credits Mercedes Herrán.
The organisation EMPOWER transfers its model of practice, with the population with autism, so that they can participate and enjoy culture, to the C.V. MARQ Foundation and with it to the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Alicante, through the Empower Network.
EMPOWER, in the framework of its collaboration with the Fundación ICO/Museo ICO, has extended to other cultural institutions its programme of activities for families with children with different types and levels of autism affectation, between 5 and 12 years old. The programme aims to provide families with tools so that they can access cultural life independently with their children.
The experience gained since the start of the programme in 2013 and the methodology implemented by EMPOWER at the ICO Museum will serve to expand the opportunities and cultural offerings, contributing to the creation of a wider network of inclusive cultural and museum spaces throughout Spain.
A total of 32 families have taken part in the educational activities programmed by the Empower Network throughout the year, of which 12 have attended the visits and sessions at the ICO Museum and another 18 have taken part in those organised at the new centres that have joined the network. Since the launch of this initiative in 2013, more than 100 families have already enjoyed this initiative in cultural institutions throughout Spain.
Professional and institutional empowerment
The methodological transfer programme also has a line of work called "Learning", aimed at research and empowerment of professionals in the cultural field. It consists of the configuration of a meeting space for sharing and reflecting on non-exclusionary practices in cultural spaces, through the review of the practices of the participating institutions. The network of organisations of people with intellectual disabilities, Plena Inclusión Madrid and the Autonomous University of Madrid collaborate in this space.
Throughout the year, more than 50 professionals (managers, museum staff, education and mediation teams) have participated in the training programme, designed to create more humanised and accessible cultural spaces.
According to Laura Donis, founder and director of EMPOWER, "It is essential to provide tools and resources to all professionals in the cultural field so that they can lead the transformation from static practices to others that are less exclusive and more socially committed".
A dynamic project with a vision for the future
Empower Parents was initiated in 2013, from an experience carried out in the Queens Museum of New York, and by the hand of Fundación ICO, thanks to a prize awarded by the American Alliance of Museums within the Museums Connect programme of the United States Department of State.
In 2015, Empower Parents was included in the National Plan Museums + Social of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, whose mission is to ensure that museum institutions adapt to current social realities.
In addition, in 2017, the programme was recognised as one of the three most innovative and inclusive projects in the European cultural industries in the NICE Awards 2017, Network for Innovations in Culture and Creativity in Europeorganised by the European Centre for Creative Economy (ECCE).
In 2020 the EMPOWER alliance and Fundación ICO/Museo ICO activate a programme aimed at transferring the methodology and learning from the programme.
About EMPOWER
EMPOWER is a non-profit civil society organisation, created in 2020, that works at the intersection of cultural mediation, collaborative practices and cultural democracy, advocating for access and participation of all people in cultural life.
The organisation is made up of the professionals and families who have been developing and coordinating the Empower Parents programme at the ICO Museum since 2013. It has a team specialised in cultural and artistic mediation processes with people with autism.
The working methodology has been developed by Laura Donis and the EMPOWER team who, since 2013, have been developing and researching intervention models with people with autism. The museum thus becomes a laboratory in which to experiment with new accessibility practices and supports that guarantee the enjoyment and autonomous visit of people with autism and their families.
