The Relationship is the Project is a book of provocations, tools and practical tips for those who are currently working or are interested in working with communities.
It is intended to be a solid starting point for organisations, project managers, artists, cultural workers and other community-engaged practitioners who want to bring new perspectives and ideas to their work.
This project began as a response to growing interest in working better with communities, and in finding out how to develop relationships that foster creativity, cultural engagement and audiences. It aims to be an accessible text that is a place to start learning and return to when you want to know more. In it, you’ll find wisdom from practitioners and thought leaders from across Australia, mostly working within the fields of arts, culture and community development (though their learnings can be applied across a range of sectors and contexts).
Community-engaged practice is not an art form. It’s not an add-on. It’s a way of working: a deep collaboration between practitioners and communities to develop outcomes specific to that relationship, time and place. It is social, cultural, environmental and political, and can be used as a framework to tell stories, explore issues, and deliver beautiful and powerful projects. It can be used to shape the narratives of our time – as communities, as artists and as citizens.
To be released by NewSouth Publishing in 2024, the expanded second edition responds to the local and global crises and challenges we’ve all experienced since the book’s initial release (Brow Books, 2020), and the ongoing impacts of social isolation, increasing online engagement and new opportunities for world building. It felt timely to invite contributors to update existing chapters and commission 12 new works that we hope will again shift the dial on how we understand working with communities.
Whether reading about climate adaptation, disaster recovery, digital engagement or class, we will always have more questions than answers. We hope this book provides an entry point and guide into community- engaged practice.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the generosity, thoughtfulness and wisdom of our contributors for their work in making this extraordinary resource.
We are thrilled by this opportunity to work with Harriet McInerney, Sophia Oravecz, Helen Koehne and the rest of the NewSouth Publishing team, and are grateful to Regine Abos for the beautiful cover design, and the original support of Brow Books for the book’s first edition.
Both editions of The Relationship is the Project were assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. The first edition also received support from the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and the Sidney Myer Fund through its Creative Fellowship initiative.
The Relationship is the Project 