Art as a tool of empowerment : a case study of communal art projects with migrants

Abstract

This thesis research reflected on community-based art projects and their potential in positively integrating migrant communities into the Finnish society. Empowerment was defined as the key element of positive integration. As a back-ground work, findings were drawn from different community-based art projects from outside Finland. Autoethnography and case studies were used as the main methodologies in the thesis research. The autoethnographic work focused on two community-based art projects, Monessa Mielessä and KOTIO, in which the thesis author was one of the artistic instructors. Through these projects the author reflected on how the participants, and himself, experienced empowerment.

Also discussed in this thesis report is Pando, the final artwork for the author’s thesis exhibition. Pando was inspired by community-based art projects, where none of the works were originally made with the intention of showing them in an exhibition. Bringing them together in the gallery space posed new questions: What happens to a social media campaign video in a gallery setup? What is the role of the artist? Who is the empowerer, and who will be empowered? Pando was a video mapping installation that was exhibited in spring 2018 in Gallery Himmelblau at the HOT FUTURES Degree Show of the Fine Art study path of Tampere University of Applied Sciences.

The main findings of the thesis were as follows: Art as a tool can create and facilitate a safe environment for a positive dialogue and possibilities for empowerment. Furthermore, empowerment should not be seen as a one-way process with a top-down approach, but rather a more complex interpersonal phenomenon that challenges hierarchies. The same applies to positive integration, where empowerment and sense of community are crucial in turning a passive integration process into true inclusion.