In the course of a two month residency at The Australian Tapestry Workshop, we facilitated a range of activities concerned with collective action in the arts. The project culminated with the creation of a series of banners, produced in dialogue with participants from the local arts community.
Our project will consisted of a number of discursive and creative activities focused upon current working conditions in the arts, and the possibility of collective action. The principal outcome of this project will be the creation a series of banners related to these themes.
At the ATW we maintained an open studio, in which other creative workers, and members of the community, participated in conversations on these topics, as well as taking part in the making process.
Two public workshops were held throughout the project. We invited speakers who work in the areas of both the arts and community organising to lead discussions concerning the ways in which artists can work to make the sector more sustainable, accountable, and widely accessible to people of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. The were: Imogen Beynon (artist, lawyer and organiser at National Union of Workers), and Michael Pulsford (musician and organiser at The Australian Conservation Foundation). These workshops were promoted to engage with people interested in the creative sector, and collective action more broadly, in the local community.
ATW Residency dates: 1 July – 31 August 2019
