As part of my PhD research, I've been speaking to socially engaged, community and participatory artists to understand how they listen within their practice.

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Socially-engaged art projects are rarely initiated by the communities they seek to serve. Though arts organisation’s efforts (consultation, co-production and partnership models) go some way to address this, inequality often remains ingrained in projects from their inception. My research asks, how can social art challenge uneven power-relations, even when set within frameworks serving neoliberal agendas? 

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I'm interested in how 'listening' features within this practice, and how it might be applied as a useful and usable model for dissecting power dynamics. What gets in the way of listening, and what might the consequences of listening be?

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This monthly podcast series is hosted by Meanwhile in an Abandoned Warehouse - a podcast about cultural democracy and community art.