Featuring projects by We are Commoners artists: Alinah Azadeh, Ele Carpenter, Alice McLean and Justine Boussard, Linda Brothwell, Lise Bjørne Linnert and Gelwesh Waledkhani.
At MAC you can see a showcase of community work linked to We Are Commoners, our national touring exhibition which explores the contemporary commons movement. Artist-led projects and workshops encouraged ‘acts of commoning’ – actions of shared benefit to a group – within local communities in Birmingham and Norway. Also featured is Linda Brothwell’s Acts of Care Bench Repair Project in Bristol.
In this showcase, craft skills and materials provide a means to common. The projects featured demonstrate the need to imagine a more collectively-made and owned future. The artists’ projects are represented across three themes: Claiming, Healing and Co-operating. They all suggest a shift in thinking from ‘you’re on your own’ to ‘we’re in this together.’
We hope visitors will feel encouraged by the examples of co-operative action. To experiment, seek out exchange and make connections with people, objects, spaces and their environments. #WeAreCommoners
“The commons means: Things we share/ Places we share/ Systems we share/ Ideas we share/ Culture we share.” – Peter Barnes, On the Commons co-founder