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This case study demonstrates the impact of the Cass' research that has promoted and supported the now pivotal role of Installation art and Artists' Writing on the wider field of artistic and curatorial practice over the last decade and more specifically since 2008.
The body of research based on de Oliveira/Oxley's activities as curators and writers has been instrumental in the development of emerging forms of practice and critical discourse. Installation art highlighted significant changes in the understanding of the idea of the `medium', the institution and the relationship between artists, curators and audiences. This research is documented on their website www.writinginstallation.org.
The case study focuses on exhibitions and artistic collaborations undertaken by the Centre for the Study of Surrealism and its Legacies. It demonstrates an impact on cultural life arising from the presentation of cultural heritage, as well as influence on creative practice. The exhibitions, co-curated by David Lomas (Centre Director), drew upon the Centre's academic research to enrich public understanding of surrealist art and ideas. Both exhibitions exceeded their attendance targets and elicited a strongly positive public reaction; they have also had a lasting impact on the galleries' approach to exhibition making. Collaboration generated new ideas and directions for the artists concerned.
The Hafan Books project publishes creative writing by asylum-seekers and refugees [henceforth simply: `refugees'] in South Wales. The project promotes a civic culture of hospitality, compassion and respect through the publications, large-scale festive launch events, and further creative outputs. Beneficiaries include contributors and other refugees, charity workers and volunteers, and arts organisations. The publications are widely used in professional refugee awareness training. The project has been recognised as exemplary for refugee awareness and integration though the arts and has been emulated in the UK and overseas.
Research carried out at the University of Southampton into the social and intellectual value of conceptual art has been the basis of creative education and personal development programmes designed for school children, teachers, young offenders and the general public. Through public engagement activities run through the University's John Hansard Gallery, public knowledge and understanding of conceptual art have been deepened. Research has had a significant impact on 93 young offenders whose participation in arts-based programmes has resulted in the attainment of educational qualifications, enhanced employment prospects and a drop in re-offending. New programmes, co-developed with Southampton Youth Offending Service, have influenced public policy at local and national government levels, with impact reach evidenced when they were recognised by the Ministry of Justice as a model for best practice.
As a prize-winning poet, novelist and teacher of Creative Writing, Professor Philip Gross's work is concerned with the development of individuals' creative practice (both adults' and children's), outside the academy as well as inside it. His work has led to a wider awareness of the ways in which creative process, particularly through cross-arts collaboration, can enhance our understanding of some of the most urgent challenges of contemporary society. Offering models of peace-building and communication in an age of cultural diversity and migration, it encompasses creative ways of envisioning the environment as well as human issues of dispossession, health and ageing.
Artists leading in the Public Sphere has generated, inspired and supported new forms of artistic practice that emerge out of artists working closely with cultural organisations within research led inquiry. These approaches confront the need for and the challenges of change, in a process of mutual support between academics, artists, organisations and communities to adapt to social environmental change and shifting cultural values. By re-examining the role of the professional artist as a catalyst for social change informed by artist activist pedagogies and theories, these new experimental forms increase collaboration, opening up the imaginations and sensibilities of individuals and groups.
This case study describes the impact of a ten-year programme of research, which has influenced attitudes to traditional crafts and cultural heritage in India, and created an ethical model of sustainable crafts practice, leading to economic and social benefits. Research has underpinned the creation of the Ahmedabad International Arts Festival (AIAF) that started in 2009 and with MMU's contribution has now grown into a major, multi-stranded international festival.
MMU researchers have worked with museums and cultural organisations in the UK and India to develop ways of engaging new audiences, widening the reach of craft-based practices and thereby creating cultural impact. The project has also drawn attention to an endangered area of Ahmedabad, and assisted in developing a plan for conserving cultural heritage there.
The Design Against Crime research initiative provides leadership in the field of design-led, sustainable practice in crime prevention and community safety, demonstrating the following impact:
Through community arts practice based on the principles of mindfulness, choreographer Rosemary Lee works with inclusive, therapeutic and inter-generational groups, as well as artists and dancers, using unique elements: close attention through touch and mindful listening. Her work has evolved over two decades of practice, research and collaborations, and shows impact and reach through bringing transformation to community participants, artists, health professionals and professional arts practice. She moves away from the role of choreographer as director with a set agenda, and empowers participants to embody issues that are important to them, setting a model for community life. The performance works Common Dance (2009) and Square Dances (2011) have led to a DVD and symposium that develop a practice-as-research methodology for dance practitioners and researchers, and to workshops for artists and practitioners around the world.
Simon Read is Senior Lecturer in Fine Art and a practising artist specifically engaged in the investigation of interdisciplinary approaches to environmental change, notably estuarine and coastal processes. His research (from which impacts have arisen over two decades) began with a tidal protection installation, explored further through the value of drawing as a tool for imagining change between researchers and coastal communities. This then led to greater involvement with other researchers, public sector bodies and water engineering companies in coastal/estuarine management and mediation, and to further art and design commissions, which together have led to impact on policy and practice via specific engagement with professionals, catchment communities and policymakers.