Global Cultural Districts Network’s perspective on A Feral Commons

A Feral Commons invites artists to address the climate emergency in a way that focuses on the resilience of nature, against all odds, in dense urban environments. By establishing new forms of symbiosis between urban inhabitants, the artists open new perspectives on a different possible relationship to the world around us.
The collaboration between GCDN and Alserkal is forged by social connections across geographies and areas of expertise. Alserkal Advisory provides centralized coordination for A Feral Commons, a network of cultural districts working together on commissioned artworks in Dubai (UAE), Kingston (Jamaica), and Johannesburg (South Africa). UAP (Urban Arts Projects) provides critical financial, technical, and design assistance. In this way, the artists’ installations are fortified by a web of partnerships and stakeholder relationships.

This approach to co-commissioning and producing public art on three different continents in cultural districts with different climactic and socioeconomic conditions is trailblazing. Usually, a group of arts organizations work with a lead producer to jointly finance artwork which will typically circulate between them. A Feral Commons upends this logic on its head: here, a strong shared concept is the basis of the process, resulting in hyper-local installations that do not tour.

The participating stakeholders agree to a curatorial brief and commit to supporting the commissioned artists’ visions in dialogue with their unique localized context. This includes navigating issues of site control and securing appropriate authorizations. The districts also committed to equalizing the installations’ community and environmental impacts alongside the more traditional decision-making filters of budget and time.

This approach to co-commissioning and producing public art on three different continents in cultural districts with different climactic and socioeconomic conditions is trailblazing. Usually, a group of arts organizations work with a lead producer to jointly finance artwork which will typically circulate between them. A Feral Commons upends this logic on its head: here, a strong shared concept is the basis of the process, resulting in hyper-local installations that do not tour.

The participating stakeholders agree to a curatorial brief and commit to supporting the commissioned artists’ visions in dialogue with their unique localized context. This includes navigating issues of site control and securing appropriate authorizations. The districts also committed to equalizing the installations’ community and environmental impacts alongside the more traditional decision-making filters of budget and time.

“A Feral Commons upends this logic: here, a strong shared concept is the basis of the process, resulting in hyper-local installations”

Another innovative dimension of the project is that the works remain local. This eliminates the need to compensate for environmentally damaging touring, specialized packaging, and other harmful outcomes. Engaging local community partners in conversations about what will happen with the installation when the exhibition ends provides valuable input on the sustainability of such a co-commissioning process and motivate additional investment in the effort.

Additionally, findings from UAP’s Artwork Ingredient List about carbon impact helped evaluate the potential environmental and social impacts and informed sustainable choices throughout the lifecycle of the artwork.
The global co-commission was sparked during the COVID-19 pandemic era when, unable to convene global cultural leaders in real life, GCDN began to look for other ways to strengthen connections across the network.

Alserkal took the lead in organizing the initiative, and while there have been several shifts and adjustments in implementation, the basic principles remain the same. The project demonstrates that three individual artists creating sustainable artworks in three diverse geographies can be impactful at the local level where agency is stronger. In turn, for cultural districts, activating the ecosystem of diverse partnerships is an essential strategy, one that inherently allows for amplified impact.

Each participating district is engaged in strengthening peer networks and contributing useful knowledge to their communities and the profession. In identifying research and engagement as goals for A Feral Commons, they formed a learning community. From cross-sector partners working with artists on these installations to arts leaders from around the globe, A Feral Commons is an open-ended invitation to support a movement for more sustainable art practices.

Indeed, a culture of creativity is the heart of every cultural district.  Specifics vary from city to city, these places are united by the arts and cultural ecosystems that make them thrive. GCDN seeks to connect the growing community of creative practice across geographies, supporting cultural districts in exploring interdisciplinary, site-specific community responses to and critical engagements with global issues.

At the heart of the global co-commission is a challenge and a belief that engaging what one of the greatest existential challenge of our lifetimes requires collaborative action and that artists working on this issue in ways that are specific to community needs can make a difference. At a deeper level, it also suggests that we need to understand the distinction between human and non-human beings in a different light. A Feral Commons is an attempt to take a different tack. These installations find their strength in traversing a web of intersecting lines. The hope is that collectively we can we begin to identify new practices and that together we will have a material impact.