Gallery as Host, Hub, Archive

2007> The purpose of this paper was to propose ideas; suggestions; case examples for further research, and recommended models of practice for the integration of education at a leading contemporary art space in response to the new artistic policy. The intent is to briefly identify the key issues and concerns of the new artistic policy, before proposing and exploring various integrated models of ‘educational’ or ‘participatory’ practice for this new context. The proposals draw on key debates around the notion of ‘participation’ in contemporary art and on the role of the art institution in relation to this, as well as on specific research into national and international models of practice. The intent is to propose models that reflect and respond to the wider international context of contemporary art practice and programming; but which also consider and reflect the particular needs and opportunities presented by the specific local context for the production and presentation of, and for participation in contemporary art in the city. Signalling a shift from the notion of ‘education’ to one of ‘participation’, the proposals within this paper focus upon models whereby the organisation ‘opens and is opened out’ to a broader sense of use and user.