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WHISPERS AND ECHOES:
Continuing practices of participation and co-evaluation
YEAR
2024 to 2025
TYPE OF PROJECT
Co-authored book
This publication is an experimental response to previous encounters with social, participatory arts practices, which Sophie Hope and I used as part of our evaluation of BE PART. As evaluators based in London with a limited budget, we couldn't get a close look at most of what was going on. To get to know some of the projects that were part of this programme, we recruited a group of ten ‘Fieldnote Diarists’ in each location. Inspired by ethnographic methods of thick description and participant observation, and supported by the BE PART partner organisations, the diarists visited several local BE PART Fieldworks. They attended workshops, performances and spoke to people involved.
Following the evaluation process, Sophie and I felt the diary entries warranted further attention, that the BE PART report hadn’t done justice to the incredible texts that had been produced through this process. Together with 4 of the diarists (Paola Granato, Ana Loger, Angela Margaret Main and Santa Remere), we decided to work together on this publication. We developed a system or game with a set of instructions to play with how interpretation and response could flow out from some of the original diary entries. The book contains an instruction manual so that others can experiment in similar ways on their own projects. This is a record of attempting to understand each other, knowing this is a tricky, messy and ongoing process that may never be fully realised.
