MOVING TOGETHER was a shared experience and reflection developed by Mestizx Collective for WIPCOOP 2023: artists, producers and cultural managers wereand invited to share both expertise and concerns around horizontal collaborative dynamics. It also also stems from the need to recognize the vulnerability in which mosthe artists and cultural managers find themselvesn. It highlights and acknowledges their often precarious situation, including the demanding nature and high level of competition in the arts.
The Mestizx Collective developed three interactive tools to identify challenges and engage with colleagues. The silhouette: visualizes how collaboration is experienced in the body, creating a bridge between individual and collective experiences. The silhouette post: promotes playful dialogue through concrete action. Informal and equal encounters are encouraged, independent of hierarchy and expectations. The laboratory: provides space for in-depth reflection on specific themes such as artistic and international cooperation, local ecosystems, visions of the future and community participation.
Some shared insights show how essential it is to consider ourselves as a living organism that needs health, a safe environment and care. An organism that must take into account the specifics of the local ecosystem. The key points were: recognizing processes, fostering communities’ talents and creating sustainable workspaces and dynamics. By working together, we can generate a new consensus and commitment. Spaces of healthy trial and error that encourage social transformation and change the ecosystem in which we all become stronger.
Watch the summary of MOVING TOGETHER 2023 here.
Photos by Victoriano Moreno.
