Huge thanks to all who came out (or logged on) for last night’s Naarm/Melbourne launch of The Relationship is the Project.
So grateful. So proud. And so grateful to The RITP contributors Ruth De Douza, Esther Anatolitis, CQ Quinan and Tristan Meecham for sharing their words and wisdoms.
As Tristan said:
“I assume that most of us in this room understand that working with communities is relational, thrilling, exhausting and imperative. We understand the details, layers, cares and qualities required to be cultural midwives and herald people and place together into a magic elixir that is often hard to qualify.
In the conversation series that was held at The Abbotsford Convent by the City of Yarra as the prelude of this book’s launch, Jade Lillie stated that ‘community-engaged practice is, in its very nature, more experimental than any other art process or practice’.
It requires an ability to juggle and hold elements that constantly change, explode and rupture, even on the day of presentation. ‘Ring ring. Yes, darling, the show is today, in 30 minutes. Yes, darling, I can order you an Uber and you will arrive in 20 minutes.‘
This book is valuable as a starting place to articulate and capture how we all work, the challenges we experience in how to articulate the values and ways in which we hope our work can create meaning. It’s valuable for us as a sector to see ourselves reflected and legitimised in words, pages and print.
I often lament how the theatre industry, for example, is good at reviewing their work. And yes, that form (reviews) is problematic, but it does add to a broader conversation that contributes to visibility outside the art form.
The important thing about this book is that it begins a conversation with people outside our sectors about how, what, why we do what we do and opens the curtain (yes, another theatrical reference) to the detail, care, consideration and impact that our work can have.
This is where the value of the book soars. My friend is teaching acting at Guildhall in London and has put the PDF of the syllabus for first year drama students. She says the conversation has shifted the way that they are making theatre.
I have given the book [to colleagues] in industries that intersect my own practice across health and wellbeing, creative ageing and LGBTIQ communities to encapsulate the value in which art can impact their work in their own industries.
And, of course, I am beyond grateful to now have a present that will be handed out at Christmas time to each and every aunt and uncle who says to me, ‘oh, you’re an artist – do you use oil or acrylic?’”
Ask for a copy of The Relationship is the Project at your local library or bookshop, or order one online.
The Relationship is the Project 