First published in Polish by Ewa Orzeszko, translation by Małgorzata Stanek

For how long are new technologies still considered “new”? Does “new” necessarily mean better? Perhaps there is no need to draw a hard line between the new and the old? In this article, I am taking a closer look at a new trend emerging in cultural institutions – the implementation of new technologies in cultural education based on the ideas of fablabs and the maker movement.

^{fot. Marcin Butryn}

Technological challenges

Although of course new technologies are not a new thing in culture, undoubtedly the digitalisation of access to culture has rapidly accelerated in recent times, including, among other things, digitisation processes, documentation, presentations and digital promotion of cultural assets, as well as contact with addressees of culture. My aim is not to evaluate how effective or appealing such activities are, or to what extent cultural institutions have been technologically ready to adapt to changing the format of their activities. Rather, based on last year’s experiences, I would like to draw the conclusion that cultural institutions are now not only obliged to present their programmes in attractive digital format, but also to familiarise their audiences with new technologies and digital tools to help them use them consciously, critically, and smartly. How to do it? One of the more interesting ideas is to implement fablab methodologies in cultural institutions.

The lockdown of cultural institutions in recent months as a result of the pandemic has forced most cultural activities to move online, while employees of the cultural sector along with the receivers of cultural events have been flooded with a plethora of digital tools: live streaming, countless Zoom meetings, digital platforms, mobile apps, VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT)... In recent months we have become a lot more aware of all these terms, and the aforementioned tools have made culture more widely accessible for people outside of the local vicinity. Advances in technology are not a new thing in culture, however the online improvements to culture have rapidly accelerated in recent times due to the digitisation of documentation, presentations, the digital promotion of cultural assets, and ease of online contact with the public. My aim is not to evaluate how effective or appealing such activities are, or to what extent cultural institutions have been technologically ready to adapt to changing the format of their activities.  Rather, based on last year’s experiences, I would like to draw the conclusion that cultural institutions are now not only obliged to present their programmes in attractive digital format, but also to familiarise their audiences with new technologies and digital tools to help them use the technologies consciously, critically, and smartly. How to do it? One of the more interesting ideas is to implement fablab methodologies in cultural institutions.

^{fot. Marcin Butryn}

Fablabs, makerspaces, medialabs, hackerspaces...

Fablabs (fabrication laboratories) are physical spaces, but also virtual communities fostering the creative use of new technologies. Officially, fablabs are spaces that comply with the so-called “The Fab Chart” and are part of the international Fablab Network. However, around the world, there are a variety of spaces which operate with similar functions, namely makerspaces, hackerspaces, and medialabs. In turn, the maker movement, to put it briefly, adopts new technologies to expand the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) movement.

At present, the global fablab network is an open, creative community of makers, artists, scientists, engineers, educators, students, amateurs, and professionals of all ages, gathered in around 1700 fablabs in over 100 countries. From small community workshops to advanced research centres, fablabs share the goal of freeing access to technological innovations.

Fablabs are meeting points for people of various backgrounds, competences, and experiences, such as engineers, programmers, artists, or DIY enthusiasts. Innovations are often born and creative ideas developed at the convergence of multiple different skill sets and through the networking of people from various communities. Fablabs are workshops that offer access to space, tools, materials and knowledge for those who want to implement their ideas and develop their passions. Fablabs give access to the latest technologies (e.g. 3D printers, laser plotters, CNC milling machines, electronic devices, computers), but their main idea is what we can broadly define as DIY, improving creative skills and stimulating creativity.

In their original proposal, fablabs’ purpose was to simplify access to modern manufacturing and information technologies. At first, they were mostly established at universities, but over time the idea of fablabs began to spread into schools, non-governmental organisations and cultural institutions, where they serve educational purposes but also allow access to tools used for broadly defined creation in fields such as design and crafts, breaking down the barrier between the creator and the recipient, as well as engaging local audiences. Implementing the fablab idea is conducive to integrating creative environments, raises the level of knowledge, creativity and entrepreneurship, and allows individuals to develop their skills and creative expression.

^{fot. Marcin Butryn}

Good practices from Poland

In Poland, fablab ideas are implemented primarily through local fablabs, makerspaces, medialabs, hackerspaces, and other creative spaces that usually operate as non-governmental organisations – their number tends to fluctuate but we can estimate that roughly thirty are currently active. Furthermore, it is encouraging to witness cultural institutions increasingly appreciating the benefits of implementing such ideas and are broadening to non-standard formats of activities in the form of permanent programmes and stand-alone events. An example of the latter are hackathons, the so-called design marathons, like HackArt of the National Museum in Warsaw or FilmHack – Film Historical Hackathon of the KARTA Center, during which interdisciplinary teams have to come up with a technological solution to a given problem, e.g. a mobile application.

Moreover, cultural institutions in Poland are also increasingly focusing on creating spaces, if not strictly fablab, then fulfilling similar functions at least partially, or on using fablab methodology to work with the audiences. Often, such activities are based on cooperation with existing Polish fablabs that support cultural institutions with technological knowledge and practical solutions.

One example of a permanent programme incorporating fablab ideas is Medialab at Workshops of Culture in Lublin . Its mission is to create a meeting space for art, technology and new media as well as artists and individuals interested in using and combining various techniques in artistic work. Medialab is a studio where we can use modern equipment such as milling machines or 3D printers to turn our ideas and projects into concrete, tangible objects, test our artistic ideas and create their prototypes. Medialab’s educational activities are very broad, ranging from 3D printing through electronics to sound-related events and other educational events that would benefit the local community. Workshops of Culture in Lublin are also coordinating the Strategic Partnerships project in the Adult Education sector of the Erasmus+ Programme. The project entitled “FABLABs – new technologies in adult education” brings together fablabs from various European countries (Finland, France, Iceland, Poland, Portugal) and its main goal is the exchange of good practices in the field of teaching methods used in fablabs and addressed to adult learners, as well as the exchange of know-how in the field of teaching methodology and educational practices.

Regular workshops based on the fablab idea are also run, for example, by the Józef Piłsudski Museum in Sulejówek. As part of the project Towarzystwo Rzeczy Przyjemnych a Niekoniecznie Pożytecznych / The Society of Pleasant but Not Necessarily Useful Things, they run family workshops that combine history with DIY that encourage and teach children and their parents by having them undertake various activities together.

Libraries are interesting examples of educational and cultural institutions promoting the use of new technologies. The programme Creativity Clubs in Libraries run by Information Society Development Foundation since 2018 encourages the growth of local creative clubs in libraries, places where “people come to meet and use tools and resources available there, in order to learn through experimentation and play, collaborate and create together as well as to carry out their own projects, share knowledge and solve problems''. The idea of these clubs clearly draws on models of fablabs and makerspaces.

Męska Szopa (lit. Male Shed) at Wolskie Cultural Centre in Warsaw, is another example. Despite its ”masculine” name, Męska Szopa is a place for everyone, offering a workshop mainly for carpentry work. As the organisers have written, “Męska Szopa also serves as a platform to cultivate and reminisce on the history of the working-class in Wola [district of Warsaw] and the heritage of multi-generational craftsmen's workshops that still operate in our district”. Męska Szopa also has a clear social function – it boosts and integrates the local community, encourages people to share knowledge and experience. Szopa’s unique character also reveals the interesting aspect of combining new technologies with traditional craftsmanship.

^{fot. Marcin Butryn}

Mentors in the digital space

We cannot stop the advancement of new technologies and their increasing role in our lives, in which the separation between offline and online has become practically impossible. Cultural institutions have important educational, artistic and social goals to fulfil in this respect. Especially amidst a “culture of excess”, where the Internet accommodates everything and everyone. This refers not only to deepening knowledge about new technologies and the ability to use them but also critical awareness on their use and the purpose behind it. Thus, cultural institutions have an important role to play in improving the digital competences of their audiences, not necessarily through traditional and formal education, but through their area of activity and expertise – culture and art.

In this way, cultural institutions can become guides and teachers of the digital world, as well as partners in the learning process. However, in order to become effective and efficient in these roles, the introduction of new technologies to cultural institutions should be followed by changes in the methods of transferring knowledge, and fablab methodology offers an interesting alternative.

Activities based on fablab ideas not only support online access to culture but, on the local scale, they also provide favourable conditions for the development of creativity. Through their stimulating formula, reversing the teacher-student roles (where the traditional audience – “consumers of culture” – becomes its creators) and by encouraging recipients to undertake their own creative activities, new technologies and high-quality education and culture is made accessible.

While establishing fablabs in cultural institutions may be difficult (due to legal, financial or organisational conditions), nothing prevents incorporating some fablab ideas or methodologies of working with groups into cultural activities. Such innovative spaces that facilitate meetings, joint work, experiments and creativity can provide very inspiring responses to contemporary challenges. From an organisational point of view they might be considered a novelty, but their core idea coincides with the mission of cultural institutions – to make culture accessible as widely as possible, to boost activities through educational events, to deepen knowledge about culture and finally, to promote social inclusion and participation.

Therefore, to some extent, cultural institutions can become guides and mentors in the world of modern technology, teaching society how to use them creatively, but also enhance critical thinking. They can become spaces (both physical and virtual) working with new technologies, encouraging peer-to-peer, mutual learning, inspiring and building relations with users. Cultural institutions can – and even should – become entities that will educate the world and explain the changes that are rapidly taking place in it. They should be entities that assist in identifying the source of these changes and help their audiences adapt to them, but not in a passive and inconsiderate manner. They should display that new technologies are primarily tools and present all the various possibilities of using them while offering interdisciplinary activities to people with different skills and experiences. Finally, they should put the audience (users) of a cultural institution at the centre of their mission, and thus focus on people’s creative participation in creating culture. Fablab methodology encouraging openness, flexibility, interdisciplinarity, and inclusiveness can be a very useful tool in this process.