Portraits of Meaning Making: Mediation Strategies in Encounters with Artworks

This chapter is based on the outcomes of the research project «Mediation and Meaning Making Strategies in Art Museums»1. The main goals of the research project were to understand how could the use of specific mediation strategies help individuals in the interpretation of artworks, and if those meaning making processes vary across people with and without a background in visual arts. In order to achieve this goal a five-month workshop was organized, involving twenty-four participants who engaged in continued encounters with three chosen artworks in the museum. During the workshop participants were introduced to and used different mediation strategies – written and visual, developed to map and record their individual dialogues with each artwork.