Practice Makes: Govanhill is a community- based project that supports and connects the multitude of artist-led projects and initiatives operating in the Govanhill area. By bringing cultural and artistic producers together into one tactile, living archive-style publication, this community can be strengthened and new connections formed.

Delivered to each venue in a box, Practice Makes: Govanhill is designed with, for, and to be used by, the community in which it houses. Featuring a set of directory cards outlining the projects addresses, social media and a brief outline of their activities, the box increases visibility and promotes footfall to the venues and their activities.

The box also features creative contributions from those who are held within, giving a flavour of their voice and allowing them to continue to shape the narrative of the community they are deeply embedded within. Contributions include publications, recipes, upcycled plastics, stickers and more.

The box also contains light-touch zines that promote the sustainability of artist-led projects, offering insights and guidance on starting your own, backed by deep research into those successfully operating in Govanhill.

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Curatorial Rationale

This project investigates how curatorial and artistic practices operate and nurture our shared experiences in communities where many artist-led initiatives (ARIs) are deeply rooted in local life. Throughout my previous research, rooted in the value of curating with care and feminist practice, I understand that slowing down to be present with one another throughout our creative outputs holds more power to cultural production than previous market models that have been historically prevalent. This project embodies curatorial notions of care by physically demonstrating the positive impact of community-based creativity.

After decades of austerity and budget cuts to public arts and a state that essentially follows a centre-peripheral model, the precarity of the industry is a constant worry at the forefront of artists’ minds. Without the artists, how can there be the curatorial? This question guided my intentions for the project – to curate and develop a tool that would champion the work of local ARIs, bring attention to their valuable work (and why it is valuable!) and continue to give them a voice within their communities. The curatorial is ever-adapting to the changes in the cultural landscape – technological advances, production of new materials, sustainability (ecological and financial), public perception of the arts – and this project situates itself within the broader curatorial discourse on the value of culture and community. This project does not impose an institutional narrative; it ensures those who operate in the area have a say on its formation through a participatory process.

In aiming to produce something that was both a curatorial output and a resource for the community, this project takes the form of an interactive publication. I am drawn to the accessibility of non-exhibitionary formats like pamphlets and zines, and this naturally felt like the route to go down.

Focusing on physical, tactile engagement was hugely important to me, particularly in a post-COVID context, where digital fatigue is dominant. This project encourages being present, countering the digital structures that negatively isolate rather than foster connection. I wanted to create a project that offered a site-specific curatorial methodology grounded in resistance to extractive economies and hierarchical models by centring care and community over capital.

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Project Premise

As outlined, this project contributes to the strength of the community in Govanhill by advocating for the vibrant ARIs available to residents whilst offering a point of conversation to connect them. In a primarily digital world, I opted for a physical delivery in favour of slowing down, taking some time away from our screens to be present with one another. I decided the final output would come in a box and would include:

– A series of printed A5 cards containing profiles of ARIs in the Govanhill area, their location, access points, mission and ways the community can engage.

– Light-touch cards that offer soft ‘how to’ guidance on broader issues, such as food solidarity or sustainability, that draw connections between activism and art.

– Contributions or submissions from local artists and initiatives that feature, through tactile elements such as micro-essays, small artworks, poetry, zines, games, or seed packets, to provide an intimate insight into the work and lives of the contributors. ARI Community members become co-creators, shaping the tone and content.

– Pamphlet-style micro essays/informational pieces on community issues. This initial ‘pilot’ box considers funding and how cultural workers present their radical reinterpretations of economic systems and hierarchies of value. By alternatively organising, living, and working, ARIs create new ways to combine economic and artistic practices within their communities. Using information gathered from direct conversations and interviews as the primary research methodology supports the writing of these guides. This allows us to understand how the precarious nature of arts funding truly affects cultural work in our communities and their diverse economies.

– A glossary of key terms.

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Creative Contributions

This project is for the community, and I had to co-curate with their input to be successful as a community-led project. Designed to form (or strengthen) the connections to one another, the project’s primary audience is the artist-led initiatives that feature. As a resource, I imagine this project will attract those considering starting their artist-led initiatives or joining one that could use it as support and guidance.

These conversations connected my curatorial approach to a culturally embedded way of living and working in artistic practice. Holding these interviews was invaluable as research, keeping my focus locally grounded on honest advice that allowed me to generate zines to include in the box that could act as light-touch how-to guides for those interested in setting up their project. I included some key terms used across the research in a glossary to explain their meaning within this context.

These conversations also reinforced my view on the topic – the people I met with were helpful and supportive, and wanted to contribute. I was conscious of asking for people’s time and felt so grateful to have so much interest in my project. It confirmed that I had chosen the right people and location for this project and that there is a need for my project as it draws an official connection between those already deeply interconnected across Govanhill.

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Speculative Future

A key notion of this project is longevity. First and foremost, it exists to sustain and propel the cultural and creative work in a relatively small area. Secondly, it advises and encourages those wanting to create an ARI.

Considering the application of the box and its future beyond this first rendition was vital to its formation. This project has to move, grow and adapt with the community as it changes. I considered how it would continue to grow and where it would exist. The box in Rumpus Room and Glasgow Zine Library is shown here, these two ARIs that feature and would therefore receive a copy to hold within their space and for visitors to use.

Another consideration is how to update the box and what happens when it is full.

New cards and contributions alongside an updated map will be delivered/posted to venues hosting a box. Users would take contributions out of the box; for example, a recipe from MILK would make its way to the kitchen or someone’s cookbook, creating space for regeneration.

By operating within and alongside familiar community settings, this project highlights varied artistic practices as tools for local interest and community ownership.