What we do

We offer…

an accompanying program for the professionalization of artists, cultural managers, and communication professionals by providing the means to design a medium to long-term personal development plan, and the planning of viable, appropriate, and economically sustainable cultural initiatives.

We foster…

collaborative efforts to produce works that favor the involvement of the authors with their social and political reality, taking into consideration the joy of life itself and our responsibility as human beings.

We aim…

to improve society through critical reflection and analysis. We stimulate the imagination through research to test and experiment with bold and proactive solutions. We promote both interdisciplinary work and dialogue for the enrichment of the creation of initiatives.

Piso 16. Laboratorio de Iniciativas Culturales UNAM from the Coordinación de Difusión Cultural of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México was created in March 2017, the first Accompanying Program began in May 2018.

Team

Director

Nicol Figueroa Rendón

direccion@piso16.cultura.unam.mx

Production and Comunication

Isabel Guerrero Hernández

produccion@piso16.cultura.unam.mx

Training

Antonio Lezama Meneses

formacion@piso16.cultura.unam.mx

Assistant

Maricarmen Aburto Guadalupe

asistente@piso16.cultura.unam.mx

Goal

To support the professional growth of individuals committed to artistic creation, cultural management, and communication, as well as the cultivation of economically sustainable, long-term cultural and artistic projects. This will be achieved by fostering the acquisition of knowledge, exploring production opportunities, and establishing cross-institutional connections for public engagement.

Mission

Encourage and accompany young college students in designing professional development plans and planning cultural and artistic initiatives committed to their reality. Based on creativity and critical thinking, multidisciplinary work, and effective connections with the public and private sectors so that they can secure their long-term implementation and operation.

Vision

To be a benchmark of UNAM leading referents as a training facility in which college students get all the essential information to bring to life their ideas and cultural initiatives, and in which creativity and innovation are encouraged, while also promoting socially committed and economically sustainable undertaking.

Where are we located?

At the 16th floor of Torre Unam in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, a few meters away from Paseo de la Reforma Centro, next to the archaeological site of Tlatelolco, the “La Santa Cruz” convent, and the Nonoalco-Tlatelolco complex.

The presence of the big city becomes quite relevant by simply taking a look at the volcanoes and mountains surrounding the valley, as well as the emblematic buildings and public spaces that are a testament of its history: the Pre-Hispanic age, the the viceregal period, and the modern age.

It is a 770 m2 open and versatile facility that not only beckons its guests to imagine, reflect, and share but that also functions to attend to each one of the requirements of the initiatives in development.

Approach and Code of Ethics

The operation of Piso 16 rests upon dialogue, active participation, and mutual trust, based on horizontal collaborations. With this spirit in mind, and because of the importance of language, we propose using certain words: learning instead of teaching, mentor instead of tutor, facilitator instead of instructor, sharing instead of competing, convenient, pertinent, and necessary instead of mandatory. With the same criteria, we elaborated a code of ethics instead of a set of rules, which we believe to be the basis for healthy and peaceful relationships among people, and that is achieved through honesty, kindness, sharing, and mutual respect. It also encourages its members to be co-responsible in the protection of the environment and everyone’s safety.

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Who do we accompany?

Creators, cultural managers, and communication professionals who have a cultural initiative in any of the following artistic disciplines: visual arts, filmmaking, dance, literature, music, and theater.
Individuals or groups from the UNAM community.
Young people from 25 to 35 years old.

This program considers members of the UNAM community: students, alumni, and scholars from schools, institutes, faculties, and educational centers from UNAM, as well as students and former students from incorporated institutions.

The participants are selected through an annual call. One of the most important selection criteria is that the initiatives must be conceived with a commitment to reality and our society. Therefore, analysis and critical thinking are of great importance. Creativity and innovation (not only technological but also in terms of work processes and methods of operation) are also essential factors to consider in the process of selecting initiatives.

We also bring service to young candidates selected from other calls from the Coordination of Culture Dissemination, such as “Partir del punto”, which consists of editing the Punto de partida magazine from Dirección de Literatura UNAM.

Pisoteca

How are the cultural initiatives developed?

Piso 16. Laboratorio de Iniciativas Culturales UNAM offers its participants a ten-month Accompanying Program that mixes the monitoring of a mentor with a program of workshops, consultancy, talks, and dialogues. On the other hand, the lab promotes research and experimentation, grants privilege to artistic processes, and conceives mistakes as a natural part of collective learning.

Mentors

One mentor is assigned per initiative according to the needs and specific characteristics of each one. The mentor keeps track of both the consolidation of the professional development plan and the long-term cultural initiative in biweekly meetings.

Workshops

These are theoretical and practical, are based on methodologies that promote active and productive learning experiences, favor analysis, creativity, communication, and critical thinking. They are also programmed in a sequence that aids in the progress of the design and planning of the professional development, and the cultural initiative so that they can be economically viable; each workshop ends with academic counseling, which allows giving answers to particular doubts.

Talks

Spaces dedicated to dialogue with creators and cultural managers who are still active in the cultural scene, and that through their personal experiences, offer a landscape of today’s issues in artist’s lives and give alternatives to achieve sustainability in artistic careers and cultural initiatives.

Dialogues

Conversations between participants are organized every two months to analyze the progress of their initiatives, and to share concerns, experiences, and knowledge.

Piso 16 has versatile workspaces and test areas, as well as a computer lab with equipment and computer programs in which the participants can work on their initiatives. They can elaborate portfolios, they can work on their image design, and they can also edit materials.

The participants also have access to both a physical library and a digital library that specializes in cultural management and creative projects, as well as a digital platform located in the information area that has a database of calls, cultural spaces, and a creative business network.

Alliances

Building bridges is crucial to connect the initiatives with people and organizations not only from UNAM, but also from external public and private sectors, and national and international organizations. It can also generate active networks involved in their development.

In that regard, and along with the areas of the “Coordinación de Difusión Cultural UNAM”, we are in a constant search for production opportunities for the creations of the participants of the program in Piso 16 that will allow them to be displayed in public. We also promote the connection with public and private organizations as sources of financing for the initiatives.

The connection with organizations from UNAM that train creators, cultural managers, and communication professionals such as: Centro Universitario de Teatro (CUT), Escuela Nacional de Artes Cinematográficas (ENAC), Facultad de Artes y Diseño (FAD), Facultad de Medicina (FAM), Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, and in particular with the careers of Letras, Gestión Intercultural y de Literatura Dramática y Teatro, y la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, and Comunicación, allows a direct contact with young people for their participation in the Accompanying Program.

Piso 16 promotes the realization of the social service to contribute to the development of skills and knowledge of the providers of said service, to collaborate with the cultural initiatives in activities related to cultural management, marketing, administration, accounting, photography, law, among others.