These are the main responsibilities that artists involved in the research identified as most important for effective leadership of co-creative processes.
We define responsibilities as things an artist holds ethically, contractually, or artistically.
Safety
The first responsibility that almost everyone involved in the research identified was the responsibility to create a safe space for the creative process to happen. If people don’t feel safe, it’s much more challenging to be creative in a group setting.
There was a difference of opinion about whether it was actually possible to ever truly create a safe space.
Many of the artists specifically mentioned safeguarding as a particular responsibility which they felt artists leading co-creative practice need to be aware of. If contracted by an arts organisation they should ensure they are familiar with the policies in place. If they are operating as a freelancer they need to seek guidance and ensure they know what steps to take if someone shares something of concern.
Safeguarding
Being accountable
Many artists contemplated and interrogated the notion of accountability as a responsibility and the myriad of people and institutions that the artist is responsible to when leading this work.
Some felt that artists need to have their own sense of to whom they are accountable when juggling potentially competing demands or priorities.
Rights and ethics
Many of the artists involved in the research talked about the responsibility of being aware of the ethics involved in co-created work.
Artists discussed the issue of who holds the rights to co-created work and how much ownership professionals and non-professionals have over the work. There are also complex ethical responsibilities around the use of people’s personal stories.
Know your limits and involve other people
Many of the artists talked about the importance of knowing the limits of your responsibilities and where you need to bring other people into the process to support it.
Co-created work can involve asking people to share something of themselves and often this will need additional resource to support this happening effectively.
To create a structure/purpose
A key challenge in leading co-created work is that if you’re doing it properly, you don’t know what the artistic outcome is going to be.
While the landscape is shifting, many artists talked about tension with funders wanting to know what the product was going to be before work had started. Others talked about the need to co-create what the project was before the creative work started.
To know an appropriate amount about who you are working with
Context is key for this responsibility in which some artists felt that it is important to know an appropriate amount about who you are working with.
Many co-created projects are open access, others are working with a discreet community of people. All will have differing levels of ability and needs that the artist needs to sensitively accommodate without shaming or exposing anyone.
To ensure people have a positive experience
Some artists felt that they have a responsibility to ensure that people have a positive experience. For them, this is even true in the parts of a creative process that might touch on the sharing of more challenging emotions.
Artists need to hold this responsibly, name difficulties and close sessions properly. It’s possible for people to leave having had a positive, even cathartic experience of co-creating.
