European Forum for Advanced Practices
The European Forum for Advanced Practices (EFAP) is an open and inclusive research network originating from universities, NGOs and community-based organisations, independent research entities, museums, and a wide range of arts academies. EFAP’s broad goal is to establish a dialog across the boundaries that often separate these contexts and to promote exchange with a focus on emergent forms of artistic- and practice-based research. EFAP proposes an open notion of Advanced Practices that deliberately combine methods and practices from numerous disciplines. The goal of EFAP is to respond to two sets of urgencies: Ever-more complex societal challenges across Europe demand new forms of knowledge exchange and transfer, as new research forms gain ground and new modes of research output has become increasingly prominent.This requires multidisciplinary and comprehensive methods to capture and assess their quality and impact in advance rather than retrospectively.The initial proposers of EFAP have actively shaped contemporary research in the fields of visual art, art history, philosophy, music, theatre, dance and performance studies, architecture, design, and engineering. EFAP’s mission is to broaden and deepen the range of settings, forms, and fields that can be identified or understood in terms of Advanced Practices.
Global Emergent Media (GEM) Lab at Concordia University
The GLOBAL EMERGENT MEDIA (GEM) Lab is a research community based in the graduate program in Film and Moving Image Studies, Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University (Montréal). Its mission is to examine new media technologies, spaces, and practices in a global context, and to develop historical and theoretical accounts of media outside of dominant Western contexts and epistemologies. GEM research aims to establish new and critical perspectives for understanding the actually existing media cultures and politics shaping our world—in North America and globally—asking us to reconsider how we produce and disseminate knowledge, teach students, and engage policy and policymakers. The Lab serves as a dynamic platform for research and student training, housing a range of equipment for media production and postproduction projects, and leading critical studies research initiatives. Each year, GEM researchers collaborate on a wide range of projects, including the Seminar in Media and Political Theory, the Digital Ethnography Workshop, and international Summer Institutes. In 2019-20, GEM research is centered on problems of Media and Migration—with a particular focus on (post)socialist and (post)colonial legacies. This theme will be collaboratively developed at an international conference in Montreal (April 2020), the 2020 Summer Institute in Malta, and as part of a larger research grant (in development).
Critical Media Lab Basel at Academy of Art and Design Basel
The Critical Media Lab is an integral part of the Institute of Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM) at the Academy of Art and Design FHNW in Basel. It not only serves both as a physical lab space and a conceptual vehicle to develop a contemporary notion of criticality towards design, media practices and their cultures, but also aims for a playful and experimental proximity of practice and theory.In a time when we are realising that the former new media have not lived up to their oftentimes promising radical power, the laboratory is a place where the potentials and limitations of old and new media are used in service of critical questioning and experimental thinking.Critical practice intends a set of objects (physical and otherwise) more readily open to scrutiny, more available to thought. The use and reflection on the technological, the shaping of material complexes, ignites a potential for critique that is as fundamental and intrinsic as it is disruptive or incisive: the critical knowledge of a system, the critical moments of a process or critical states of a material; along with criticism of ideology or opaqueness in the world.
University of Malta
The Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences (MAKS) was established in 2011 to offer academic programmes and carry out research that are relevant in a knowledge society and that reflect the importance of the knowledge-based economy. The Faculty is housed in a recently refurbished building that includes a Digital Arts Lab and Art Room, a Cognitive Science Lab, an Immersion Lab, an AV Library, lecture halls, seminar rooms, and meeting areas. The Faculty’s diverse research streams, which have attracted over EUR 1.8 million of European Union research funding under the FP7 and H2020 funding programmes, continue to pursue the investigation of knowledge creation, its accumulation and transfer, and its multiple uses in society. MAKS embraces cognitive neuroscience and social science research as theoretical frameworks for communication, as well as different forms of digital media expressions and social structures that make the dissemination of knowledge possible.
Following an initiative by the Faculty for Social Wellbeing, the University of Malta has officially set up a Platform for Migration. This platform aims to promote research related to migration while facilitating synergies, dialogue and training initiatives between the different University entities in migration-related matters. It shall also be conducting research on migration through its involvement in several projects and experiments, through collaboration with local and international entities, and in conjunction with associated universities and research institutes. A focused peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on the topic of migration, and an electronic portal for the publication, discussion and dissemination of knowledge in the area of migration are also in the works.
African Media Association Malta (AMAM)
African Media Association Malta (AMAM) is a media NGO whose aim is to bring positively Africa into the news, working from an African perspective by tackling the issues that Africa faces, starting from the root causes. We use all forms of online media and platforms to stay connected with the audience and target groups, such as radio podcast and video clips news and articles. We also organize training for amateur journalists as well as migrants in general.
Established to promote skills when it comes to media literacy and journalistic skills, part of our mission is also to develop expertise working with migrants, including youths and vulnerable target groups such as migrant women. We promote democracy, social inclusion, human rights, respect, and equal opportunity, self- branding and mobile journalism whose impact can be visible on its YouTube Channel.
Knowing and understanding firsthand the issues faced by migrants, AMAM has arranged face to face meetings with government Ministers and their staff to bring issues to the attention of Government and to seek policy change where needed. AMAM has also become a hub for the African communities in Malta, and it works to support the formation of other voluntary organizations and informal youth groups. AMAM is an active member of PHROM, the Platform of Human Rights Organizations in Malta. It is an appointed member by the Ministry of European Affairs and Equality of the Forum for the Integration Affairs, for the integration of migrants in the Maltese society. It is an Associate partner of Job Plus, the National Maltese Job Agency, in the development of their project Employment Support Services for Migrants. AMAM is active in community led initiatives, and it has covered and reported news on social issues linked to migrants, becoming a reference point for a large pool of migrant communities. Over the years, AMAM has developed a strong knowledge of the field and the necessary skills and know-how to be able to successfully provide a good service to the communities of migrants and youths.
Malta National Community Art Museum
MUŻA is the chosen name for Malta’s new museum of art and is a flagship project for the Valletta European Capital of Culture in 2018. The community-oriented project is a national museum, the first of its kind, which shares a common vision with the Foundation’s objectives in promoting art and museums as a tool for social transformation. MUŻA shall be housed at the Auberge d’Italie, a historic building originally dating to the late sixteenth century and used as the seat and residence of the Italian knights of the Order of St John. This is where the original nucleus of what was later to become the National Museum of Fine Arts was first exhibited.MUŻA shall present stories through objects and displays. The first three stories concern the Mediterranean, Europe and Empire, all of which are associated with the geography and history of Malta. The fourth story shall present the artist. The four stories will be presented in innovative ways – in gallery spaces overlooking a courtyard that will be a public space for all visitors to access. The courtyard and the creative activities that shall happen within that space shall be the beating heart of the museum as a space accessible to all. The project is being designed “with people for people”. Indeed, MUŻA is a community project in which people can participate while the museum provides the tools for interaction.MUŻA, which will be three times larger than the existing Fine Arts Museum in South Street, Valletta, will make it easier for people to have reason to visit the museum and appreciate its artefacts. The idea is for visitors to experience the museum, to be critical and ask questions during organised activities. This will be possible with the aid of immersive technology but also thanks to the stories that MUŻA shall present and the ways and means used to exhibit the objects on display. Particular attention is being given to younger generations, specifically school children, who will be encouraged to be inquisitive and respond to art through innovative ways.
Spazju Kreattiv
Spazju Kreattiv is a programme of creative arts and culture events that take place primarily across Malta and Gozo. Established by Fondazzjoni Kreattività in the year 2000, our home is in St James Cavalier, Valletta, a 16th century fort converted into the National Centre for Creativity. We host a range of exhibition spaces, a cinema, a theatre in-the-round, an artist in residence programme, and operate a number of festivals, including ŻiguŻajg and VIVA (Valletta International Visual Arts Festival).The Spazju Kreattiv Programme is led by artistic director Toni Sant and developed by a team of programme, operations and technical staff. The Programme is composed through a combination of projects and events submitted through an open call and from others specifically created, commissioned or co-produced with us.
European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)
COST is the longest-running European framework supporting transnational cooperation among researchers and scholars across Europe. It was created in 1971 to bridge the gap between science, policy makers and society. The framework supports the mobility of researchers across Europe and fosters the establishment of scientific excellence. COST also plays an important role in building a European Research Area.
servus.at
Servus.at kindly supports the virtual summer school through an independent server infrastructure (Big Blue Button, and other resources, such as collaborative writing tools and cloud hosting)
servus.at is a net culture initiative in Linz. As an association, it operates an independent cultural data centre and is connected to the worldwide network via the ACOnet (Austrian Science Network). Our members include artists and cultural practitioners, alternative educational institutions, independent radio stations, university institutions, NGOs.