For the past seven years I have worked with CCD projects. My roles have been as: performer, photographer, photography workshop facilitator, theatre workshop facilitator, artistic director, spokesperson, presenter and writer. In the four countries where I have had these opportunities: Australia, China, Spain and Ecuador, I have worked with urban, refugee, remote ethnic minority, aged, migrant, gender and HIV positive groups.
Some refer to this work as artivism, an artistic and political act that aims to give voice to groups that are often marginalised. I agree with the first half of the description but I do not believe that I give out voices. I need to listen, enquire, collaborate, document, weave and transform a story into a scene. That scene is a celebration of the personal(participant´s story) and interpretation. In Forum Theatre, that process extends to problem solving with an audience. I am restless, curious and enjoy honouring the “battler”. That is part of who I am and that is why I am drawn to this work.
Community cultural development
Community? Culture? Development? What do these words mean?
What is a CCD project?
Artists as facilitators working with communities
Participants telling their stories through creative processes
Memory and personal stories
Participants actively expressing their presence, needs, attitudes, languages, culture, experiences within another, dominant culture
Participants self-determining the path of their community within another, dominant culture
Experiencing a community through its artistic practices
Art as social transformations
Culture in action. Culture as a living, evolving, dynamic act.
Public spaces and sacred places
Teaching skills to participants who may not have access to resources or collaborative, creative experiences
Artistic languages and mediums – theatre, photography, film, song, sound, dance, fine arts, literature, design
All ages, cultures, orientations, situations
Self-expression as a human need and right
Artivism
Democratic arts
Marginalised communities making decisions
Forging relationships between art and cultural brokerage
Networking between communities, local government, culture and heritage, health organizations, philanthropic and funding bodies, universities, schools, festivals etc
Establishing practices which empower marginalised groups within a dominant culture.
CDN Cultural Development Network, Victoria, Australia 2007
DCC Desarrollo cultural Comunitario International Conference 2005-6, Catalonia
Arkhee CCD, Artivism collaboration, Marcela Nievas and Txus Pedrosa (View link…)
CCD Review, Catalonia, 2006 (View Link…)
No comments yet
Comments feed for this article