“Questioning the Creative City is a two-day event bringing together artists, researchers and grassroots innovators to debate the role of creative practice and innovation in the life of cities beyond the current obsession with market-oriented growth strategies. How do creative practitioners and grassroots social innovation see their contribution to the city? How can cities support and promote creative practice? Can we envision a city that values creativity for its own sake, rather than as a means to an economic end?”

The event marks the culmination of a research project on the Politics of Urban Social Innovation (PUrSI) led by geographers at Durham and Loughborough Universities working partly in collaboration with two artist-led hubs: The NewBridge Project in Newcastle and Gateshead (UK) and ZK/U – Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik in Berlin (Germany). Melissa Harrison and Katharina Moebus from AoA/Common(s)Lab will contribute to the programme with a session on care on the second day of the event, together with artists Andrew Wilson, Laura Yuile, and Jan Van Esch. We are very excited and happy to take part!