Anti-racist and Inclusive Practices for the Arts

Online course by Node Center for Curatorial Studies with Kemê Pellicer.

Duration: Sep 12 – Oct 10, 2022
Fee: 174€
Max seats: 28
Enroll before: Sep 8, 2022
Live sessions: 2 hrs/week

This course is a toolkit for art and culture workers interested in strengthening their practice through anti-racist strategies in order to foster a more diverse and equitable field.

We will explore pressing issues for the future of art and cultural institutions, such as inclusivity, diversity, non-discrimination, accessibility and norm-criticism, moving from notions of diversity and inclusion towards reciprocity, representation and empowerment.

During this course, we will get familiar with anti-racist terminology and theory, at the same time learning to identify key factors where barriers exist, racist structures, and microaggressions. We will put knowledge into practice by developing ways to address these factors and implement change toward a more socially-sustainable sector.

This course is aimed at professionals of all art and culture fields, especially those working or employed within arts and culture institutions but also freelancers with a keen interest in anti-racist practices and diversity.

There is no need for previous training or study of these topics, but willingness, active attendance and reading of additional materials will be required.

Program

Week 1:

• Check-in.
• Introductions and goals.
• Braver/safer space guidelines.
• DEIB* – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB): A 2022 Overview.

The lecturer will introduce the program. We will explore tools to create safe spaces and develop our guidelines effectively. We will also review the basic concepts of DEIB, landing on the same page through an exercise.

Week 2:

• Awareness
• Communication
• Self-assessment
• Defining and applying

In the second session, we will explore our awareness related to the topics of this course and ways to foster it. How do we define our ethics (anti-racism, equality, diversity, participation or representation), and how do we implement them? We will practice ways of making self-assessments and creating meaningful dialogues.

Week 3:

• From the individual to the collective
• Intersectionality
• Our manifold identities

In this session, we will take on intersectionality and empowerment, the idea (or ideal) of identity. We will attend to deep interconnections—in particular, the blurry lines between individuals and collectives and the importance of that fluidity.

Week 4:

• Bias everywhere
• Strategies against implicit bias

In this fourth session, we will learn about bias; consider how our implicit biases create systematic forms of discrimination; and explore how we can implement strategies to block them in your community or our organisations.

Week 5:

• Allyship & accountability
• From words to actions
• Creating trust
• Using feedback

We will finalise this course by reflecting on what it means to authentically create trust through allyship and accountability: what critical actions could or should be taken; how to create an action plan and; how to use feedback as a powerful tool to boost our development.