Symposium: The Question of Collaboration

On 21st September 2018, Bedford Creative Arts hosted an afternoon of lively discussion, sharing and debate on the question of ‘true’ collaboration between artists and communities.

Chaired by independent curator and writer Tessa Jackson OBE ,and introduced by Annie Bacon , Creative Producer and curator at Bedford Creative Arts, the symposium looked at new ways of developing and achieving deeper ‘collaboration’ and exploring the critical discourse around new developments and innovative approaches in socially engaged art practice.

We heard from leading artists in the field Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Neville Gabie, Jasleen Kaur, Shabnam Shabazi and Julie Myers and Maria Anastassiou who together created Clubhouse – our recent inter-generational filmmaking project set on two streets in Bedford. In addition Dr Cecilie Sachs Olsen a postdoctoral research fellow at the centre for the GeoHumanities, Royal Holloway, University of London, was invited to deliver a provocation to inspire debate.

The symposium concluded with the first public premiere of the short film Clubhouse by Julie Myers and Maria Anastassiou, and then a panel dialogue between the collaborators on the Clubhouse commission and film. This panel was made up of lead artists Julie Myers and Maria Anastassiou; community participants Fatuma Nassir and Rebecca Palmer; Kim Burrows, Community Development Officer for housing association bpha; Assistant Producer Emily Evans and was chaired by Annie Bacon, the project’s Curator and Creative Producer.

Key questions discussed:

What do we mean by collaboration and is it achievable in its truest sense?
Can a collaborative process balance the needs of the artist and the community and still result in a worthwhile outcome?
At what level can we create a sustained, shared process of art making that leaves outcomes open, to be arrived at through the process?
How do we evaluate ‘quality’ of artistic practice and process within a critical discourse, in working with communities?
How can communities enter, be part of the creative process and have experiences they can own?
Can this way of working encourage greater freedom for exploration of particular artistic disciplines?

All talks available on podcast, see website below for updates.