About CACD
Community Arts and Cultural Development projects can look quite different, depending on the artists, the community and the focus.
However, positive social and health outcomes are achieved through the skilful facilitation of CACD artists in the development of community-focused projects.
Creativity enables empathy and human connection in an increasingly polarised world, and the arts are vital to strengthening civic infrastructure and combating hate.
In these rapidly changing and divided times, creative content and experiences can be harnessed to celebrate diversity and promote mutual understanding.
The results from the 2022 National Arts Participation Survey show that seven in ten Australians agree that cultural and creative experiences help them to understand perspectives different to their own (71%).
There is even stronger agreement among CALD respondents, with nine in ten CALD Australians agreeing that cultural and creative experiences help to understand perspectives that are different to their own (90%).
"Solving the problem of social exclusion is urgent. The consequences of deepening inequalities can be particularly devastating, including social discontent, declining levels of trust in government, increased crime, disease, environmental degradation and persistent levels of poverty."
The arts can play a powerful role in building social cohesion.
In these rapidly changing times, we are being met with pressing challenges of social inequality, marginalisation, economic disruption, and a pandemic.
A report by the Scanlon Foundation showed that social cohesion in Australia increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, since 2020, Australia’s levels of national pride, belonging and sense of social justice are now lower than they were before the pandemic.
To respond to these challenges, there is enormous potential in harnessing the power of arts and culture. Arts and creativity connect us and can play a powerful role in building social cohesion and inclusion.
There is an emerging body of evidence of the significant potential of arts and creativity to build and strengthen social cohesion, with many important examples cited in a Literature Review by Metris Arts Consulting, PolicyLink, and University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine. Despite this, according to UNESCO, culture remains an under-exploited resource for building social cohesion.
"The arts are a powerful mechanism available to us to create an inclusive sense of community wellbeing; since time immemorial people have turned to the arts to celebrate, to commemorate, to protest, to heal, and to unify."
Cultural participation is a human right, but those in need are often excluded.
Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that ‘everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.’
Cultural rights are, therefore, inseparable from human rights, as recognised in Article 5 of the 2001 UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Diversity and can be defined as the right of access to, participation in and enjoyment of culture. This includes the right of individuals and communities to know, understand, visit, make use of, maintain, exchange and develop cultural heritage and cultural expressions, as well as to benefit from the cultural heritage and cultural expressions of others.
Other human rights such as the right to freedom of expression, the right to information and the right to education, are key to the realisation of cultural rights.
There are also cultural rights for specific groups enshrined in a range of international conventions, including those relating to racial discrimination, discrimination against children, women and persons with disabilities, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
"The arts do not offer a panacea for the complex issues that cause social exclusion, but it has been shown that they can be a significant part of the solution because they transcend barriers of language, culture, ability, and socio-economic status."
Cultural inclusion is critical to the health, wellbeing and prosperity of Australian communities, and for the vitality of our future generations.
Community Arts and Cultural Development or ‘CACD’ is a specialist art form, where professional artist facilitators work with communities to co-create projects with purpose.
Engagement with arts and creativity plays a crucial role in improving the quality of life for all Australians no matter their background, and CACD projects are facilitating needs-based arts.
CACD projects have a range of creative outputs like performances, events, artworks, and creative resources. However, it is the social impact of the co-creation process between artist facilitators, artists, and communities that defines this art form.
"Community art is theoretically coherent, artistically innovative and socially powerful. It can also be a joy to do, and art thrives when it gives pleasure."
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Acknowledgements
This resource is dedicated to CACD practitioners everywhere, working to address disadvantage and bring Australians together.
It has been created by research agency Patternmakers, with assistance from the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Thank you to the practitioners who participated in the creation of this resource and to the many partners involved in each of the projects profiled. For any questions, please contact info@thepatternmakers.com.au.
We respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of the land: the first artists and storytellers. We recognise the contribution of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, past, present and future.
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