Looking to develop Birmingham artists, Critical Spaces sets up local, critical support networks for socially-engaged artists, e.g. site-specific, situationist, public, community and outreach artists. These pilot groups are lead by artist Hannah Hull, with the eventual hope that the groups will begin to run self organised meetings.

From Critical Spaces:

We find individual artists that want to discuss their work with like-minded people – and when we have located enough artists in one geographic area, we set up their first meeting.

The programme for the first network meeting is curated by Critical Spaces in conversation with the local artists, and may include critical exercises such as:

Critiquing a work-in-progress – someone presents a social art project they are working on

Discussing a short text – someone provides a current or historical text relating to social art practice to stimulate debate

Debating a provocation – for example, “Artists cannot produce art in care settings until participants’ care needs are fully met”

A task or exercise – for example, demonstrating an exercise used with community groups and opening this up for critique, or an exercise designed to explore a key issue, such as evaluation

Sharing experiences/advice on a key issue – everyone shares their experience of – or opinion on – an issue such as negotiating fees with commissioners, or policy changes

Critical Spaces #3 is on Wednesday 5th June, 2pm to 4.30pm at Ort Cafe, 500 Moseley Road, B12 9AH and is open to turn up on the day, but invites you to register here: http://criticalspaces.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/get/

You are encouraged to bring a bring a task, exercise, text, question, etc. to the session. This can be as playful or serious as you like, lasting anything from 1 minute upwards.

]]>