Call for Part-time Mediators | CALORIE
Are you interested in mediating at the intersection of science and art? Are you excited by the opportunity to interact with artists, scholars and experts from all over the world? Curious to know what goes on behind the scenes at a Science Gallery Bengaluru exhibition?
Join the mediator team for our eight exhibition-season CALORIE!
Apply by: Thursday, 01 May 2025
Programme Dates: 14 June 2025 – 31 December 2025
Stipend: Rs. 1,000 for each working day (training period will be unpaid)
Please write to us at mediators@bengaluru.sciencegallery.com if you have any queries.
Who is a mediator?
Mediators are the public face of Science Gallery Bengaluru exhibitions, and converse with visitors about the various concepts explored in our themed exhibition-seasons. They are often the first point of contact for visitors, and drive the experience of the exhibition by sharing insights, provoking questions and triggering debates. They also get behind the scene access to the various forces that shape an exhibition-season at Science Gallery Bengaluru! Working with the SGB team, they will also have the opportunity to create learning experiences and resources connected to the themes of CALORIE.
Mediators are:
Young people between the ages of 18 – 30, working out of Bengaluru.
Effective communicators who can connect with audiences.
Interested in interdisciplinary approaches to public engagement.
Team players looking to collaborate with peers on research-backed public engagement projects.
Creative individuals eager to develop new modes of audience engagement.
Mediators will:
Train with exhibiting artists and scholars to understand the process behind the creation of different exhibits.
Work with the Science Gallery Bengaluru team to curate and manage audience experience on the exhibition floor.
Conceptualise and execute informal programmes related to the theme of the exhibition-season.
Develop skills in communication, writing, critical thinking, and design thinking.
Support outreach efforts by representing SGB at offsite events.
Eligibility Criteria
To apply, you should be:
Between 18 – 30 years of age at the time of applying.
Based in Bengaluru and able to come to Science Gallery Bengaluru in Sanjaynagar.
From any discipline or background. You could be studying, working, or pursuing anything else.
Available for training on all weekends from 14 June 2025 and 27 July 2025.
Available to mediate for a part-time commitment for 7-months between July 2025 to December 2025.
Ability to speak Kannada and other Indian languages is highly desirable.
Programme Structure
This programme is divided into two parts:
TRAINING
Introduction to Science Gallery Bengaluru and the exhibition-season CALORIE.
101 sessions that will cover fundamental concepts around the exhibition theme.
Training sessions with existing and former SGB mediators.
Mid-exhibition training sessions with the Learning Team.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Attend all training sessions and actively participate in mediator practice sessions.
Read the CALORIE Mediator Handbook to further your understanding of the exhibits.
Mediate for the exhibition-season CALORIE on weekends.
Provide critical reflections on the exhibition and programmes—both from your own experience and from visitor feedback.
About CALORIE
Lick. Chomp. Gulp. Swallow. Burp. The desire to eat and satiate hunger drives us from the moment we are born. Be it an infant latching onto its mother’s breast or maggots devouring a corpse, all living beings feed and are fed upon.
The human body is fueled by food. In the 1860s, experiments revealed that the digestion of food releases energy, which was quantified in calories. The calorie has a complicated history, having evolved from a thermodynamic concept to a standardised measure that controls international policies on agriculture and food production, as well as healthcare and poverty indices across the globe. Food can be a tool to empower and control as well as to disenfranchise and discriminate. Food deprivation, when forced, is an act of oppression and, when voluntary, a mark of devotion or a tool for rebellion. And today, the calorie reigns supreme in fitness and diet culture.
Malnutrition afflicts India and much of the world, even as food is grown and produced in abundance. Grocery stores overflow with ultra-processed products, while supplementary powders, pills, and potions offer the promise of nourishing our bodies. Nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics are now touted as solutions to optimise an individual's diet to their particular genetic profile. However, the relationship between food and health is not merely physical. Eating disorders, ranging from anorexia to binge eating, highlight the mental and emotional complexities of our connection with food.
We stand at the precipice of a divide—between food and hunger, heirloom and GMO, disease and diet, McDonalds and MTR! Are we ready to imagine what a sustainable, equitable, and flavourful food future looks like? For CALORIE, we will critically explore food and nutrition, cooking and consumption in global food cultures and systems across history.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, or if any part of this application procedure is inaccessible to you, please write to us at mediators@bengaluru.sciencegallery.com, and we will assist you accordingly.