Two Bristol ARI's that I think are interesting.

I have arrived back in Sydney, back to work, back to life, but before I lose the notebook all of this is written in and/or lose the inclination to make sense of it in an online forum, here I go, giving a brief outline of two artist run initiatives I came across in Bristol (there seems to be a whole lot to say about a place I was in for a grand total of 3 days).

You and Your Work

I might start with a blurb that I have taken from the YaYW website which will no doubt be able to articulate what the whole thing is about better than I can;

You and Your Work (YaYW) is a Bristol-based not-for-profit arts organisation, founded in 2008. We seek to facilitate artistic and social exchange between artists, community groups and other creative community based organisations, as well as new and existing audiences. YaYW aims to provide support and development opportunities for promising emerging performance artists, whilst striving to involve audiences from diverse backgrounds.

Since 2007 we have showcased a regular, themed performance platform event, presenting a range of contemporary performance, Live Art, interventions, site-specific work, dance, games and media-installation. Originally based at the Cube Microplex (a community cinema and venue), YaYW has since been held at Easton Community Centre and now for YaYW8, at the Arnolfini (art gallery). By continually re-locating itself, You and Your Work is able to open up new and exciting avenues for artistic production and social encounter, as well as reach new audiences beyond the central Bristol arts scene.
From http://youandyourwork.blogspot.com/

Everyone* talks about "community engagement" - so much so it has almost become synonymous with audience development. Although there are links between the two ideas, and engaging diverse communities can, of course, be part of developing audiences, the core agenda of these two concepts is fairly divergent. Taking work out of an art space, into a community centre, could easily be construed (and practised) as a kind of culturally imperial act - bringing in young hot things of the art community to the masses of the uninitiated. This, to me, is the opposite of what YaYW is about. Carefully curated as delivering accessible, high quality works that are not necessarily interactive but acutely aware of (and sometimes co-created by) their audiences.

*I use the term "Everyone" loosely.

Residence

I will follow suit and again, rip from their website, a lovely little blurb about Residence

Residence is a community of theatre makers who share space, resources, knowledge and opportunities in an old record shop in Bristol.
By moving our work out of bedrooms and placing artists together under one roof, facilitating social space, and running regular events, we have developed a mutually supportive environment. Such an environment allows us to make work independently from institutions, with courage and flexibility. We can take risks more readily and our work is nurtured with a constant source of support, criticism, encouragement, and advice. Residence promotes a spirit of generosity amongst its members with shared resources, opportunities and knowledge. In the 3 and a half years since its inception the artists involved have changed from a disparate group of marginalised artists to a strong, cohesive, powerful group showing theatre work regularly in Bristol, the UK, Europe and beyond.
From http://www.residence.org.uk/

This is one answer to the problem of (lack of) space, that is undeniably a recurring one. It has taken a committed group of artists (and a large one at that) to get this project together, however, the lovely thing that keeps popping up on their website, and through talking to Jo, James, Gemma and Sylvia is the idea of dialogue, feedback and support that comes from being part of this collective. It's not about whinging about not having any space (although that may have been where the idea came from) - it's about wanting to connect with other artists to make better work. To me, this seems like a much more interesting and convincing argument for a council to give a bunch of artists highly subsidised space, rather than hearing complaints about illegal venues being shut down (if we're going to play the game, which of course we may choose not to do).

That's Bristol. I think.

Some endnotes:
There is a lovely video on the Residence website if you're interested in finding out more.
I saw "A Western" by Action Hero (members of Residence) and it was really good. Here is their website.
Sylvia Rimat is a member of Residence, co-founder and producer of YaYW. She is also lovely and very generous - here is some more about her.