Manifesta’s Education and Mediation programme emerges from collaborative research with local actors, exploring overlooked aspects of educational and cultural histories that help envision alternative futures. In Manifesta 15, the research centres on Catalan progressive educational movements pre and post-Francoist dictatorship, employing artistic research, mediation, public programming and professional networks.

Initiated in 2023, Fora per fer escola emerged as a collaborative research process led by the Education and Mediation team of Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana. It consolidates various projects forming the biennial's education and mediation programme. Translated from Catalan, the title embodies multiple significant dimensions: the idea of taking education outdoors, setting precedents and being expelled for creating a school.

This initiative aims to reconnect with the progressive Catalan educational movements, both pre- and post-Francoist dictatorship. Through artistic research, mediation, public programming and professional networks, it aims to illuminate ideas and practices that can contribute to pedagogical and eco-social transformations necessary today and are aligned with the overarching biennial themes: Balancing Conflicts, Cure and Care and Imagining Futures. 

Five local collectives and individual artists were invited to delve into (existing) archives. The collective Inland Campo Adentro focused its attention on Escola de Bosc’s unique approach to cooking and dining, which were integral to its educational and social agenda. As part of this research, the collective organised a community banquet at the Torre Negra in Sant Cugat del Vallès, bringing together local stakeholders advocating for food sovereignty. The Paisanaje collective continued this initiative with their biennial project Agápē, expanding their research to contemporary Catalan school canteens, raising awareness amongst today’s students about the impact of different consumption habits and food production chains.

Diversorium, a crip and queer temporary gathering space for all bodies, engaged with the archives of Vil·la Joana, the first municipal public school dedicated to students with disabilities. The research focused on analysing the systems that label and isolate children who do not fit into ‘normal’ educational standards, questioning the notion and systems of inclusiveness. Subsequently, Diversorium invited the artist Ariadna Guiteras to create a welcoming and restful space, inspired by the text and research that Diversorium did of Vil·la Joana. Throughout the biennial, the space hosted performances, gatherings and educational activities.

Sara Torres-Vega, an artist and researcher, explored a human-centred pedagogy of Escola del Mar and the role of the sea in our global, multi-species ecosystem. The research subsequently shaped a collaborative programme of public talks and workshops "What do sea creatures know about pedagogy?" at the Centre de la Platja, a municipal centre focused on environmental education and ocean literacy.

Massa Salvatge and Lluc Mayol concentrated the research on revitalising solidarity networks, drawing inspiration from Batec, a teachers’ collective that was active in the province of Lleida in Catalonia from 1930 to 1936. In collaboration with community members, artist Anaïs Florin compiled and restored the archive of a social movement Escoles en Lluita. With a membership comprised of educators, students, political activists, intellectuals and artists, this grassroots movement advocated for high-quality public education and struggled against exploitation in disadvantaged neighbourhoods along the Besòs River.

The archival research sparked multiple projects and collaborations that form the biennial’s education and mediation programme. Teachers’ Camps is one of the projects initiated in the metropolitan region that aims at collectively reflecting on the historical methodologies of the pedagogical movements in dialogue with the contemporary teaching practices and political responsibility of education.

Through a publication and a display at the Gustavo Gili, the programme sought to contextualise the five pedagogical situations within broader historical processes and educational renewal movements in Spain, Europe and Latin America. It also provided theoretical and artistic insights on pedagogical and archival practices, along with the Pedagogical Oracle—a methodological resource for teachers and educators developed during the Teachers’ Camps process. While the publication and exhibition focused on historical contexts, the International Education Symposium addressed contemporary issues, exploring what remained of their political agenda today.

Inspired by the Batec practices of peer exchange and mutual support, the Territorial Working Group has been initiated as a platform for municipal officials in culture, education and social affairs in the Barcelona metropolitan region to share challenges and critical reflections on cultural participation and inclusion.