Who are the people behind community creativity?
From youth culture to urban planning, from music-making to new media and online communities, the second Griffith University Creative Communities Conference held from September 21-23 will explore these themes.
Hosted by the Griffith Centre for Cultural Research, the conference follows a successful first event in 2009, and features speakers from the Pacific Rim, Asia, the UK, America and Australia.
Keynote speakers include Professor Les Back from Goldsmiths College, UK, dance specialist Mary Fogarty from the University of East London and Associate Professor Mine-Ping Sun from National ChengChi University, Taiwan.
Professor Back’s presentation will focus on how cultural policies in the United Kingdom contribute to social inclusion and community cohesion.
Ms Fogarty will present findings from her PhD research on the notion of extended family in global hip hop culture. Associate Professor Sun’s presentation will examine a pilot research project in Taiwan which created a digital community for an aboriginal group of people whose land was devastated by a 2009 typhoon.
“As increasing emphasis is focused on the significance of the creative economy, attention has been directed to creative communities in the hope that they will generate economic value through innovation,” conference convenor Professor Andrew Bennett said.
“This impresses a higher value upon those creative communities that become, or at least demonstrate the potential to become, creative industries.
“The loose application of the term ‘creative communities’ has distracted us from asking the most elementary of questions regarding the people and the practices that generate and sustain ‘creative communities’ that lead to social inclusion.
“Who are the individuals, collectives and facilitators of community creativity? What are their stories and where are they located?
“How might we rethink ‘creativity as a pathway to social inclusion’ outside the current debates around ‘creative class’, ‘creative cities’, and ‘creative industries’?”
WHAT: Creative Communities Conference
WHEN: September 21-23
WHERE: Crowne Plaza Hotel, Surfers Paradise.
