Community collaborations 1978-2015

On 1st November 2015 Loraine Leeson led a panel considering the legacy and continuation of community art practices at a daylong conference convened by Liverpool Biennial and Andrea Phillips in association with Visible Award 2015 and Tate Liverpool. It was part of a weekend of programmes that considered current approaches in socially engaged art. Her presentation discussed the legacy and continuation of community art practices in the light of renewed interest in socially engaged art. It looked at those elements that have ‘crossed the divide’ of the two eras and considered whether there has in fact been a ‘divide’ at all, or a continuum of practice that was unrecognised by the art world. The event brought together distinguished thinkers and practitioners from the field of community arts, in order to discuss the legacy of such practices in the light of a renewed interest in socially engaged art. It is hoped that the event would re-open conversations and instigate new ones, ensuring that important work undertaken in the 1970s and 1980s continues to resonate. Speakers included: Assemble, Ania Bas, Sonia Boyce, Jason Bowman, Anna Colin, Anna Cutler, Janna Graham, Granby 4 Streets Community Land Trust, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Homebaked, Sophie Hope, Nina Edge, Bill Harpe, Wendy Harpe, Loraine Leeson, Andrea Phillips, Laura Raicovich, Alan Read, Frances Rifkin, Sally Tallant, Nato Thompson and Ed Webb-Ingall