Social processes, creative engagements, and notions of participation and community

The theme of this short essay is the role of art and other creative tactics of cultural participation in supporting, sustaining or enhancing communities. The purpose is to raise points for discussion rather than suggest models of practice or evidence any form of methodology for socially engaged enterprise in the arts. However, the writing does intentionally focus on a perspective of democratic, and therefore shared, activism, reflecting on the recent context of Corwen and the relationships that have evolved and blossomed between Addo, the visiting artists collective Camp Little Hope and residents and communities that represent local interests or local identity. This example is usefully experimental and speculative in that it has performed its journey beyond the commission of controlling agencies; it has grown, affected and altered its course in response to perceived priorities from super-local contexts rather than as a design response to policy drivers or business goals.

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