E.3 Cooperative entity through the working groups

One of the ways of working efficiently in such a large self-managed structure such as the AC is to work in smaller groups. Individuals from member organizations are encouraged to choose one of the established working groups based on specific desires, interests and (self-limited) capacities.

This being said, the formations of the working groups is not to be regulated by the logic of delegation or representation. It is more about opening ways for individual members to actively ’take matters into their own hands’.

The framework of self-limitation, self-care and self-accountability in the current approach, implies that silence by any of the core members in the network also signifies an important component in the learning process that occurs in Arts Collaboratory: silence does not always necessarily mean absence, listening to silence may also articulate a negotiation of the disparate and the common in different ways.

The tactical character of these small working groups entails sensitivities to time and power accumulation, whereas its aim should be oriented to common practice without losing sight of other forms of struggle within AC and elsewhere. Therefore, some groups are temporary in nature and exist as long as an urgent need exists and there is affinity for the issue, other groups have a rotating composition, making place for new organizations who wish to take part in it.

Currently, the working groups ensuring the management of Arts Collaboratory are divided into permanent activities, permanent groups and temporary working groups: