Why is the Documenting Engagement Institute Happening?
Currently many Canadian artists are working with communities in exciting and fully
engaged ways that situate the artist's practise in both the processes and the
products which are created. These are very difficult practices to explain and
document, therefore there is a lack of materials that convey the nature of the
work.
Video has a particular potential for documenting community based arts practises as time is an integral element of both forms. The Documenting Engagement Institute will produce a series of videos that will benefit the artists who attend and produce a video about their own practice. Moreover, the Institute will also support all artists working in community-based practices by helping both specific sectors, (such as grant-makers and educational institutions), and the broader public to become aware of and understand what this work is about and why it is so important.
Objectives
There are three objectives for the Institute:
- To gather
media artists and artists with acknowledged excellence (though not necessarily
extensive histories) working in community-based practises along with senior artists
in the field, in order to develop a contemporary critique and exploration of these
practises.
- To introduce digital media production techniques
to the participating community artists to build capacity for ongoing documentation
of their community based practises.
- To create a visual anthology based on this 'critique and exploration' in a form that has potential for broadcast to a wide audience.
These objectives revolve around the need for artists pursuing community based practises to engage in a high level critical discourse and to explore methods to better relate the nature of their discipline to a wider public, including community groups, the arts community and funding agencies. As "process" is central to community art, time is a dimension of the "product" that needs to be adequately represented. While a written publication of proceedings could attempt to capture the critical/ aesthetic discussion it would not be able to develop as authentic a relationship with the discipline, particularly as this art practice is meant to communicate directly with the public. Finally, there is a great need for documentation that can be widely disseminated to both an audience of artistic professionals and to audiences who do not normally engage with the arts. In short, the Institute will facilitate discussions that will set fires in the bellies of the participants to express the nature of what they do, and then facilitate their access to, and use of, a documentary form that will enhance their ability to ignite similar excitement in a wide range of viewers.