Community Art Project Research Articles

CONCEPTUAL ROLE OF METAPHOR AS A STYLISTIC DEVICE IN CONTEMPORARY KAZAKHSTANI PAINTING

The study focuses on the significance of metaphor as a fundamental stylistic device in contemporary Kazakhstani painting, exploring its ability to convey complex cultural and symbolic meanings. The aim of the study is to analyse how metaphor contributes to a deeper understanding of cultural identity and heritage, helping to enrich contemporary artistic expression in Kazakhstan. The methodology includes a comprehensive visual analysis of selected works by contemporary Kazakhstani artists. The study relies on interdisciplinary approaches, combining art history, cultural studies, and semiotics. It investigates how metaphors are used at different levels of artistic composition - from details to the overall structure of paintings, applying both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods.The analysis shows that metaphors in contemporary Kazakhstani painting serve as an important tool for expressing cultural identity, spiritual values and continuity of ethnic heritage. The study reveals the diversity of metaphorical expressions—from traditional folklore symbols to innovative visual interpretations—reflecting the dynamic interaction between cultural heritage and modernity. The discussion emphasizes the originality of the sources and the unique approach of Kazakhstani artists who use metaphor to create powerful visual narratives that resonate with local and global audiences. The study concludes that metaphor is indispensable in Kazakhstan’s visual arts, offering a rich symbolic language linking past and present. The findings emphasize the practical significance of metaphor in strengthening cultural identity and artistic expression, suggesting further exploration of its application in broader cultural and artistic contexts. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of metaphor in contemporary art, with implications for both the academic community and practical art projects.

Literacy learning and changing social practices in a community art project for women with experience of the criminal justice system

ABSTRACT This article seeks to understand what a group of women with experience of the criminal justice system learned through taking part in a community art project, particularly in terms of their literacy. It draws on an ethnographic study of a community art project carried out by the Collectif Art Entr’Elles which took place in a halfway house in Montreal (Canada) where prisoners can apply to complete their sentence and prepare for their social reintegration. Using a non-linear narrative structure, the collaborative sound work produced sought to break down prejudices by making these women’s voices heard in public space. Drawing on Lave’s (2019) theory of social practice, we explore in more detail the experience and learning journey of one of the women involved. Our analysis indicates that non-formal education, especially when it takes the form of community arts projects, can play a positive role in the diversification and enhancement of literacy practices that are key to the social reintegration and wellbeing of women with experience of the criminal justice system. As such, non-formal community arts education can be an important vehicle for social justice.

"I've got yer back": A community art and anatomy project.

This article describes a community collaborative project, "I've got yer back," that utilized the craft of needle felting to raise awareness and develop understanding of the anatomy of the human spine. The project took place in 2023 and engaged with participants from across the United Kingdom and abroad and its completion was timed to coincide with National Back Health Awareness week in October 2023. We describe the process of creating a vertebra using needle felt and examine how the particularities of the process and the use of the sense of touch helped participants notice and understand the complex form of the human vertebra. We consider how the project encompassed creative processes of hands-on learning to enhance knowledge about this aspect of human anatomy. We discuss how the project evolved to include public and academic participation in a shared goal and argue for the effectiveness of seemingly simple and straightforward art or craft workshops in teaching relatively complex science. The article includes detailed feedback from participants who reflect on the process of learning through making and how it went on to affect individuals in very different, and sometimes very personal, ways.

The art of connectivity – using the brain as a community art project

We have been using the brain, and all the marvellous systems, cells and structures within it, as the basis of a community outreach project using art to engage children and young people in science. Through this, we aim to show that communication within our brains and bodies, between our own close networks of friends and families, and across disparate groups the world over, depends upon the same principles of connectivity, diversity and feedback. Ultimately, we will use the project as a springboard to engage more community organizations, hospitals and schools around the UK and beyond to add to our network of budding scientist-artists.

Visual artists’ professional and social status: Insights from post-socialist Serbia

This article suggests a new model for artist engagement by analysing challenges independent visual artists face in Serbia due to the shift to neoliberal capitalism. The aim is to address the alienation of independent visual artists from broader socio-political issues and to improve their social status through a socio-emancipatory mission of artistic practice. The methodology involves analysing international working conditions for artists, different cultural policy models, and alternative modes of artistic engagement, as well as case study of a community art project in Stara Pazova (Serbia). The significance of studying Serbia rests in its historical experience of self-management when culture was considered an integral part of the socialist society, fostering emancipation and creative freedom. The proposed model emphasizes the horizontality of decision-making and the need for progressive cultural policies that foster experimentation, autonomy, and freedom from bureaucratic requirements.

Turning community stories into community art1

A broad range of community art projects and programmes have been documented around the world since I first reported on this project in 2012. However, it still remains that lack of time and/or funding means that most art teachers are unable to engage in community arts or generate resources and opportunities to teach community arts. This means that unless community art projects directly engage schools and teachers in their projects and time is put aside for students and teachers to go on excursions, visit sites and engage with these communities, there are few opportunities for students to engage in community arts-based learning. This article reports on an innovative community art project that engaged narrative, and sculptural form, as a way of learning about community, place and identity. The project is explained from the perspective of an art educator, researcher and artist who was employed in the project both as community artist and as facilitator. This ‘insider’s perspective’ aims to afford some context to relevant theories through which such projects can be understood as potentially beneficial to art education – particularly in the way people have used narrative to communicate issues of place and the ways in which artists have translated community narratives into sculptural form. The author’s insider perspective offers insight into this project to share how a community art project could be designed and facilitated for students to engage in their local region and therefore a way forward for teachers and students to engage in something similar, to learn about how community stories can be translated into contemporary art, and the important role of place and identity in this work.

Examining the Use of Art as a Tool for Social Justice in Kenya

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine art as a tool for social justice in Kenya.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low-cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings revealed that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to the use of art as a tool for social justice in Kenya. The preliminary empirical review revealed that art education is a useful tool in promoting social justice, as it enhances student engagement and facilitates the exchange of information and resources. The study revealed that the community art project facilitated critical thinking, self-expression, and social cohesion among participants. It contributed to raising awareness of social justice issues and empowering marginalized individuals and communities.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Critical Theory, Cultural Hegemony and Aesthetics of Liberation may be used to anchor future studies on the use of art as a tool for social justice in Kenya. The government should promote inclusivity and diversity in the arts by supporting the representation and visibility of underrepresented groups as well as providing resources, funding, and platforms for artists and communities to collaborate on projects that address social justice concerns and amplify marginalized voices.

Lifting Stress from the Day: A Women's Well‐Being Online Community Art Project

AbstractThis article tells the story of a university community engagement project that began in the late spring of 2020 when the world went into lockdown. Increased concern over women's welfare and well‐being was brought into question in relation to those who are vulnerable with complex needs and had suffered societal‐induced hardships. In conjunction with an innovative women's community project, this study considered the value of art‐based online support as a platform from which to offer a non‐judgemental and mindful space with a focus on identity and empowerment. The study is based on weekly art drop‐in online workshops for vulnerable women and considers the value of hybrid ‘spaces’ as a pedagogical and practical model of communicative support and collective care. Findings from this community‐engaged project highlight the responses and shifts within subjectivities through situated art experiences. As art educators, it offers us an understanding of the potential for cumulative and affective artmaking to build communities of care as an inclusive and emancipatory learning tool.

A Study on Community Space Types and Community Activity Characteristics of Singapore Public Housing Complexes

The purpose of this study is to derive community space types in Singapore public housing complexes, analyze community activities conducted by residents, and derive community activity characteristics for each community space type. First, Singapore HDB has selected regions every four years to promote a comprehensive regeneration plan. The characteristic of the community plan of the HDB complex in Singapore can be seen as a plan in consideration of the surrounding environment and necessary factors depending on the location of the region from the time of planning the public housing complex. Second, There are 3 types of space and activity support for revitalizing local communities: Town & Community Plaza, Community Art Project, and Community Participation Project. Third, there are five types of community space in Singapore’s public housing complex: ‘Outside Building Type of inside Housing Complex’, ‘Inside Building Type of outside Housing Complex’, ‘Outside Building Type of outside Housing Complex’ and ‘On-line Type’. Finally, the analysis results of this study and information on Singapore’s community activity programs and contents are expected to be highly active in the community plan of Korea’s public housing complex in the future, and are expected to be basic data for research on how to revitalize community activities not only for residents but also local residents.

공동체 미술 활동가의 진정성이 프로젝트 성과와 심리효과에 미치는 영향

Since the 2000s, community art has become widely established as a way to revitalize the region through urban regeneration. This article statistically tested the impact of community art activists’ authenticity on the performance and effect of community art projects. The analysis result is that, first of all, activist authenticity has a positive effect on the socio-cultural, economic, and living environmental performance of the project. Second, the authenticity of the activists directly affects the emotional bond to the local community or indirectly through the socio-cultural performance of the project. Finally, cause-effect paths of ‘activist authenticity – socio-cultural performance – emotional bond – psychological well-being’ and ‘activist authenticity – emotional bond – psychological well-being

Call to Holy Ground: Connecting People and Place

This photo essay describes a community art project that took place during 2020-2021. It was initiated, curated and managed by Art and Christianity and engaged the artist collaborative Fourthland. Through engagement with two active worshiping communities—Christian and Hindu—in Leytonstone, east London, the artists drew together cultural narratives, personal belief, orthodox religious practice and theology, ecological activism, art and performance. The project unfolded organically with participants directing its focus and flourishing; the artists structured and choreographed its visual and performative elements.

What is Queer Heritage?


 
 
 The present article explores the possibility of queer heritage. In 2017, artists Kalle Hamm and Dzamil Kamanger organised a community art project called Queer- cache in Helsinki, and I use it as a case study on the heritagisation of queer pasts. Queercache borrowed its form from geocaching, presenting twelve caches with urban stories and memories. It asked whether phenomena which deviate from norms – the rejected past – can be recognised as heritage. As a means of analys- ing heritage discourse, i.e., the process of identifying and treating something
 as heritage, I use the concept of the epistemology of the closet. It describes and questions heteronormatively conditioned ways of knowing. The epistemology, and heritage discourse have commonalities, since both are processes of signification characteristic of modernity, the core of which are identification, valuation and knowing. However, Queercache nurtured queer memories without the stories necessarily meeting criteria associated with heritage such as continuity, authen- ticity and expertise.
 
 

“If You Are Reading It, I am Dead”

This article uses oral history interviews with the family and friends of Duane Puryear to document the history of one of the most frequently displayed panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The approaching fortieth anniversary of the Quilt and its recent acquisition by the National AIDS Memorial warrant a reexamination of how we engage with the Quilt as archive. Puryear’s panel demonstrates how we might use this enormous community art project to excavate local histories of activism in response to HIV and AIDS; it also challenges reductive political histories of the Quilt that view it as in binary opposition to histories of direct-action groups like ACT UP.

Dialogue Table. A Hybrid Method of ActiveArt and Citizenship

"In the absence of a methodology or of an inherited practice, be it directly – from the local artistic environment, or indirectly – through written sources and scholarly literature (Artificial Hells by Claire Bishop was released around 2012) – the experience and practice of social art were the result of the encounter of a more or less fragmentary familiarity with art history and lived experience, at the beginning of 2006 within the Rahova-Uranus community art project. The attitude which had not yet become common currency in the local cultural context of those years was one opposed to the art institution(s), which occupied a too markedly elitist and exclusive zone and were insulated from society. It was our desire to identify the various vulnerable social categories which were subjected to a policy of exclusion, rather than to one based on communication, that would bring communities in dialogue. We had to create our own method of working together, the community, the artists and the local authority, in a space of learning from each other skills and experiences which will inform a local practice for a cultural public policy and its servants. The theoretical landmarks originating in the history of art were, alongside direct experience, points of reference and support which could suggest a new practice of embracing cultural competency, professional training and development in public service for the common good focused on this paradox of mediation at the centre of modern political life. Keywords: communitarian, ActiveArt, co-authorship, Dialogue Table, action research, radical pedagogy, participatory democracy. "

Crafting the Self Through Participation in Community Art Projects

W artykule przywołam kilka wątków toczącej się obecnie w antropologii dyskusji, której celem jest próba uchwycenia na nowo istoty relacji pomiędzy jednostką a społeczeństwem. Skupię się na pojęciu ‘osoby’ i przedstawię to, w jaki sposób pewien jej model jest wytwarzany (formowany, rzeźbiony) za sprawą uczestnictwa w projektach „sztuki wśród społeczności lokalnych” (animacja kultury, community arts). Zastanowię się nad tym, jakiego rodzaju wartości przekazywane są w ramach działania animacyjnego poprzez zawiązywane w nim relacje. Zwrócę również uwagę na praktyki „radzenia sobie ze sprzeciwem” obecne w zarządzaniu projektem animacyjnym. W swoich rozważaniach będę czerpać z doświadczenia osobistego: podczas badań doktorskich prowadzonych w latach 2008–2010 byłam zaangażowana w prace nad projektami animacji kultury realizowanymi na obszarach wiejskich Polski centralnej.

Rock Balancing Land Art: A More-than-Human Approach

Creative Arts Educ Ther (2021) 7(1):26–33 DOI: 10.15212/CAET/2021/7/9 Rock Balancing Land Art: A More-than-Human Approach 石头平衡：道法自然的大地艺术 Abstract As it happened during the Covid-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, the art of balancing rocks had therapeutic effect of comforting me. It was the physical law of balance that had taken psychological effect through my performance of keeping rocks in balance. Setting out as an incidental and personal art practice in the beginning, it evolved quickly into an improvisational community art project, attracting hundreds of participants who together turned a torn embankment into a gallery of land art, bringing joy and consolation to each other during the difficult period. The dynamics behind that improvisational artistic activity reminds me of the traditional Chinese philosophy of Tao-follows-nature (道法自然) that implies a more-than-human approach of art education. A retrospect into the rock art project and a study into Shan-Shui (山水), literally “mountain and water,” the genre of classical Chinese landscape painting, come up with an alternative understanding of art education that does not count on the teaching of a human teacher, but on a sensational leaning process empowered by the nature, which was compared to an artist’s surrogate pregnancy for the nature by Shitao, a Chinese art philosopher, in the 17th century. Keywords: pedagogy, more-than-human, art, Tao 摘要 在2020年春季新冠大流行期间，平衡岩石的艺术行为对我产生了具有安慰作用的治愈效果。当我努力保持岩石平衡时，物理学意义上的平衡定律发挥了心理学意义上的平衡作用。最初，它只是我偶然的、个人的艺术实践，但是很快演变成一个自发的社区艺术项目，吸引了数百名参与者。他们一起把一条破碎的堤坝变成了一个大地艺术的画廊，在那个艰难时刻给彼此带来了欢乐和慰藉。这个自发社区艺术背后的动能，让我重新思考中国传统哲学思想“道法自然”，及其所暗示的一种“超出人类”的艺术教育方式。回顾岩石平衡艺术项目，研究中国古典山水画体裁，可以得出对艺术教育的另类理解——不依赖于人类教师的教授，而是依赖于自然赋能的感性学习。这种学习方式，在17世纪山水画家石涛的《苦瓜和尚画语录》中表述为“山川使予代山川而言也，山川脱胎于予也，予脱胎于山川也。” 關鍵詞：山水, 道, 自然, 教学法

A Long Poem: Take Time to…

In “A Long Poem: Take Time to …”, I relate how the people on one city block engaged in a community based “long poem” art project during the Covid-19 pandemic. Arranged in two parts, this paper first looks at the literature on community art and its impact on personal and social health and wellbeing. Second, I describe how a street community art and poetry project led to social engagement, dialogue, healthy interaction, and good memories.

Painting over precarity: Community public art and the optics of dispossession, gentrification and governance in West Oakland, CA

Large-scale arts-led urban regeneration strategies are typically distinguished from the grassroots authenticity of community art projects, but this article examines how the trope of community facilitates gentrification in Oakland, California. Community murals of the 1960s to 1990s played a critical social role by making visible minority concerns and galvanizing movements for social justice, but questions emerge about contemporary community art in relation to neoliberal values and urban precarity. The Black neighbourhood of West Oakland has been resistant to gentrification due to decades of disinvestment and through robust activism against displacement in one of the most progressive cities in the United States. Based on longitudinal ethnographic research and situated visual analysis, I show how neighbourhood resistance was only overcome when change appeared to come from the ‘community’ itself, through the specific imagery and spatiality of community mural projects that resignify the neighbourhood to accommodate gentrification. I critique gentrification as a dualistic insider and outsider dynamic; such structural analysis elides ‘community’ as a contested category that may be complicit with urban restructuring. Real-estate interests also appropriate signifiers of ‘community’ to reshape neighbourhood identity, valorize property, and police public space. I argue that in West Oakland the ‘community mural’ is vertically integrated in municipal and capital logics that serve to dis-embed, rather than support, historic neighbourhood populations.

The Notions of Fūkei, Ba, and Fukkō in a Community Art Project

This essay shows how a specific understanding of landscape (fūkei) as an agricultural landscape associated with the collective imagination, memory, and the activities related to vegetable farming enabled artist Taho Ritsuko to engage survivors of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which struck Osaka-Kōbe in 1995, in a movement of reconstruction and renewal (fukkō). The project involved the survivors in the entire process, from conception to realization, of a work intended for a communal outdoor space in the danchi (a new public housing complex) where they were being relocated. The project gained renown in Japan for the political and administrative battle won, which gave the survivors the right to independently cultivate part of the public land in the Minami-Ashiyahama district. By involving them in a creative process that became political, the artist aimed to encourage their interaction and create an active co-presence consistent with the notion of ba (scene, place, or field). Composed of two landscape sculptures, the work was integral to the process of forming and establishing a community.

Community Art Projects Beyond Borders

This essay describes a community art project between primary school children in Iran and Portugal. The students designed and painted individual Tiles with a letter written in English as a gift for each other.