![SAFEDI project image](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/page_header_half/public/2022-03/SAFEDI%20-%202%20-%20CLR%20EDIT.jpg?h=10d202d3&itok=xdqSbqBT)
Research: SAFEDI
Improving equality, diversity and inclusion in partnership with social artists, audiences and policy makers.
Research summary
Research summary
- February 2021 to April 2022
SAFEDI is a research partnership between Manchester Met, Axis and the Social Art Network. It supports social artists, together with audiences and commissioning organisations, to champion equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) through artistic practice and lived experience.
The project features six artists and artist collectives working with participants from under-represented communities in EDI policy making.
The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as one of ten pilot EDI Engagement Fellowships.
Current research by the Arts Council of England shows that the arts are failing to reach people who are:
- part of the global majority
- disabled
- excluded by gender or sexuality
- from lower socio-economic backgrounds
- intersections of the above characteristics
This research reveals that visual arts could accommodate more diverse talent in the UK, and that artists who work with under-represented communities need to be fully supported.
SAFEDI builds on previous research (Validation beyond the gallery and From network to meshwork) into the lack of support for social artists carried out by Prof Ravetz and Axis. It aims to strengthen EDI in the visual arts, and to improve the offer to under-represented communities. This project will develop support for social artists and share this learning with the arts and culture sector.
The artists and groups commissioned as part of SAFEDI have partnered with a wide range of community and arts organisations — from local to national.
SAFEDI has also benefitted from the critical friendship the Director of Research at Arts Council England, and an Independent Evaluator.
Research outputs
An independent evaluation report will be available in summer 2022.
Gallery
Research team
Research team
Lead researcher
Lead artist
Axis SOAL Librarian
Co-researchers
External partners
- Axis
- Social Art Network
- Lady Kitt/enSHRINE
- JarSquad
- The Women’s Art Activation Scheme
- Shama Khanna
- Lily Lavorato
- Yuen Fong Ling
Independent evaluator
Contact us
Contact us
For more information about this project you can contact Dr Patrick Campbell and Dr Kai Syng Tan.