SAFEDI (Social Art for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) was a partnership between Axis, Manchester Metropolitan University and the Social Art Network. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, it supported six artist commissions testing how socially engaged art can strengthen equality, diversity and inclusion, influence cultural policy and create more equitable opportunities in the visual arts.
Publication on Socially Engaged Art
Social Works? Open - Issue 3 2023
The third issue of Social Works? Open, Axis’s journal for and about social practice art. Published in 2023 and developed through the SAFEDI project, it explores how artists advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion across social practice and cultural policy.
Introduction
Social Works? Open is Axis’s journal for and about social practice art. Issue 3, published in Spring 2023, is devoted to the role of social art and artists in achieving and advocating for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. It grew out of the Social Artists for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (SAFEDI) project developed by Axis in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University and Social Art Network. The issue explores how artists respond to issues of policy, access and representation within the arts and wider society.
Editorial
Social Works? journals are like buses. You wait for years for a new one to be published and then two come along in just over 12 months. That’s all good with us though, and we hope it’s good with you too, especially when we’re able to share a special issue on a topic that’s really close to our hearts.
This edition of Social Works? is devoted to the role of social art and artists in achieving and advocating for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. It grew out of a project that we’ve been involved in since 2021 alongside Manchester Metropolitan University and Social Art Network. Social Artists for Equality Diversity and Inclusion—or SAFEDI as the project is also known—set out to better understand the barriers faced by underrepresented people and communities in accessing culture and creativity. We have long known that social art can create positive changes in society and that artists are often unusually well-placed to highlight and challenge the unjust systems that continue to exclude too many people.
In addition to articles by some of the brilliant artists commissioned as part of the SAFEDI project, we are also delighted to be able to share pieces by contributors selected through open call in May. It was important for us to be able to present a real cross section of the work going on in social practice just now, from raising the visibility of BME arts and artists to disability activism and artistic interventions in the justice system and under-resourced neighbourhoods.
We really hope you will enjoy this collection of writings and word-image productions by social artists in the UK and beyond, and that you find something thoughtful, inspiring and informative as you continue your own EDI journey. If you would like to get in touch with any feedback, please do so at: librarian@socialartlibrary.org
Happy reading!
Lucy Wright
Editor
Introduction by R.M. Sánchez-Camus
As part of our commitment to equitable access to the arts and supporting artists, Axis has been working with researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University School of Art and artists from Social Art Network to deliver Social Art for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (SAFEDI). SAFEDI began as an AHRC-funded pilot research programme to support EDI practices and then continued as a support structure for artists and researchers developing their EDI work. The publication of this issue of the journal is one of those outcomes, exploring how artists across the country are responding to the topic of policy and the arts within the tumultuous times we live in.
We hope to raise the profile of social art practice in a gallery-centric art world and demonstrate the power of change that the work we do can bring, especially in fostering anti-colonial and anti-disablist approaches. The art that we strive for can support a route to solving some of the issues around access if adequately supported. This goes beyond the F-word... funding. This is about how organisations function, especially how they commission and produce. So many of us have been burnt by good intentions held poorly. How can we work differently together? How can we share the knowledge and learnings of what we do? We hope that the writings contained within Social Works? are a part of this journey.
Axis currently has four strategic priorities: communicating our purpose to raise awareness and stimulate engagement; a membership programme that stimulates activity with members to create a healthier, ethical, people-centred mutual aid network; developing platforms with a digital-first approach by re-focusing our efforts to reflect changing expectations and opportunities; and building capacity by creating a culture of nurturing, collaboration and growth. Action-research projects like SAFEDI and the Social Works? journal do exactly that. This work has positioned us as leaders in how artists work with communities and audiences and helped to cement our reputation as ‘the small arts organisation that cares’.
SAFEDI is the third part of a series of research projects undertaken in collaboration with Prof. Amanda Ravetz. My own role spanned representing Axis as a Lead Artist / Creative Producer and representing Social Art Network as a co-Caretaker of the national mutual aid group. This was an opportunity to move public research funds towards artist support working directly with self-identified marginalised groups. This work was created with the same policymakers and institutions that exclude them with the aims to reframe how they listen to community members and how they see themselves in relation to them. It brought the knowledge and experience of those currently being excluded into the heart of policy making practice, furthering the long-term aim to reposition social practice as the leading champion of EDI in the visual arts.
Through my work with SAN I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of wonderful conversations happening around the country, of incredibly powerful activist work that is based on restorative justice and equity. I have also witnessed current delivery strategies that do not support EDI practices in social art commissioning and active community involvement. The larger organisations (arts, health, local authorities) that commission social artists are all too often ill-equipped to support social art production, while smaller arts organisations often lack the necessary resources to do so as holistically as they may wish they could. We need equality as an underlying basis to deliver equity that accounts for disadvantage. This requires a restructuring of an entire system of meritocracy that has history on its side. But we have the future on our side.
This journal issue goes beyond sharing practice, here we offer new framings around art appreciation and definitions of aesthetics that change how we consider and view art and what its function is in society. And we are not just aiming to do that to others. At Axis we aim to embed all this learning into how we operate as a charity organisation. Together we hope to grow and influence other partner arts organisations. A previous example is the Safer Spaces Agreement authored by SAN now adopted by arts organisations across the UK. Consider this journal issue a campaign of change: one that we invite you, the reader, to join! Being an activist takes many shapes, forms and definitions. We will see you on the front lines of creative action!
R.M. Sánchez-Camus
SAFEDI Lead Artist and Axis Development Associate
Contributors
Adi Lerer | Anna Francis | Emma Lilwall | Gil Mualem-Doron | Gill Crawshaw | Jarsquad | Lucy Wright | Madeleina Kay | Melisandre Marin | Rachel Marsden | Sofia Barton | SRG Bennett and Anna Macdonald | The WAAS
Legacy
Social Works? Open marked a significant step in Axis’ commitment to socially engaged practice, creating a permanent record of critical writing in the field. Originating from the Models of Validation research project, the journal evolved into a trilogy that captured the expanding scope and depth of social practice in the UK and beyond.
Issue 3 continued this trajectory, centering equality, diversity and inclusion as core principles within social art practice. Together, the three Social Works? Open journals form an enduring resource that documents and celebrates the ideas, collaborations and artistic contributions shaping socially engaged art.
As part of Axis’ initiative archive, this record ensures that the thinking and practice from each edition remain accessible to practitioners, researchers and audiences, supporting ongoing dialogue and development in the field.
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Connected Activities
The second issue of Social Works? Open, Axis’s journal for and about social practice art. Published in 2021 and produced with Social Art Network, this issue forms part of Axis’s growing archive of projects exploring art, society and collaboration.
Helping Artists Keep Going
Axis is an artist-led charity supporting contemporary visual artists with resources, connection, and visibility.