Arts Participation Manifesto Consultation Event
June 19, 2008
On Monday, 9th June 2008, I was in London with about fifty other people from a wide variety of arts organisations, local authorities and umbrella bodies to assist in the development of an Arts Participation Manifesto. Discussions focused around finding a way of getting more people to engage with the arts in a positive way over the next ten years.
The task of finding a consensus was not easy and took most of the day. Activities centred on small groups that then put their observations and opinions to the remaining delegates by combining themes through a process of assembling ideas.
Though a definitive manifesto has not yet been agreed, key goals and a means by which its aims might be met have been. The process of developing a full blown Arts Participation Manifesto will no doubt take another twelve months or more but a good start has been made. For once, a project that claims to champion participation has started off by sending out the right signals and, more importantly, involving people in its initial construction processes.
