Communities in the Making
Communities in the Making is a podcast about the magic and the mayhem of participatory ways of working with communities. Hosts interview artists, designers, local participants and organisers about how they do it, all explored through the lens of a participatory art and research project in the Bromley by Bow Community Centre in London (2016-2018). https://www.bbbc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Community-in-the-Making-booklet.pdf Hosts: Romeo Gongora is a visual artist, Professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal (CA) and PhD candidate at Goldsmiths (UK), doing arts projects that interact with the social sphere. www.romeogongora.com Becky Seale is a researcher, facilitator and founder of Coaching Communities, a social enterprise that grows peer coaching capacity in work and local places. www.coaching-communities.org
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Episodes
Saturday Jun 05, 2021
Saturday Jun 05, 2021
Guests: Axel Feldman and Sue Adyakwa - Our question in this episode: is participatory, ‘grassroots’ work possible when it is initiated by an organisation and grown within its walls? In this feisty discussion, we unpack the term ‘grassroots’ and get frank about whether it is ever really possible to be equal when time, money, institutional structure and hierarchy are involved. As well as the heartfelt tips our speakers have for subverting these barriers.
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Guest Speakers: JessSegree, Frank Creber, Mandy Harrilal - The balance of ensuring space for people themselves to take ownership, and not creating enough structure for people to play safely within. Suppressing the desire for neatness, letting things be messy but not leaving people floundering. Expectations of the organisers. Too little structure and people will express confusion, and can have knock-on impacts on wellbeing if stress continues over time.
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Guests: Rev. James Olanipekun, Desmond Mclaren, Alison Neville, Eddie Colaxis - In this episode, we explore how relationships evolve during a project, the language of ‘participant’ and ‘friend’ and lots rich life philosophy in between. What are these relationships? How can they be described? Does it matter? “Founding itself upon love, humility, faith, dialogue becomes a horizontal relationship of which mutual trust…is the logical consequence” Paulo Freire
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Guest speakers : Maisha Chowdhury, Susie Hay of Shortwork, Azzy
In this episode we explore how to attract the local community to a participatory art project – the challenges, the moments where it feels easy, and what makes the difference. We’ve all sat in an empty room, teas and biscuits at the ready, wondering if anyone will show. If we’re lucky we’ve experienced moments when people just keep coming - our speakers have lots of tips about how this happens.