Sharing and creating cultural space: what is culture in this context?
According to Mulgan and Worpole (1986)[i], there are two differing ideas that underpin participatory art. Cultural democracy infers working from the grass roots up, where citizens are as much experts of their lives as the cultural professionals who might be invited to work with them. The other is the democratisation of culture which manifests itself in the notion of the arts being made accessible to all. This tends to be a top-down approach, whereby artists, curators, galleries and institutions select what art is made and shared. It is the former, ie cultural democracy, that ‘tackles the problem of what constitutes that culture’ (Mulgan and Worpole, 1986).
I’m interested in how the art sector continues to juggle these ideas, particularly now the shared cultural space extends to online and into the home. I've been designing various programmes and projects within community art and socially engaged practice over the last 18 years. Just lately, I have come to see my work as co-research with communities, a form of circular exchange. During these projects, the question of cultural space is tacitly explored, with decisions around what type of activity, with whom, and where it should take place, continually up for discussion and design.
I would like to run a 90-minute practical session to explore how this community art model works, and some of the ideas behind it.
[i] Mulgan, G and Worpole, K, 1986, Saturday Night or Sunday Morning? From Arts to Industry – New Forms of Cultural Policy, London: Comedia Publishing Group.
I’m interested in how the art sector continues to juggle these ideas, particularly now the shared cultural space extends to online and into the home. I've been designing various programmes and projects within community art and socially engaged practice over the last 18 years. Just lately, I have come to see my work as co-research with communities, a form of circular exchange. During these projects, the question of cultural space is tacitly explored, with decisions around what type of activity, with whom, and where it should take place, continually up for discussion and design.
I would like to run a 90-minute practical session to explore how this community art model works, and some of the ideas behind it.
[i] Mulgan, G and Worpole, K, 1986, Saturday Night or Sunday Morning? From Arts to Industry – New Forms of Cultural Policy, London: Comedia Publishing Group.