Ten - Frameworks for assessing and reconsidering empowerment in community arts

Summary

A broad range of literature agrees that, alongside artistic vision, empowerment is a widely shared objective of participatory arts practices in communities; that people are supported towards developing greater awareness of and actions specific to their social situations (Goldbard, 1993; 2006; Dickson, 1995; Lacy, 1995; Kester, 2004; 2011; Krensky and Steffan, 2009; Mulligan and Smith, 2010; Higgins, 2012; Thompson, 2012; Finkelpearl, 2013; Wu, 2015; Cartier and Zebracki, 2016). Although increasingly elaborate accountability demands regarding the efficacy of participatory arts practices have emerged, the use of analytical frameworks in conceptualising and communicating objectives remains uncommon. This chapter explores two such frameworks, drawn and adapted from the extant literature, that can guide practitioners to reflect on and assess their practice.

The range of models of participatory arts practices represented in the aforementioned literature means that any attempt at identifying their commonalities is ambitious and challenging. Yet, it is perhaps the right time to attempt such cross-practice discussions because distinctions are becoming less relevant, as practitioners from diverse fields of community arts work or share ideas across boundaries. For example, in at least eight major conferences held in Hong Kong since 2013, over a hundred representatives of this broad field have presented their work – with over a dozen presenting at more than one event. They have invoked different conceptualisations to frame and make sense of their practice, such as ‘dialogical arts’ (Kester, 2004), ‘relational aesthetics’ (Bourriaud, 2002), ‘community cultural development’ (Goldbard, 2006) and ‘heritage preservation’, among others. This shows that organisations and artists are aware of the multiple ways of conceptualising their work, and that attendees are ready to look beyond familiar concepts and consider new possibilities. Furthermore, many of the projects highlighted at the Hong Kong conferences were developed by different combinations of artists within a pool of local practitioners. The emergence of such clusters of artists and organisations is indicative of emergent trends in the field. First, project hosts see the value of diverse or cross-disciplinary teams that bring a range of expertise and approaches to their projects. Second, many artists are capable of collaborating with others who come from different practice and training backgrounds. Yet, such a working arrangement still requires artists and organisers to share a common framework from which to conceptualise and communicate their work. Therefore, this chapter takes ‘empowerment’ to be a widely shared goal among all parties involved and proposes two existing frameworks to guide this inquiry.