MGLC – International Centre of Graphic Arts
35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts: the art of storytelling for MGLC
From a hermetic theme to a podcast and TikTok: how we reshaped the biennale's communication with MGLC
- Client
- MGLC – International Centre of Graphic Arts
- Year
- 2023–2024
What connects Slovenia and Ghana? The 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts looked for the answer in the Non-Aligned Movement, in the architecture, infrastructure and friendships that grew between the former Yugoslavia and Ghana. A rich theme, but at first glance a demanding one for the wider public.
For the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) we designed and delivered the biennale's content communication: from a content plan and a workshop for the team to a podcast hosted by the director and a TikTok profile that brought art closer to younger audiences. Along the way we photographed events and workshops and connected with the artists.
In numbers
- 2
- New channels MGLC launched with the biennale: a podcast and TikTok.
- 4
- Episodes of the podcast This Is No Art with MGLC's director.
- 10
- TikTok videos: from concept and filming to captions and a posting plan.
- 6
- Biennale venues around Ljubljana that we showed on TikTok.
The question of the 35th biennale
Can the void left by past failures become soil for new relationships built on solidarity and friendship?
01The challenge: a hermetic theme for a wide audience
The biennale's artistic director, Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama, found the theme in the 1960s and 70s, when Ghana and Slovenia, as part of Yugoslavia, helped found the Non-Aligned Movement. Titled From the Void Came Gifts of the Cosmos, the biennale ran from 15 September 2023 to 14 January 2024 and connected contemporary art and printmaking with architecture, design, agriculture and botany.
MGLC's existing channels mostly addressed a professional audience. So we added two new ones: TikTok for people under 35 who are into art, design and international experiences, and a podcast that tells more complex stories in a personal, informal way. More about the biennale.
02What we did
This Is No Art: complex topics, told personally.
We designed a podcast hosted by MGLC director Nevenka Šivavec and planned four episodes: an introduction to the biennale, and conversations with artistic director Ibrahim Mahama and artists Tjaša Rener and Soghra Khurasani. We handled audio and video production, intro music, transcripts, subtitles and teasers for social media.
A new channel for people under 35.
We set up and ran the @mglcljubljana profile: designing formats, filming, writing captions and planning posts. We asked artists the questions a visitor would ask (What is intaglio printing? Why is there a QR code on the artwork?) and showed the biennale as a date idea or a weekend plan.
A countdown to the opening.
For Instagram and Facebook we proposed presenting the artists through three questions, one a day from mid-August to the opening, and an activation with a giveaway.
Six existing channels, two new ones, one plan.
For each channel we set the purpose, audience and content types and prepared a posting calendar from August to January, with rules for how content flows between the two websites, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and the podcast.
Personas the team still uses.
In a content communication workshop with the MGLC team we defined target audiences and personas such as the Cultural Tourist, the Instacult and the Experience Catcher, and storytelling techniques.
Event coverage and contact with the artists.
We photographed the biennale's events, guided tours and workshops, and contacted and connected the artists who took part in the podcast and on TikTok.
Listen to the podcast on Spotify.
03TikTok: art without the airs
A selection of our TikTok videos
Views of selected videos
- PLAC 4,406
- Date idea 3,819
- Moss (Beti Frim and Ines Sekač) 2,210
- Tjaša Rener 2,086
- NPR. 1,538
Views on the @mglcljubljana profile, from a screenshot of the profile.
04At the biennale venues
Project timeline
-
July 2023
Workshop
Target audiences, personas and storytelling techniques with the MGLC team.
-
August 2023
Content plan
A framework for eight channels and a posting calendar to the end of the biennale.
-
September 2023
Opening and podcast
The biennale opens on 15 September, and with it the new podcast This Is No Art.
-
October–December 2023
Episodes and TikTok
New podcast episodes, the TikTok profile and event photography.
-
14 January 2024
Closing
The biennale closes, and the TikTok profile stays with the MGLC team.
05The result: a channel that lives on
The biennale's communication became more accessible and strategically focused. MGLC gained two new channels that reach people it had not reached before. The TikTok profile took off so well that after our initial management the MGLC team now runs it on its own and posts regularly. The @mglcljubljana profile.
06Where this project sits in our matrix
We work across all of these layers, and any combination is possible.
- Who we worked for
- Executive leadershipCorporate communicationsHRMarketingPublic sector
- Project scope
- Small brand storyAlways-on communicationBig brand story (a full campaign)
- What we improved
- ProcessesRelationshipsContent
- How we approached it
- StrategicallyDigitally, with AICreativelyIn an advisory role
- How long?
- Short-term (up to 3 months)Mid-term (3–12 months)Long-term (a year or more)
- What we created
- DocumentsPresentationsVisual identitiesDesignWebsitesSocial mediaCopywritingPhotographyVideo storiesAnimationsPodcastsEventsWorkshops