Groups and Roles
Groups and Mandates
Amigdala adopts an organisational structure based on nested units, or working groups, each with a specific mandate that contributes to the realisation of the collective’s overall vision. Each group is self-governed — meaning it makes its own political and operational decisions. A mandate defines the group’s purpose and outlines its exclusive authority and areas of responsibility. Working groups are composed of compagne — members of the association — who work together and make decisions about how to organise themselves, based on clearly defined mandates. These ensure that each group operates in alignment with the organisation’s broader vision. Groups may establish subgroups when they identify the need to delegate part of their mandate, enabling more effective and equitable action. A subgroup carries a more focused mandate than the group it derives from. The approval of a group’s mandate and the appointment of its coordinator are political decisions confirmed by the parent group (sopragruppo), ensuring alignment with Amigdala’s overall goals. Each group periodically reviews and updates its agreements.
Organisational and Operational Roles
Each group includes the following organisational roles:
Facilitator: guides meetings and decision-making processes, ensuring that discussions are productive and inclusive.
Scribe: takes notes and manages key agreements and information, ensuring transparency and documentation.
Coordinator: supports the group’s activities and acts as a liaison with the parent group, sharing updates and needs. The coordinator is also a member of the parent group.
In addition to these roles, groups may introduce operational roles as needed. An operational role comes with a specific mandate to carry out one or more ongoing tasks, assigned to one or two group members.
Current Organisational Structure
As of January 2025, Amigdala’s working groups fall into two main categories:
Cross-cutting Groups: These oversee key organisational domains such as Administration and Space Management.
Thematic Groups: These focus on the design and implementation of specific programmatic actions, such as Artistic Creation, Territorial Research, and Childhood and Adolescence.
All groups are subgroups of the Coordination Group, where coordinators meet to synchronise activities and share needs and information.
Responsibility for safeguarding the organisation’s shared purpose lies with the Vedetta (Lookout) Group — the group with the broadest mandate. It acts as the parent group of the Coordination Group, ensuring that the organisation as a whole remains aligned with its vision.
Projects
A project is a structured initiative involving a group of compagne, either from the same working group or from multiple groups, collaborating to achieve a specific goal within a defined area of activity.
Projects can be temporary, responding to time-limited needs (e.g., a one-off event), or ongoing, requiring sustained engagement (e.g., the organisation of Periferico festival).
A project team may define its purpose, but usually does not hold political decision-making power, operating instead within the framework of the mandates of the relevant working groups. Projects serve as a tool to translate the groups’ political intentions into concrete actions.
The person who coordinates a project is called the referente (project anchor), and, in the case of more complex projects, by a dedicated team. Referentes are responsible for carrying the project forward and coordinating with the rest of the collective to meet its needs. This reflects Amigdala’s commitment to organisational decentralisation — rejecting and redistributing the hierarchical power traditionally associated with roles such as Artistic Director. Decision-making, planning, and human processes within all projects are guided by this ethos.
The artistic programming of Periferico, the creation of new works, territorial actions, and the curatorship of OvestLab are all the result of shared, collective work.
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