Build a relationship and listen to the community

“For All of Us”: An Interview with Philly-based Cultural Organizer Marángeli Mejía-Rabell

An interview with Marángeli Mejía-Rabell, the cultural organizer and festival director for the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival and founder of AFROTAINO. She discusses her work and how it bridges the divide between Puerto Rico and Philadelphia, Latinx and Latin America. One of her early mentors was a substantial influence and shaped her approach; she says “at the center of everything he did was the community.”

Socially Engaged Practice

A short explainer from the Tate. Socially engaged practice describes art that is collaborative, often participatory and involves people as the medium or material of the work. Social practice can be ‘art that’s socially engaged, where the social interaction is at some level the art.’

How To Co-Create: Practical Lessons From The Field

Co-creation can be misused, and the various risks that come with co-creation are explored in this guide. Alongside this are tips for using ethical methods that can help to reap the benefits of shared power and authorship. This guide warns against generic solutions, stating that local, societal factors must always be taken into account.

Malaysia's Gerimis

Gerimis works with Malaysia’s indigenous Orang Asli communities to showcase their histories and traditions through the lens of arts and culture. As a collective of primarily non–Orang Asli members, Gerimis uses five principles as guideposts:
* Building allyship
* Free, prior and informed consent
* Credit
* Compensation
* Accuracy and respect

Preserving indigenous heritage and showcasing the arts of the Agta people

The Agtas are the aboriginal Filipinos who have been driven out of their lands to live on mountain tops and far-flung lakeshores. The Savage Mind Bookshop and its offshoot, Kamarin Art Gallery, have reached out to the Agta people of Lake Buhi to provide a means for them to create art, preserve their language and history, and ensure that their heritage and culture are not erased by the country’s rapid industrialisation.

Life Jacket Project

In Palestine, the Riwaq Centre for Architectural Conservation developed The Life Jacket project, to collaborate with communities to restore threatened historic buildings and to repurpose them as community spaces.

“Riwaq prioritises protecting and using local knowledge when preserving history, and adapting it to contemporary societal needs. This creates a dialogue that considers young people, heritage and indigenous knowledge.”

Ramallah’s Al-Mustawda3

Al-Mustawda3 is an independent cultural space in the city of Ramallah, Palestine. It hosts an event space, second-hand shop, design arena, gallery space, activity room and even a small organic cafe. The space brings diverse sections of the community together around arts, culture and upcycling and has become a beacon of creativity and innovation in an otherwise industrial area outside the city centre.

Koalisi Seni

Koalisi Seni (‘Arts Coalition’) is a non-profit organisation in South Jakarta that focuses on public policy in arts and culture. Their strategies include:
* Bottom-up process
* Legal analysis
* Keep your government
* Keep the agenda

Showcasing the talent of artists with disabilities on the big stage

The Inclusive Young Company (iYC) program from the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) focuses on nurturing and showcasing the talent of young people and adults aged 16 to 35, who identify as persons with disabilities.

“The long-term goal of iYC is to not only have artists with disabilities in the performance making, but also to take on and contribute to the industry via leadership roles.“ - Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Inclusive Young Company program

Groundbreaking feminist journalism for everyone

Magdalene, a bilingual online magazine, was created to inform and empower women with a range of feminist perspectives on sensitive and often taboo issues, such as gender and sexuality, in Indonesia’s patriarchal society.

"As a media company, Magdalene supports diversity, equality and inclusivity in the workplace by employing staff from various gender and sexual orientations, races and backgrounds." - Magdalene

Recovering lost history through theatre

Made in Nigeria is a theatre performance that educates communities about their lost history, and spreads the message of unity in diversity, hope and civic responsibility.

‘It is TOTAL THEATRE – dance, drama, music, art, fashion and, of course, poetry – that come together to tell the story of our 108 years of shared history. All told in 120 minutes that will pass sooner than you think.’ - Dike Chukwumerije, founder, Made in Nigeria

Pride and passion in arts from poor communities

Teatro Zona Norte means ‘North Zone Theatre’, referring to a territory in Rio de Janeiro where middle class and poor people live. The theatre began in March 2019 and holds drama, dance, visual arts and performance workshops for predominantly Black communities with low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Encouraging peace and harmony through collaborative theatre productions

‘Janakaraliya’ (‘Theatre of the People’) was a group of Sinhala and Tamil bilingual artists who travelled around Sri Lanka to present theatre performances in multiple settings through professional stage plays, forum theatre and street theatre.

“Collaborating with rural communities, Janakaraliya had conducted forum theatre performances to tackle the various challenging problems in the rural communities"

Re-reading Culture, Conversing with Land

The Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center in Ramallah brings traditional knowledge held by farming communities into the centre of the city. Intergenerational projects document and re-energise traditional culture around the focal point of the centre’s popular farmers’ market.

Engage! Report

Contemporary Asian Australian Performance and Arts on Tour have published their insights from the 2022 Double Delicious tour, a real-world case study that draws on community engagement activities at The Art House Wyong, Bunjil Place, Merrigong Theatre Company and Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre.

There is also a related Toolkit, which provides practical steps to better engage communities and beyond.

What is community engaged practice?

In this article on ArtsHub, Jade Lillie provides an overview of what community engaged practice is, and how to effectively do it.

"Community engaged practice is an effective way to create great creative and cultural outcomes with artists, practitioners and communities."