DISRUPT: Are we building community power or just co-opting it?

  • 11am - 5.30pm
DISRUPT artwork (c) Matt Munday
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About this event:

Category:
Interdisciplinary | Platform / Discussion
Event type:
Booking required | In-person
Admission:
Free but registration required
Location:
1 East Poultry Avenue, Floor 1, London EC1A 9PT

Event information

Burning the Parachute: Are we building community power or just co-opting it?

An Open Space event for anyone who works in the arts that cares about community, power, and the politics of sustainable change.

An invitation from Julie Hawksworth, Relationship Manager Museums & Cultural Property (London), Arts Council England; Lauren Parker, Head of Engagement and Community Partnerships, London Museum; and Jo Chard, Senior Producer for DISRUPT, Guildhall School of Music & Drama

We’re living in a time when “community empowerment” is on everyone’s lips - from funders to policymakers to arts organisations. But behind the buzzwords, something more complex is unfolding. Are communities really being empowered? Or are institutions parachuting in, performing “sustainable practices,” and calling it progress?

When projects end, relationships fade. Communities are left uncertain, trust erodes, and the legacy of the work is lost. Community building depends on long-term commitment - continuity, accountability, and collaboration across disciplines, sectors, and communities to build more inclusive and resilient cultural ecosystems.

Yet too often, cultural organisations position themselves at the centre of cultural life, rather than as part of a broader ecosystem. Without community-led or grassroots-informed practices, efforts toward sustainability and equity risk becoming top-down processes, shaped by funding cycles and policy agendas, driven more by institutional survival than collective care.

This needs to change.

This open space event will bring together people from across sectors and experiences. Whether you're a funder, artist, cultural worker, activist, policymaker, or simply someone who’s tired of seeing power misused or misunderstood, this is your space to speak, listen, challenge, connect, and imagine.

This is not a conference. It’s a conversation. It’s not about answers. It’s about asking better questions.

Admission free, but registration required

Illustration above by Matt Munday

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