Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

médiation culturelle

English translation:

engagement in cultural activities

Added to glossary by Sandra Petch
May 22, 2008 12:55
16 yrs ago
23 viewers *
French term

médiation

French to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
Hi

In reference to a contemporary art centre. This term comes up repeatedly, eg.

- Le centre met en place un large dispositif de médiation (restaurant, boutique, horaires accessible, service éducatif, service visiteurs handicapés...)

- Le centre a eu la charge de la médiation de l'exposition XYZ (in this case, it provided staff who roamed the exhibition answering visitors' questions about the works)

- Le centre s'est imposé comme une référence en matière de médiation culturelle: le décloisonnement, le rapprochement entre les artistes et les publics, la démocratisation de la création artisique.

So we can see what they are getting at!
"Cultural mediation" and "cultural mediator" exist in English but are used in a very different way:

What is cultural mediation:

Cultural mediation is the process through which a cultural mediator or a bicultural link worker facilitates communication and mutual understanding, by acting as a cultural broker between service providers and clients from minority ethnic backgrounds. The cultural mediators are a resource for service providers and the different minority ethnic communities in society. They assist service providers to deliver a culturally sensitive and competent service, while at the same time empowering minority ethic communities.


So far I have "outreach". Other (preferably one-word) suggestions are welcome!
Many thanks.

Discussion

Sandra Petch (asker) May 26, 2008:
You were right, there is no one-word catch-all translation for this! I used "engaging the public in art" and "giving access to art." I found an excellent essay on the Tate Modern website called "Reaching Out" (so I wasn't far off the mark with my first idea of "outsreach"!) on exactly this subject. Many thanks to everyone for your ideas.
Melissa McMahon May 22, 2008:
I agree that one word might not work for all. "Mediation" does seem to be used in this context (at least for uses 2 & 3), & it's defined in the text so ambiguity is not so much a risk - community or public interface and orientation possible for 1st.

Proposed translations

1 day 9 hrs
Selected

engagement in cultural activities

tricky one,

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Note added at 1 day9 hrs (2008-05-23 22:14:26 GMT)
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or cultural envolvement

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Note added at 4 days (2008-05-26 18:56:49 GMT) Post-grading
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hey thanks! that's what this forum is, to help you brainstorm, so it is good that you got to the right answer quickly:)
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2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks! I'd already come to this conclusion when your answer was posted but it was good confirmation. Thanks again for your help."
7 mins

extensive facilities = large dispositif de médiation

I think that opting for separate terms to render each usage might be the best bet. It's going to be difficult, not impossible to find one term to cover all of those instances of usage. I've suggested something for the first usage that appears in the excerpt you've included here.

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1 hr

facilities, promotion

dispositif de médiation: facilities
médiation de l'exposition: event promotion, organisation
médiation culturelle: cultural promotion,
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3 hrs

a) wide range of client service facilities ; b) contacts with visitors c)cultural mediation

These formulas might help... I agree that you need a different wording for the three examples, and I would certainly include the details in parentheses to make it clear. You'll have to decide if keeping "mediation" really works for the last one !
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6 hrs

visitor-friendly / friendliness

The center offered a large palette of visitor-friendly services /.. The center was asked to enhance visitor-friendliness... / .. is held up as a (stellar) example of visitor-friendliness

...in the skyline of a need for more exhibition galleries, ..... tests a framework of reference for visitor friendliness, a complex concept that encap- ...
www.experientia.com/blog/uploads/2006/11/amnl64.pdf



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Note added at 6 hrs (2008-05-22 19:55:48 GMT)
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Or a variation on the same idea:

Viewer-friendly / friendlliness

...off the opening reception of a traveling exhibition of Japanese pottery, which includes ...... In a welcome exercise of** viewer friendliness**, all the experts ...
www.jsc.nasa.gov/news/columbia/107_onboard_archive/messages...

Or even:

Art-enthusiast friendly...

General-public friendly...
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