CULTURE OF COLLABORATION
CIWEM's new arts and ecology initiative is a vital step
towards creating a wider, productive platform for the arts and
environmental sectors to inform and engage with one another.
Gunpowder Park is supporting CIWEM and Artistic Director, Eileen
Woods, explains how its work demonstrates the value and potential
of the interdisciplinary working practice that CIWEM is
promoting.
Since its opening in 2004, Gunpowder Park has become a beacon
for arts and environment, providing an innovative programme which
attracts international artists and organisations that share a
commitment to the park's interdisciplinary working practice.
The 90 hectares of new public 'country park' for the benefit of
people, wildlife and the arts, was regenerated from a former
Royal Ordnance munitions testing facility by Lee Valley Regional
Park Authority (manager of the Lee Valley Park, which runs north
from the Thames and will see some of the Olympic Games developments
for 2012). After 100 years as a closed site, Gunpowder Park
has been transformed into four distinct, dynamic and accessible
landforms, bordered by Greater London's ethnically-diverse
communities, with an international visitor profile.
Gunpowder Park's programme is delivered by a not-for-profit
organisation, the Landscape+Arts Network Services (LANS), through a
long-term partnership with the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.
Working in the arts and environment arenas, LANS develops and
manages new opportunities, where collaborative creative teams can
make a positive and dramatic impact on the quality of life and the
sustainable future of our communities and our environment.
Our team is made up of arts producers, environmental specialists
and public realm professionals, with international consultants
supporting and extending our work. Our practice positions us
as a creative conduit between policy and delivery systems, and our
projects include creative and business plans for regeneration and
new cultural site developments, devising and producing
collaborative arts projects. The common denominator for all
activities, the Gunpowder Park 'brand', is now recognised as
promoting the value of interdependent creative
development.
LANS has positioned Gunpowder Park's heritage of experimentation
from the outset to inform the creative policy of the Park's
programmes: to explore the meaning and use of open space in our
society through research, arts-led collaborations, education,
events and publishing. It manages two major initiatives originated
from Gunpowder Park. Bright Sparks is a research and development
scheme for experimental arts and design-led ideas, exploring the
physical and social aspects of open space. Progress and
completed project reports are published on the Gunpowder Park
website as part of our commitment to publicly funded knowledge
sharing.
The second initiative is The Art of Common Space, a new
programme of commissions, events and an international online
network which asks artists and creative professionals to respond to
the question: 'What is common space in our twenty-first century
multicultural society?' Drawing on the historic term 'common', The
Art of Common Space looks at the basic premise of 'public' space
and asks if there still exists a space which we can call 'common' -
an essential space that, through its use, facilitates the
celebration and bringing together of individuals from the diverse
cultures that constitute our modern society. Over the next year
this programme will provide a unique opportunity for international
artists, creative professionals and public realm specialists to
explore new ideas for creative public realm development. It also
provides new opportunities for a diverse audience to engage with
the issues of 'common space' through non-traditional arts
activities.
From the vantage point of Gunpowder Park, LANS also manages the
Green Heart Partnership, a county-wide scheme involving the 11
local authorities across Hertfordshire, and Arts Council England,
which places artists working alongside local authority
professionals to achieve growth and capacity, as well as
collaborating on innovative public realm projects. On many Green
Heart projects, local authorities have for the first time been
brought together with officers in the arts and culture departments,
planning and regeneration, maintenance and highways, to work on the
same stage of a project. By introducing this collaborative
process that LANS calls CONNECT, budgets from different departments
and organisations can be identified and accessed, allowing for a
joined-up approach to decision-making and delivery. In these
situations, the artist acts as a creative catalyst, helping to
balance ideas and delivery in a team where everyone transcends
disciplines and departments to become a 'co-maker' of the final
product. Now in its second three-year term, The Green Heart
Partnership is providing inspiration and practical support through
case studies of successful projects and an important knowledge
bank.
Our other major project is the Jaywick Martello Tower at
Jaywick, near Clacton-on-Sea. This former military fortification
has been transformed by LANS into a multi-purpose space, exploring
creative collaborations relating to the themes of community,
heritage and environment. The tower has become a meeting point for
local residents, stakeholders and international visitors.
LANS has also been working on a long-term strategy positioning the
Jaywick community as a focal point for experimental, environmental
design. Through all of the LANS/Gunpowder Park projects we
facilitate new partnerships across both the private and
public sectors, creating a wider network of expertise, which
benefits from the impact of the arts.
For further information visit:
www.gunpowderpark.org
www.greenheartpartnership.org
www.jaywickmartellotower.org
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