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.

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 visite 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.

The “Young Mediators Program” is free of charge for elementary school groups, as well as for social groups.
For middle and high schools, the program is subject to a fee and can be financed via Pass Culture.

For further information, please contact Camille Bouron, Mediation and public outreach growth officer

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.

3ème students from Collège Thomas Mann (75013) showed the exhibition “Un·Tuning Together. Praticing listening with Pauline Oliveros” to a 6ème class from their school (2023).

Première students from Lycée Guy de Maupassant (92700) showed the exhibition “Un·Tuning Together. Praticing listening with Pauline Oliveros” to a Première class from their school (2023), with the support of the Pass Culture.