LITTORAL: New Zones for Critical Art Practice

Littoral poster

Introduction

The term Littoral relates to a growing field of critical art practice and artist-led initiatives that has been evolving internationally over the past ten years. Although Littoral practice is developing in different parts of the world, and is coming from various practical and theoretical directions, its protagonists share certain characteristics. These include an interest in promoting socially engaged art practice, involvement in extended collaborations with community, environmental or social agencies, and little interest in centering practice on art world institutional careers. Much Littoral work is practitioner-led, and motivated by a sense of social accountability, ecological responsibility, and a concern to redefine artistic practice through an explorational or critical interface with communities.

The Littoral international conference and research programme is coordinated by an independent network of artists, critics, curators and academics with an interest in contributing to new thinking on contemporary art practice and critical theory. The participants have a particular interest in promoting socially engaged art practice, and long term collaborative projects in which artists work with communities on issues about rural development, health, new media and telecommunications, agricultural change, and other social, educational and environmental issues.

Locating new territories for critical art practice

Ala Plastica poster celebrating the visit by Projects Environment to La Plata, 1997 Ala Plastica poster celebrating the visit by Projects Environment to La Plata, 1997

The Littoral conferences, exhibitions, publications and art projects seek to define the critical, aesthetic and theoretical coordinates for this new zone for critical art practice. We see this as an interim, or 'littoral' (inter-tidal) zone, evolving on the margins of the art world. The first conference: Littoral: New Zones for Critical Art Practice, which took place in Manchester in 1994, organised by Projects Environment, and sponsored by University College Salford, North West Arts Board and Manchester City Galleries, was an attempt to locate the theoretical and aesthetic coordinates of such practice. A follow-up conference, Chimera, was held in Sydney Australia in 1995, funded by the Australia Council, the Goethe Foundation and the University of New South Wales.

In 1998 Projects Environment organised the CRITICAL SITES: Issues in Critical Art Practice and Pedagogy Conference, with the Dublin artist's group Critical Access, at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Technology, Art and Design. Various studies, exhibitions and publications have been commissioned by arts councils, museums and international art foundations on the implications of littoral practice.

The Manchester, Sydney and Dublin conferences revealed the extent of this work as an international phenomenon, with active groups and projects represented from Thailand, Australia, Canada, USA, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Senegal, Sudan, South Africa, New Zealand, Poland, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Israel, Ireland and Britain. Many of these groups now communicate regularly via e-mail and Internet websites, and from time to time exchange visits and hold regional forums. A range of issues and problems are emerging in the Littoral field of practice, and the changing relationship with the institutional art world requires further study and critical discussion. There is also a need to generate critical writing and documentation about this work, and its connections with mainstream cultural, environmental and social practice. The 1998 Dublin conference took up the issue of education and training for socially engaged art practice, but there is room for more debate on this issue.

Critical Sites Conference poster Critical Sites Conference poster

Future Littoral programmes

1. Littoral Forum 2001

A Littoral Forum is planned for London in 2001, on the development of socially engaged art practice in Britain, and the 'dialogical aesthetic' proposed by US art critic Grant Kester as a contribution to critical evaluation of Littoral/socially engaged art practice.

2. Critical Anthology

A critical anthology documenting international littoral/socially engaged art practice and projects, and analysing methodological and theoretical traditions, proposed as a collaboration between Littoral and Wochenklausur (Austria), Platform (England), Ala Plastica/Grupo Escombros (Argentina), and critic Grant Kester (USA).

3. Socially Engaged/Littoral Summer School

Littoral/Projects Environment is working with, Platform, the London-based artist's organisation, on plans for a summer school or practitioner's academy, to enable younger artists and recent graduates to learn about some of the critical issues and practices being developed by artist groups internationally. There is no fixed or absolute sense of a 'littoral' philosophy, and we try to keep ideas on practice open, and to resist the notion of orthodoxy in recommending methodologies. For more details please contact Platform or Littoral/Project Environment.

4. 'Repositioning Art in the Decision-Making Process of Society'.

A critical re-appraisal of the work of John Latham and Barbara Steveni, the pioneers of APG (Artists' Placement Group) and Art in Social Context. Proposal for a conference in London on the work of APG and O+I (Organisation and Imagination). Details available early in 2001.

5. LITTORAL 3 International.

The next International Littoral conference is likely to take place in either Argentina or in South Africa in 2002. More information about this will be available in 2001.

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