FOPSIM – Foundation for the Promotion of Social Inclusion in Malta 
20.5.2020, 14:00, zoom
Žejtun, Malta
Participants: Iñaki Oyon, Nadia Theuma

 

The workshop offered insights into potentialities in the field of education through discussion of artistic practices. During the workshop we looked into methods of un(learning) on the case study of School of Improper Education initiated by KUNCI, art practice of Andreja Kulunčić and Hidden curriculum project by Anette Krauss.

The participants explored potential intersections between art and education tackling the following questions:

How would FOPSIM organize learning program dedicated to minorities?

What role do art and education play in developing new forms of acting and thinking?

How can educational program contribute to shaping a desirable society?

The participants were expected to bring answers to the questions by selecting some of the words that were used as a point of further discussion:

EMPATHY, SAFE SPACE, MUTUAL ASSISTANCE, COOPERATIVES, CONSENSUS, LANGUAGE, HIERARCHIES OF KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE OF POWER, UNIVERSITY/ACADEMY/SCHOOL, HOME, HOSPITALITY, ARTIVISM, AUDIENCE, HUMAN RIGHTS, EMPOWERING, POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT, INTERVENTION IN SOCIAL/POLITICAL REALITY, COLLABORATION WITH NGO’S DEDICATED TO THE RIGHTS OF MINORITY, COLLABORATION WITH ARTISTS OR RESEARCHERS, ETHICS, CARE, INTEGRATION, MEETING PLACE, DISCRIMINATION, RACISM, CRITICAL PEDAGOGY, HIDDEN CURRICULUM, TRANSFORMATION OF INSTITUTION, TEMPORARINESS OF ART FORMS, COMMUNITY ART PROJECT, ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE, TRANSLATION, CONVERSATION.

Since 2006 they have been working on social inclusion. They realized that youths are a marginalized group and it became the focus point of their programing. Fopsim is part of larger organization, and they are particularly focused on education and employment opportunities of marginalized groups. In Malta migrants are not only refugees, there is a lot of people from everywhere looking for opportunities. In recent years they were trying to figure out different minorities’ groups. For example, a group of university students were working as escorts. Fopsim attempts to create opportunities for employment by offering educational programs in ICT, where ICT skills are thought.

They also provided workshops in which music skills were combined with learning technological skills. With groups of women it is often about skills such as sawing. They also attempt to involve people in tourism sector. They tried to invite migrant communities to share their knowledge with other migrant communities. For example, food truck ladies gave workshops on preparing food. They organized several workshops for children and mothers, for example clay workshops.

They involved artists from local minority communities to share ideas and encourage others to participate. For example, they have collaborated with author from Palestine, who has this kind of dual relationship with Malta, to address the current issue of isolation and isolation which he felt upon settlement in Malta.

For Fopsim the language is one of the key terms to consider because it can easily become means of inclusion or exclusion. In Malta, it is a conscious decision if you wish to include people, you will speak English, while Maltese will do the opposite effect.

The problem with language is inability to express your emotion regarding the pressure of a student, stigma that needs to be broken. For these reasons a lot of people gets lost in the shuffle, and they lose their motivation.

Even though Malta has very low unemployment, an area of English language needs improvement as people can be highly qualified but without language, they don’t have ability to speak.

This is why they rather facilitate than teach, give space to share skills, and they rather share than to teach. Patronizing position – tables can turn.