Turing the spotlight on the non-profit cultural foundation Floating EKA, the aim was to emphasise the organisations’ role as an enabler of artistic processes bringing peoples stories and experiences together in times of war.
In my first blog post Linking the digital world with reality, I described my first encounter with the organisation when I took part in one of their workshops, The Common Waters Project. This involved event participants gather plastic waste from the Baltic Sea shoreline and transformed it into art, giving it a new purpose.
In my second interactive blog post, also a project initiated by Floating EKA, Artivism in Action: The Neighbours Project by Floating EKA I covered one of the online performances of the project The Neighbours – Sąsiedzi.Сусіди.Суседзі.Соседи. This project brought together artists from Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and Russia allowing them to explore neighbourly relationships through documentary theatre. The main goal of the project was to reflect on collective trauma, promote dialogue, and address divisions.
Online performance was used as a unique medium of expression to provide a safe space for individuals and communities to process emotional experiences and reflect upon their various aspects of identity being under transformation, during times of war. High levels of armed violence and insecurity have a destructive impact on a country’s development (United Nations). Political refugees may have complex relationships, not only with their home countries but also within their own communities. The Neighbours project recognise and address these relationships and potential tensions, as they are crucial for building peace and harmony within the community.
These types of projects allow individuals to practice cultural profession and staying in connection with the outside world that offers a potential audience and a platform for collaboration. Therefore, it is relevant to create spaces for development using a digital context. As defined by Roberts, T. (2019) the term digital development can be seen as a collective term encompassing both the increased toolbox and reach by the digital media products itself but also the development outcomes, when being in use. The past decades of digital transformation, including the globally increased access to the internet, smartphones, data analytics, and social media platforms, have created an increased acceptation of the integration of digital technologies into various aspects of international development.
The Floating EKA projects uses online distribution and accessibility to disseminate created artworks, ensuring a broad reach for an audience over an extended period. When developing their projects, the digital dimension is a part of the toolbox available during the whole creative process. The combination of making room for communication in both the physical world and the digital, bridges the local community’s reach with interaction from the outside world. I find this to be very effective and engaging.
The community-driven cultural foundation Floating EKA has the main vision to make impact using various art forms bringing people togeather. The organisation was established to develop the good-neighbourliness of countries around the Baltic Sea and beyond, and supports cross border collaborations and creative practises aiming to transform communities through artistic activities. The aim is to create a social impact. The OECD acknowledges that a social impact measurement culture needs to be developed to support Social and Solidarity Economy entities when demonstrating their positive contribution. Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) refers to forms of economic activities and relations that prioritise social and often environmental objectives over profit motives. This is suggested to be done by improving the policy framework, delivering guidance, building evidence and supporting capacity. There is a need to make impact evidence freely available and visible.
Social impact is created out of the overall effect of an intervention or program. It includes any measured both short and long term social consequences resulting from the strategies, activities, estimates outputs and outcomes generated by project. Impact can be positive or negative, intended or unintended, and may manifest directly or indirectly. Hence it can be very difficult to measure and evaluate. Documentation is therefore important; video and audio recordings, photos, statements, interviews, evaluations and statements from both contributors, artists, event participants and other visitors become the source data that then may be analysed and evaluated into reporting. There are various toolboxes available online, suggesting methods to use when evaluating artistic impact. There are also collaborative project evaluating social impact measurement tools that may be used not only by artistic project but other cultural institutions. Through evaluation non-profit organisations gain the ability to secure support from funders and increase their confidence to achieve program outcomes. By measuring the impact of a program, the organisers can see what is more effective and if the intended outcomes are fulfilled. The measured results also inspire to create and plan new projects.
The Floating EKA projects are disseminated by the organisation through interactive virtual events, or project web sites where project participants present the project outcomes. This creates digital traces enabling reflection and evaluation.
Projects such as the ones of Floating EKA are dependent on fundraising and donations. From a communications perspective, sharing the editorial power by making stories and content produced from within the communities create a strong emotional bond and feels more authentic to donors. Communications that are authentic but also feel authentic towards supporters create trust. Crombie, J., & Girling, D. (2022). This is of course important when reporting back to the grant givers.
One important aspect of the work done by Floating EKA is that it aligns closely with Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16): “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.” By breaking down barriers through art, dialogue, and reflection, the organisation actively contributes to maintaining societies that are not only peaceful but also inclusive, just, and accountable. Throughout history art has been used as a form of self-expression, helping us to reflect on our lives and surroundings. Art is a reflection of human processes, and art as well as various art forms and medias used are constantly changing and evolving along with history. When artists document social movements and historical events, this may be related to pease work and inclusivity. This documentation – done though the work of art – contributes to the collective memory and emphasises the importance of accountability. The artistic project also plays a role in educating the public about the subject matter. Through exhibitions, performances, and workshops, artists can raise awareness and inspire action. Online art installations, social media campaigns, and interactive projects can amplify the message of justice and inclusivity. The art becomes a tool for peaceful dialogue. This way cultural foundations such as Floating EKA are able together with artists, to actively contribute to the goals outlined in SDG 16, fostering a world that is more just, inclusive, and accountable.
The use of digital technologies contributes to both artistic creations and enables access to justice by providing platforms for sharing experiences and engaging in discussions.
Reflecting on Blogging as a Learning Experience
To conduct the course module in blog format was a new approach for me, from which I learned a lot. Immediately, I began to appreciate the openness and accessibility of the blog format. The task and the process were no longer solely ours, my classmates and mine, to submit or carry out within the safe confines of the university; instead, we were encouraged to expose our thoughts to the world and seek its reaction. This created a greater sense of responsibility for the ideas I chose to describe. The interactive elements in the blog invited new forms of interaction with the material, allowing video experiences to be quoted and commented on, which I find enriching as a significant portion of the information we communicate today comes from moving material that many interact with. Often, the dialogues that arise in the digital spaces are just as important for understanding the posted material and contribute to a changing overall impression. Impressions and analyses from video sources or digital discussions definitely have a place in academic work, and it was instructive to practice reflecting on such matters.
The collaboration with my classmates was also very rewarding. During our digital planning meetings and check-ins, we motivated each other, creating an energy and willingness to contribute with high quality. It was also a smooth way to quickly get close to each other in a process and thus share each other’s experiences and enrich each other’s perspectives and viewpoints. Overall, I experienced a respectful and joyful group that worked smoothly.
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References
United Nations. (n.d.). Peace, justice, and strong institutions. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Roberts, T. 2019: Digital Development: what’s in a name?. Appropriating Technology, 9 August.
Solidarity economy. (2023, December 10). In Wikipedia.
OECD (2023), Policy Guide on Social Impact Measurement for the Social and Solidarity Economy, Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED), OECD Publishing, Paris,
Crombie, J. & Girling, D. 2022: Who Owns The Story? Live financial testing of charity vs participant led storytelling in fundraising. London: Amref.