'We Were Trying to Make Sense...' is a project that originated from conversations we had with artists who were working with various communities in the UK and rest of the Europe. In the process of organising an exhibition of these collaborative works at 1Shanthiroad in Bangalore, India in January 2013, we realised that it was important to also collect the reflections of those involved in the process of commissioning, creating and participating in the work, in a publication that was affordable and could be widely circulated. One of our aims was to include the opinions of those who collaborated who do not consider themselves as contemporary artists, as their voice is often marginalised or edited to fit the ‘project feedback’ criteria. The term ‘non-artist’ is a problematic one, but one used in order to start the conversation that could then begin to re-evaluate such terminology.
‘We were trying to make sense…’ looks at collaborative projects operating on a number of scales and working both within and outside of institutional constraints. It is a platform for reflecting on the collaborative process from a variety of perspectives, with contributions from both artists and non-artists, and looks at specific issues concerning ethics, power dynamics, communication and representation. The publication was developed in collaboration between Magda Fabianczyk and Sophie Hoyle, and features contributions from Rachel Anderson of Artangel, Broniowianki Folk Group, Petra Bryant, Sophie Hoyle, Magda Fabianczyk, Tilly Fowler of AIR at CSM, Emaan Mahmud, David Roberts, Alicja Rogalska, Justyna Scheuring and Erica Scourti.
Works presented at the London launch of the publication include Reality Life (2009) by Erica Scourti, and Broniowska Piosenka / Untitled (Broniow Song) (2011) by Alicja Rogalska, commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art Warsaw, discussed by the artists and their contributors in interviews featured in the publication.
In January 2013 the publication was launched as part of the 'We were trying to make sense...' exhibition at 1Shanthiroad in Bangalore, India. The exhibition, curated by Magda Fabiańczyk and coordinated by Sophie Hoyle, provided an opportunity to discuss the texts in relation to collaborative works with non-artists in an Indian context. Fabianczyk travelled to New Delhi, Kochi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Santiniketan and Kolkata to meet artists and curators involved with developing projects with various communities in India. This launch includes a limited edition version of the publication, with additional texts from Sanchayan Ghosh (Frieze Art Fair, Kochi Muziris Biennial, Visva Bharati University), Annika Hampel (Goethe Institute Stipend, PHD candidate at Department of Cultural Policy of the University of Hildesheim) and Suresh Kumar (Bar 1, Bangalore), as a preview of the second issue that is currently being developed. The second issue will focus on socially engaged art practices in India, how Indian artists self-organise when state funding is not available, and the issues of cross-cultural collaborations between Western and non-Western participants.
‘We Were Trying to Make Sense…’ was supported by Polish Cultural Institute in London, Polish Institute New Delhi, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, AND Publishing and X Marks Bokship among others. The publication was designed by An Endless Supply at Jerwood Project Space.
The book was first launched at 1Shanthiroad Studio Gallery in Bangalore ( Triangle Trust Network) and was distributed across India ending up at Khoj Delhi reading room, 1Shanthiroad, Studio 21, Clark House and Santiniketan University among others. It is currently available to buy in London and Poland at:
AND Publishing / www.andpublishing.org
X Marks the Bökship / www.bokship.org
South London Gallery / www.southlondongallery.org
Banner Repeater / www.bannerrepeater.org
Book Art Book Shop / www.bookartbookshop.com
Ti Pi Tin / www.tipitin.com
Publish and Be Damned at the ICA / www.publishandbedamned.org
MSN Bookoff / www.bookoff.pl
Fundacja Bęc Zmiana / www.funbec.eu/shop
Goldsmiths University - Library/ available to read only
Chelsea College of Art - Library / available to read only
Current list of contents:
2 ‘We Were Trying to Make Sense’: Introduction
Sophie Hoyle
6 Thinking of us here... Thinking of us
differently there...
Magda Fabianczyk
Walkway Press was developed by Magda Fabianczyk on the Grey Leopold Estate, east London over two years, building cross-generational and cross-cultural relationships with neighbouring families. In her text she explores the limits of collaboration, what happens when the professional becomes personal and attachments form, and when the artist subsequently leaves as the estate is demolished.
8 Expanding fields
Rachel Anderson
Rachel Anderson of Artangel’s Interaction programme speaks from her experience of collaborative projects with local communities. She outlines the difficulties and risk-taking facing the artist practicing in this area. Anderson looks at ideas of hierarchy in these projects and wider society, the assumptions made of certain communities and the different ideas of ‘value’ attributed to collaborative projects.
10 Alicja Rogalska in conversation with
Magda Fabianczyk
13 Magda Fabianczyk in conversation with
Polish folk group Broniowianki
Untitled (Broniów Song) (2011) is a collaboration between Alicja Rogalska and Polish folk-group Broniowianki making a ‘contemporary’ folk song looking at unemployment in rural Poland after entering the EU. Both the artist and folk group were interviewed, discussing politics of representation and providing contrasting views of the project.
17 A Million Minutes: A Highly Subjective Glossary
of Important, Problematic and Contested Terms
Tilly Fowler
Tilly Fowler writes of her experience at AIR (Archway Investigations and Response) based at Central Saint Martins, which facilitates artists to work within public spaces and non-artist communities in Archway and Kings Cross, London. She looks at the problematic theoretical and institutional terminology used to discuss collaborative projects, relating to the specific context of AIR.
20 Erica Scourti in conversation with
Magda Fabianczyk
24 Reality Life: Discussion between Petra Bryant and
artist Magda Fabianczyk
Erica Scourti discusses a number of her collaborative projects, from commissions to artist-initiated works. With Magda Fabianczyk she discusses the problems of authority, equality and representation when working with non-artists. One of the participants in Scourti’s project, Petra Bryant, discusses her involvement from a different perspective.
26 Justyna Scheuring: The Incidental Participant
Sophie Hoyle
Justyna Scheuring is an artist whose participatory performances devise situations for social interaction and watches them unfold. These performative happenings address the processes of group formation, and explore individual decision-making and self-reflection.
30 St.art. Looking out. Looking in.
Magda Fabianczyk
Magda Fabianczyk uses the example of Emaan Mahmud’s St.art project initiated in Karachi, Pakistan in early 2012, to explore ideas of participatory projects in different cultural contexts, and whether their social and artistic value can be understood by those from outside this context.
33 From ‘heroin’ to heroines
David Roberts
David Roberts is part of the collaborative art project Fugitive Images, started in 2009 by Andrea Zimmerman and Lasse Johansson, residents of the Haggerston Estate. They run a series of collaborative workshops with a collective output, including the film ‘Estate’. Roberts’ text addresses the history and ideology of social housing and social reform in Britain and what relevance it has for today’s estate residents.
37 ‘We Were Trying to Make Sense’: Conclusion
Sophie Hoyle
‘We were trying to make sense...’ was printed by An Endless Supply at Jerwood Project Space in London and supported by the Polish Cultural Institute in London and Delhi and Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
