A Reparative Agreement for artists and artworkers

A Reparative Agreement for Artworkers and Institutions is a framework that will evolve over time, conversation and practice. It is designed as a way to ‘call in’ artworkers and art institutions to reparative practices and commitments. It grows from the shared recognition that the conditions of artistic labour are shaped by unequal power, and that this imbalance isn’t inevitable. 

“A lot of artists have, at one time or another, felt disenfranchised or powerless while working with institutions — a feeling that the institutions hold all the cards and that, as an artist, you don't want to bite the hand that feeds. The hope is that this agreement can be used as a tool artists can point to, to redress this imbalance” - James McColl, cohort member

The agreement was conceived by the 2023 Constellations ° cohort of creative practitioners in collaboration with artist and educator Hussein Mitha, during a collective residency with Deveron Projects and UP Projects' Constellations programme in 2024. The text is formed of the cohort's needs, wants and dreams, and articulates a mutual proposition for repair. 

Artworkers - please use this as a tool, as a conversation starter, as leverage and affirmation in your work with institutions.

Institutions - take this as a collective voice, a demand for things to be different. Take it and apply it to your current practices and future planning. 

Read and download A Reparative Agreement for Artworkers and Institutions

The agreement was compiled and written by James McColl, in collaboration with the wider 2023 Constellations ° cohort: Holly Graham, Giulia Shah, Becky Warnock, Cherelle Sappleton, Ian Giles, Laura Onions, Seyi Adelekun and Faye Hamblett-Jones. It has been created with thanks to Hussein Mitha who led a workshop with the cohort to create an artists’ manifesto for institutions, whilst the cohort were on residency at Deveron Projects in September 2024. Constellations ° is a learning and development programme for artists, curators, producers, commissioners and all those who are active and/or interested in the expanded field of public art. Constellations ° is curated by UP Projects.