Creative Activists Tasmania - outcomes

We had really helpful feedback on the day. There was a general consensus that the conversations and networking was extremely valuable and the constructive feedback that the decision to allow the unstructured nature of the afternoon lost momentum and was not as juicy or useful for everyone. However the intent of the day was acknowledged as something that was needed and we have had eight participants immediately offer to host informal gatherings of their own - listed below and have also established the FaceBook groupCreative Activists Tasmania Facebook Page – If you haven’t already been invited via, you can find our private Facebook group page, and send emails at:Web: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CreativeActivistsTas/?ref=group_coverShare this link to help people find your group. Please invite your colleagues to be a part of the group if they aren’t already included. The next gathering at 1450 will be on 27 June and will focus on the ArtsFront 2030 initiative.Some useful suggestions around further gatherings included:

• I LOVE the idea of generating dinners/ meals in different spaces, homes as a space to have dialogue/ sometimes curated conversations and other times free in form etc. I think this could be a really gorgeous way to connect and strengthen the dialogue in a warm, informal setting...
• To ensure the meetings have a direction I think it's great to keep sending the mailchimp survey at the end and to also ask questions that maintain momentum and direction
• Perhaps different hosts could rotate as facilitators
• it's such a warm generous offer to open up your house and de-regulate the way we engage with art, in the home, not the office or the funded institute, amongst peers and non artists and in conversation. It's such a warm generous offer to open up your house and de-regulate the way we engage with art, in the home, not the office or the funded institute, amongst peers and non artists and in conversation.
• I don't identify as an activist but prefer to work and facilitate change on a much more local and immediate scale. I'm not sure if the use of the word activist would make some people feel that they may not belong. I think the group was a little too large for maximum effectiveness. Missing a state-wide presence!
• There are limited opportunities in the North of the state to have such discussions outside of a structured work capacity which does not always allow for honesty.
• I love how some creative activities/actions/activism are slow burn but I also really like action, and I think that as a group we did not have a call to action. That said, I made some great artistic and personal connections which will move me to action.
• get into groups of who might like to work on projects or discuss particular subjects/ actions.
• I would like to be a part of a network of colleagues that can engage and support each others creative work.
• For some time I have been wanting a network of colleagues to talk about the nitty gritty details of projects in a focused way. I find once I have finished a project there are often aspects that I would like to get feedback on - this happens in informal ways but the focused feedback is often hard to pin down as it can be a slippery thing in that it takes a good level of trust and the giving of each others time for this to work well.
• I would love to be part of a gathering where practitioners present projects for discussion and feedback. Similarly this could work with a set of questions that are put forward for discussion as we did in the initial gathering.
• I thoroughly enjoyed and reflected on the potency of cutting the fence as both an act of de-colonisation and a symbolic nuance. Inviting people to share tools for how they generate work/ workshops I think is a great way to grow strength and enable cross lateral learning beyond the economy or heirachy of academic institutes...
• I think a clarity around why we are together - perhaps a focus or a theme - would be useful in further meetingsPerhaps more opportunity for doing rather than talking, perhaps an action or subgroups of interest areas.

UPCOMING GATHERINGS (check them out on the FB page)Karen RevieJune 2017 – Public Space – 30+Theme – Creative Activism - Finding a focus all that we areArtsFront 2030 - 10 -2027 June 2017 Selena De CarvalhoJuly 2017- Home – 5-10Theme - TBC Rachel EdwardsJuly 2017 – Home – 5-10Theme – The power of words Felicity HorsleySeptember 2017 – Workplace – 15-20Theme – Creative Fire Starters Kitty TaylorOctober 2017 – Public space – 20-30Theme – North South ConnectivityEmma PorteusNovember 2017 – TBC – 10-15Theme – TBC Leigh TeschNovember 2017- Workplace – 20-30Theme – TBC