Award Proposal: Ælia Media

Proposal for the International Award for Participatory Art http://aeliamedia.org/ Ælia Media consists in the creation of a nomadic cultural journalism institute and broadcast center, as an alternative arts multimedia channel. The project would function in two capacities: one, as a training ground for currently active and aspiring cultural producers, and second, as a temporary broadcast program in a variety of media (video, radio, print, and web) with a primary emphasis on user-generated content (consumergenerated media) using live participation methods as well as online social networks. The webpage of Aelia Media will function as a multi-media news center where program streaming will be available and ongoing debates will take place.The project will derive its strategies from processes of learning, selforganization, and media production that have local roots but with a contemporary emphasis and outlook. The “Aelia Media Corporation” will try to be a cabinet of curiosities of cultural journalism, searching for the extraordinary in the ordinary, rediscovering the wealth of cultural production in Bologna, and juxtaposing opinions on specific issues, tying them with larger issues internationally.The presentation and broadcasting of the programs will be conducted from a specially designed kiosk to be placed in a public plaza in Bologna as a base, preferably Piazza Verdi or other similar spaces with substantial presence of student population and historical roots in the student movement of 1977. The idea behind this kiosk is to 1. Provide visibility of the project in the city; 2. Establish a location in the form of a “third place”. In addition, the kiosk would occasionally “travel” to other locations in the city to reach other communities or to bring attention to particular issues in the city.Ælia Media’s mission will be:

• To provide a physical, nomadic, and virtual space where dialogue around culture, and the analysis of social and political issues can be debated;
• To raise the visibility of the contemporary arts in Bologna;
• To support curators, artists, performers, and other experimental artists in
• showcasing their works;
• To give an opportunity to emerging artists, art producers, and individuals new to the field to test out their ideas to a larger audience;
• To provide concrete skills for media production to those interested in
• showcasing their work;
• To develop programming that may activate a dialogue between the art community and social activists and remain as an archive documenting the cultural life of the city;
• To offer possibilities to the local community to continue this project as a sustainable initiative.
• To present its creative process with absolute transparency, to gain the confidence and support of the Bolognese community, while at the same time instigating reflection and response through provocative programming.

All aspects mentioned above will take place in a multi-layered participatory environment that would allow individuals to engage in a variety of depths and levels in accordance to their interest and time. Follow the project on facebook