The book Savoirs critiques de la médiation culturelle, written under the supervison of Judith Dehail, professor of cultural mediation of the arts on research-leave at Iméra in 2022-2023, was published at the Éditions des archives contemporaines in May 2025.
Presentation
This collective work examines cultural mediation beyond its traditionally assigned function as a ‘bridge’ between artworks and audiences. Refusing to confine it to an auxiliary or purely pedagogical role, the authors gathered here explore the critical, political and social dimensions of this professional practice, which is still all too often marginalised in cultural institutions.
Based on situated experiences – in museums, art centres, public spaces, university training courses and social movements – this book reveals a form of mediation that is committed to and attentive to issues of power, domination and systemic inequalities (of race, gender and class). The contributions question the historical and ideological foundations of cultural mediation in France, while opening up to critical theories developed internationally, particularly in decolonial and feminist currents.
By combining theoretical approaches and field practices, this volume highlights forms of mediation that are rooted in territories, collectives and struggles. These forms are not content simply to provide access to art, but seek to transform the conditions under which it is expressed, received and legitimised. They are profoundly rethinking the roles, knowledge and status of cultural mediators.
This research was published with the support of the Institute for Advanced Study of Aix Marseille Université (Iméra) and the Laboratoire d’Études en Sciences des Arts (LESA, UR 3274).
About Judith Dehail
Judith Dehail is a professor of cultural mediation of the arts since September 1st, 2018 at the Laboratoire d’Études en Sciences des Arts (LESA). She was on research-leave at Iméra from September 2022 to February 2023.
