Integration
Integration is at the core of our approach. It emphasises creating spaces that foster both independence and inclusion. Typically, art studios, exhibition openings, festivals, conferences, and many other cultural environments have explicitly or implicitly excluded children, and therefore their caregivers. To achieve integration, we need to create spaces where children and their caregivers are not only welcomed, but centered. This principle challenges the conventional separation of family and work life, which limits choice and participation. It ensures that children’s presence is valued as enriching for both young people and adults, creating environments where family integration is normalised and facilitated.
Suggested applications
- Create family rooms dedicated to activities with children in residencies, galleries, exhibitions, lecture rooms, and other event or cultural spaces.
- Create soft/sensorial areas in event spaces for children and adults.
- Provide facilitators that can activate those spaces when possible.
- Add well-equipped play rooms in artists’ studio spaces and residencies, with activities, materials, and specific processes inspired by the artists’ practices.
- Curate events where content is also presented in unconventional spaces (i.e. outdoors, corridors, classrooms), to reduce reliance on a seated or static engagement, and allow for a more dynamic and varied flow amongst attendees.
- Live-stream or audio-feed talks to nearby family rooms, with captions, printed scripts, or sketch-note summaries available for parents.
- In exhibitions, offer exhibition-themed play areas with resources or artist-designed activity packs to help young visitors connect with the work on show.