Art can be about dialogue
and art can take the form of dialogue. The online Oxford Dictionary defines
dialogue as a discussion between two or more people which is often directed
towards exploring a particular subject or resolving a problem. In many ways,
negotiation goes a step further by suggesting the focus is to reach agreement. Community
arts usually are based on the premise of dialogue, but how such dialogue unfolds
is rarely elaborated on. In her PhD research Chu Yuan
conceptualised negotiation as a process of engagement which brings new
understandings for both the artist and those engaged with. In this way, negotiation
can be seen as a process of actively getting to know the world, others and what is unique
about one’s own position in it.
Such dialogue and negotiation can be mediated through
poetry. In the act of publishing a poem, the poet opens up an opportunity for
communication with the reader. Take Julian Dobson’s poem For Tony Benn.
Reading this poem one may find oneself soul searching – what do I know about
Tony Benn, what were his views, did I agree, how will I remember him? Yet, this
poem draws attention to something more. Written just after the death of this politician, the poem positions itself firmly in a specific society and
time. Chu Yuan would say that through engagement with the poem the reader
becomes more aware of the world he lives in and his or her relation to it.
The above observations have informed Sharing at the Shoreline.
Yet, this project will take this idea of poetry as dialogue a step further by
deliberately creating spaces in which this dialogue can take place face-to-face and enables this conversation to be multi-directional. The Sharing at the Shoreline
workshops will thus provide space for those attending to share stories and
experiences, personal or conjured up by the poems. Naturally, these
conversations will resonate in subsequent poems and, as a result, this dialogue
will transcend individual workshops by generating dialogue between the
different groups of people I meet on the way. The central element in Sharing at the
Shoreline is the dialogue I create through my poetry and readings - between myself and participants and between different groups of participants.
The next Sharing at the Shoreline workshop will take place
on Saturday 26 April at 2 pm at the Tolbooth Museum
in Stonehaven. Participation is free and prior registration is not required. For
more information, please email myself at petravergunst@hotmail.com.
Copyright text and image Petra Vergunst
