Let’s Create - Responsibilities - Safety
Safety
The first responsibility that almost everyone involved in the research identified was the responsibility to create a safe space for the creative process to happen.
If people don’t feel safe, it’s much more challenging to be creative in a group setting.
There was a difference of opinion about whether it was actually possible to ever truly create a safe space. However, all artists involved talked about the importance of building trust in a group and between the group and the artist in order to generate feelings of safety.
Quotes from the research
“When I started this kind of work, I would let stuff go because I was scared of conflict. I was scared of not being liked. I'm not scared anymore in any way. I'm pretty strict. I hold the space. And I hope I hold boundaries really tightly, especially with new groups. And I think the sooner we equate physical safety with emotional safety, like if we treat those the same, then that's a good start.”
“You have to make sure this is safe for everyone. Safe, inclusive and accessible.”
“People come to trust in that space and to know that they are being held and looked after. And to know what kind of systems and protocols exist should things go wrong in that space.”
“If you feel safe you can celebrate your whole self and you can take risks and be brave. I think in some ways your responsibility is just to people's safety and you know, the more you build a soft play area for everyone to play and the more they can fling themselves at the walls and jump from very high and do cartwheels that they never thought they could do.”
Listen to the Podcast here
with Kelly Green
Kelly Green is a working-class, queer, neurodivergent mum and performance artist; a noisy, feisty, hot mess. Her current work is MILF the Musical is a co-creation theatre project commissioned by Camden People's Theatre with support from Heart of Glass and the Arts Council England.
