Preamble This introductory piece sets the scene for a series of articles by cultural thinkers and doers that follow. The articles are presented in two sets of eight. The first set, gathered under the title Perspectives, are variously ‘thought pieces’ about aspects of our cultural commons and cultural commoning. The second set, under the title Practices, are ‘case stories’ of cultural commoning happening in diverse ways and contexts. Although categorised in this way, both principle and practice are, of course, features of every article.
Why Cultural Commoning Matters Kevin Murphy and Denis Stewart
Cultural commoning is of its time. In a world where it is becoming clear that the everyday creative things we do have value for us, for the social fabric and wellbeing of our communities and for the health of our democracies it offers an alternative approach to sustaining our creative lives. We live in an era when the consequences and effects of dominant economic, social and political paradigms are pressing upon people, damaging democracy and fomenting feelings of frustration, helplessness and despair. It is now when creating together, wisely and hopefully, matters most. Across the world, the wider commons movement is growing hopeful alternatives to the dispiriting status quo. Peer-to-peer networks of organisation and production are on the increase, multiplying exponentially year by year. Working together, collectives of diversely experienced volunteers and professionals in various sectors are facing into challenges creatively and with concern for the common good. In their ‘small acts of creative transgression’1 these citizen commoners are using open source methods, cooperative learning and collaborative approaches to design and development. New civic and cultural ecosystems are springing up everywhere providing alternatives to economic and social organisation and development. Take Platform Cooperativism2, for example; or the Urban Commons plans in Ghent3, Barcelona4 and Bologna5, to name but a few; or the more ethical blockchain developments in digital currency such as FairCoin6. These movements are well beyond the hopeful aspiration stage. They are on the ground, happening and here to stay. The practices, principles and values of the commons and ‘commoning’, are very relevant and directly applicable to the world of creatively cultural activity. Indeed, in a time when perceptions of priority regarding use of the public purse are leading politicians and policy makers to cut back on funding for ‘the arts and culture’, the ways of thinking and acting that are associated with the commons and commoning need to be highlighted and heeded. Cultural commoning happens when people come together through personal choice to initiate and grow creative activity and practices through participative and collaborative approaches. It acknowledges the abundance we have around us and offers a pragmatic and complementary approach to sustaining the means of cultural creation in local places. It sits alongside the public sector and private enterprise with perhaps the most potential being realised when interdependencies are recognised and built upon. And, in enacting alternative ways
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