Last week SHIFT mentoring program was pleased to receive the editor-in-chief for culture in the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), Satu Nurmio, to lead a workshop about communicating with the media. As a journalist Nurmio is specialised in contemporary art, culture politics and urban culture. Under Nurmio’s lead the editorial team has been specialising in taking advantage of different forms of new media, social media and internet news coverage. She holds a master’s degree in multimedia from Tampere University, where she also minored in Art History and International Politics.
Prior to the workshop all the SHIFT participants wrote press releases describing their upcoming exhibitions. Participants were asked to pay extra attention to correct grammar, what do they want to say with their exhibition, what do they want to tell about themselves as artists, and consider what kind of framework are they creating for their artwork through the press release. At the workshop everybody had a chance to receive constructive feedback on their press releases, and to think together how to improve them.
All the participants were interested in asking several questions about approaching the media. What kind of questions do journalists usually ask? How does my press release or exhibition text affect journalists’ understanding of my art practice? How do I tell about my art without revealing too much about my personal life? These and several other topics were discussed, thank you so much Satu for the encouraging day!
Writing about one’s own arts practice and future exhibitions is sometimes really strenuous. Having a dialogue with other artist and art experts, sharing examples and knowledge, good and bad experiences from which to learn, is something that we encourage at the SHIFT program. The program continues in June when we all come together for a final group meeting before summer holidays.