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A pub­lic con­ver­sa­tion in Novem­ber 2021 com­mis­sioned by Pro­for­ma for Desire Lines and facil­i­tat­ed by Chris Bailkos­ki brought togeth­er Jack Ky Tan and Susan Jones. Read extracts from this dis­cus­sion that explored how mis­con­cep­tions and imbal­ances in the arts ecol­o­gy lim­it artists’ sta­tus, pay and liveli­hood chances and what needs to hap­pen to ensure artists can live a flour­ish­ing life through art prac­tices over a life cycle. 

A flour­ish­ing life is one in which a per­son­’s capac­i­ties and tal­ents have devel­oped in ways that enable them to pur­sue their life goals, so that in some gen­er­al sense, they have been able to release their poten­tials and pur­pos­es. In terms of health, that is more than just an absence of dis­ease. It embod­ies a pos­i­tive idea of a phys­i­cal vital­i­ty that enables peo­ple to live ener­get­i­cal­ly in the world and implies a pos­i­tive, robust, real­i­sa­tion of one’s capac­i­ties.” Erik Olin Wright (2019) How To Be An Anti Cap­i­tal­ist In The 21st Cen­tu­ry, Ver­so.

To read the pub­lished text cour­tesy of Pro­for­ma go to https://​www​.pro​for​ma​.org​.uk/de…