tice of a visual artist. Through a col­lec­tive approach, they appro­priate knowl­edge with the aim of passing it on to others.

Visit of the exhibition "Yesterday is returning and I can hear it" by Katia Kameli by the young mediators of the école du Général Jean Simon (75013). Photo : Rosa Mota Robles

How the program works

The "Young Mediators Program" is spread over four 2-hour ses­sions, one of which takes place in class.

• Session 1 - The dialogue visit of the exhibition

During a guided tour by the medi­ator, the stu­dents dis­cover the art center and the exhi­bi­tion. After a pre­sen­ta­tion of the place and its func­tioning, the stu­dents are first invited to wander among the art­works inde­pen­dently. Guided by the leads and keys to anal­ysis given by the medi­ator, they share their firsts impres­sions and inter­pre­ta­tions of the works. This visit encour­ages dia­logue and debate and serves as a basis for the fol­lowing ses­sions.

• Session 2 - The classroom research workshop

The second ses­sion takes place in class with the medi­ator. After looking back on their expe­ri­ence of vis­iting Bétonsalon, the stu­dents think about the con­tent they would like to convey during their own visit. In groups, they carry out research on the artist’s career, the works pre­sented at the art center, and pos­sible ref­er­ences to the art his­tory in rela­tion to the exhi­bi­tion, in order to pre­pare their own visit. Together, they begin to map out the route of the visit that they will take with their peers.

• Session 3 - Putting it into words: rehearsal visit in the exhibition space

For the third ses­sion, the stu­dents exper­i­ment with what they have pre­pared for their own visit in the exhi­bi­tion space. They train putting into voice the ele­ments pre­pared in the direct com­pany of the works. The medi­ator guides the stu­dents on the phys­ical and vocal pos­tures to adopt, the stages of wel­coming and accom­pa­nying vis­i­tors, the pro­gres­sion and the rhythm of the visit, the place to leave for lis­tening to the other during this exchange, etc.

• Session 4 - The visit for peers

To con­clude, the stu­dents carry out their own guided tour of the exhi­bi­tion by wel­coming another group to Bétonsalon. They wel­come their peers to the art center, intro­ducing the place and inviting them into the exhi­bi­tion space.
From work to work, each stu­dent is encour­aged to express them­selves and share their knowl­edge and per­sonal impres­sions with the other stu­dents in the group. This visit is car­ried out in pairs or trios: one young medi­ator for one or two vis­i­tors.

They have par­tic­i­pated in the “Young Mediators Program”

Children from the Môm’Tolbiac asso­ci­a­tion (75013) showed the exhi­bi­tion "Energies" by Judith Hopf and "Trab’ssahl" by Abdessamad El Montassir (2023) to their friends and fam­i­lies (2022).

CM1-CM2 stu­dents from École du Général Jean Simon (75013) showed Katia Kameli’s exhi­bi­tion "Hier revient et je l’entends" to a class from École Jean Balanchine (75013) and Abdessamad El Montassir’s exhi­bi­tion "Trab’ssahl" to a class from École des Grands Moulins (75013) (2023).

Seconde stu­dents from Lycée Jean Macé (94400) showed Abdessamad El Montassir’s exhi­bi­tion "Trab’ssahl" to a Première class from their school (2023) as part of the inter-school pro­ject "Discover a con­tem­po­rary art centre in the Paris region" sup­ported by the DAAC Créteil.

Visit of the exhibition "Yesterday is returning and I can hear it" by Katia Kameli by the young mediators of the école du Général Jean Simon (75013). Photo : Elena Lespes Muñoz

Visit of the exhibition "Trab’ssahl" by Abdessamad El Montassir i by the young mediators of Lycée Jean Macé (94400). Photo : Annarosa Spina

For fur­ther infor­ma­tion on the "Young Mediators Program", please con­tact
Susie Richard
Cultural medi­ator
susierichard@­be­ton­salon.net
+33.(0)1.45.84.17.56