Symposium - The Question of Collaboration

About

We will be hearing from leading artists in the field Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Neville Gabie, Jasleen Kaur, and Julie Myers and Maria Anastassiou who created Clubhouse.

Chaired by independent curator and writer Tessa Jackson OBE , and introduced by Annie Bacon of Bedford Creative Arts, we will be seeking out and learning about new ways of developing and achieving deeper ‘collaboration’ and exploring the critical discourse around new developments and innovative approaches in socially engaged art practice.

The afternoon will take into account how these approaches make artists and the communities that work with them, think and feel about the realities and possibilities of collaborative working. This will include a conversation between the lead artists, community members and producers of Clubhouse – our recent inter-generational film making project set on two streets in Bedford.  Other speakers TBC.

Key questions we will be looking at are;

• 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?

If you are an artist, producer, curator, commissioning organisation or somebody who works to create dialogue within communities through the arts then this is for you and we would love you to come and be part of the discussion. A limited number of bursaries are available for artists.

Bursaries

A limited number of bursaries of up to £50 + Free Ticket are available for Artists in the ACE East Region to contribute towards travel, subsistance, childcare and/or access costs. Priority will be given to those who would otherwise be unable to attend. To apply for a bursary please provide us with your

• Name & contact details
• Short biography detailing why attendance at the conference would be beneficial to you/ your practice (up to 250 words)
• Amount applied for (up to £50)

Those wishing to apply should send the following information to janu@bedfordcreativearts.org.uk no later than 12pm Monday 27 August 2018. All applicants will be notified by Monday 3 September 2018