In negotiation
2, 9 & 16 June 11.30am
Stroud Valleys Artspace,
4 John Street, Stroud GL5 2HA

tel: 01453 751440

In the introduction to last years site06
Transition programme an initial attempt
was made to define what makes the
Stroud District so accommodating to so
many artists. In that essay the point was made that to sustain this situation ‘...it is essential to promote arts activities that not only acknowledge a plurality of positions, but also encourage an environment where debate between those positions can flourish.’

An initial ‘think tank’ discussion was
held at SVA on the 3rd April 20071. Here artist members representing different interests discussed the role of
concordance and conflict in the site07
Festival’s attempt to represent the broad and diverse ar ts scene in the Stroud Valleys. The aim was to stimulate and encourage responses which can then be used to structure a fur ther series of discussions as par t of the site07 Festival.
In negotiation will consist of a series of
discussion events on the theme of how to negotiate the showing of differing forms of practice in the site festival.

Responses to an essay by Colin Glen and Dominic Thomas on the subject, which will be circulated by flyposting and pamphleteering, will be incorporated into the programming of the events. The panel for each discussion will change, taking the line of argument forward.
The documentation from the discussion
events will be used as the initial material with which to build a mobile library. This library will be the visible structure representing differing interests of, not only participants in the discussion events, but also those of the the wider network of artists associated with SVA and it's visiting audience.

In negotiation (extract)
Colin Glen: what we are trying to state is that the existing environment here is not just tolerant of different practice but actually feeds off the fact that lots of people are sharing the same time and get beneficial relationships going. I think that there is a kind of permission round here that it is ok to develop relation-ships with different practices and also between generations of artists. In a way we are trying to define what is unique about this area.

Dominic Thomas: I think the key to this aim of sustaining interaction is an acceptance of, or even an embracing of, the idea that differing positions are often actually in conflict - that the cultural

territory of Stroud is, in fact, always being contested. And some of these oppositional positions may be irresolvable.
It should also be acknowledged that it is not a simplistic binary divide between contemporary and traditional, formal/ conceptual, painting or video. It is about a multitude of potential positions that go beyond style or media or arguments about what ‘real’ art might entail

Carolyn White: Well it’s the thing that I
always say to other people, what I find
unique about Stroud is this amazing range of work. I had a studio at St. Catherine’s Dock. There was this fracture between the figurative people and the abstract people,to put it crudely. But there was this sense that it actually affected our social relationships too – it affected everything.
Then coming here to Stroud has been
such a relief. There seems to be this sense that, while everybody might have different processes and intentions as far as the end result goes, there is this sor t of forum for discussion, an interface on the work itself.

Written and transcribed by Colin Glen and Dominic Thomas

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