Culture is a Common Purpose

Description:

Culture is a Common Purpose was a series of events and talks produced in collaboration with artist Francisco Camacho Herrera. Unfolding across three events, the program explored the position of culture within the public commons of Vancouver. The title of the series referenced Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson’s inaugural speech in 2008: “we come together to affirm our common purpose...not [by] leading a city of generic uniformity, but a city rich with artistic voices and the cultural wealth that flows from our diversity.” Camacho Herrera used these events and conversations to feed his research towards a broader investigation on the buoyancy of culture’s position within the public sphere of many local contexts. His research was documented and shared throughout the series on a project website.
  
The first event of Culture is a Common Purpose was a conversation between writer Nicolas Bourriaud and artist Ian Wallace in the Grand Luxe Hall. Presented with Other Sights for Artists’ Projects, the second event of the series took place at Langara College and featured a conversation between Camacho Herrera and politician Spencer Chandra Hebert. For the final event, Camacho Herrera hosted an artist talk in the Grand Luxe Hall where he framed the overall project within his own artistic practice.
 
Presented with support from the Consulat général de France à Vancouver and Other Sights for Artists’ Projects.