Framing The ‘Fabric’
Ryan Falzon, Karsten Xuereb, Alexandra Pace, Pierre Portelli, Raphael Vella
During this session we touched on a variety of issues. The emergent themes were primarily oriented around the ecosystem (the fabric) of the local cultural sector. We discussed the realities of how the current funding model pushes creators into competition rather than collaboration. How this same funding framework sometimes discourages organic growth and development. We also touched on how certain skills contribute disproportionately to the success of an application being picked up and how some meritful creators are left by the wayside because of this. We reflected on how running a project requires a multitude of other ancillary skills that exert pressure on the creator(s) – How sometimes this leads to an expenditure of energy and resources that return very little. We talked about ‘soul’ and about ‘practice’. We talked about what it means to have the right education and about the value of honest, engaged dialogue.
101 – Different Hats
Too many roles blunt our ability to perform but can collaboration/ delegation of tasks go too far?
102 – An Academic Frame
Intellectually packaging a project gives its content more gravitas but what does the project actually gain from this? A strong project is not always best represented in words alone, how is this affecting the accessibility for differently skilled applicants?
103 – A Question of (for?) Money
Proper financing for a project results in the applicant cutting corners or juggling too many roles to save money. How does the funding ecosystem affect the conceptualisation process?
104 – Ticking Boxes & Tokenisms
A creative direction pushed through state agendas related to culture might be too rigid and work at odds with the organic fancy that possess most creators, how much of this can be decreased to promote a healthier creative ecosystem?
105 – Community Engagement
Ephasasing items like ‘community engagement’ may lead to missing out on valuable projects that at the propositional stage might look beyond scope of mandated agendas. Another downstream effect is that some communities find significantly fewer opportunities to participate. How can we endeavour to mitigate this?
106 – Recipes & Other Games
The ‘gamification’ of systems becomes a matter of course when systems do not allow an organic exploration of subjects. How can creators and funding bodies negotiate successfully to allow a freer exchange of ideas and direction?
107 – No solution? No problem.
Earlier cultural models adopted a more hands-off approach and although the sector has grown and become more stable with dedicated entities creating many more opportunities, one cannot but wonder – what would dialing back the directed approach nurture and generate?
108 – Process: The New vs The Old. What is lost?
Veterans of the local creative sector observe that with every new opportunity comes a new challenge – the ‘clear’ pathway towards ‘success’ is exerting pressure on budding creators. Can we create better spaces where emergent play can instantiate and impart its necessary formative experiences?
SESSION 01: Framing The ‘Fabric’
Ryan Falzon, Karsten Xuereb, Alexandra Pace, Pierre Portelli, Raphael Vella