The Sculpture x Policy Lab: Artists, Policymaking and Place
The Sculpture x Policy Lab: Artists, Policymaking and Place
What role can artists play in local government?
From policymaking to placemaking, artists have long contributed to shaping communities. A MANIFEST programme placement within Adur and Worthing local councils highlights the evolving role of artists in local decision-making, an issue as relevant today as it was to the Artist Placement Group.
This conversation, convened by Stephen RG Bennett and Gareth Bell-Jones, brings together MANIFEST artists YARA+DAVINA, Ruth Pineda, Dr Errol Francis, and Jessie Vaughan to explore the impact of creative practitioners in local government.
The Upper 2 Gallery
1 – 3pm
No booking necessary
This is the sixth in a series of live conversations activating The Sculpture (1971), a key work from the Artist Placement Group, as part of Barbara Steveni: I Find Myself. These discussions are programmed in collaboration with Policy Lab, Incidental Unit and the London Residency Network.
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The Artist Placement Group (APG) was initiated by Barbara Steveni in 1965. The group devised the concept of the ‘Placement’ as a strategy to position artists within industrial corporations and government departments in order to explore the role of art in the decision-making processes of society. In her role as primary strategist and spokesperson she came to see her critical administrative role negotiating behind the scenes as representative of women’s invisible labour more widely, in later years understanding this as her own art practice. Barbara Steveni: I Find Myself includes the important Artist Placement Group work, The Sculpture from APG’s 1971 Hayward Gallery and Dusseldorf exhibitions. The Sculpture comprised a boardroom table with chairs in the gallery space where the APG artist members led discussions with industrialists and government officials as the main focus of the exhibition. Steveni was integral to these negotiations, so it’s in the spirit of highlighting her discursive approach to art-making that we’re re-staging this live artwork in collaboration with Policy Lab, Incidental Unit and the London Residency Network.