FailSpace project

This research explores how cultural policy can better recognise, acknowledge and learn from failure. It posits that failures are largely overlooked in the dominant narratives about cultural participation policies and projects and argues that this absence reduces the capacity for learning and change. By moving beyond the tendency to make the ‘case for culture’ which is prevalent both in academic and policy documents, this research provides space for alternative voices to be heard. In doing so, the study disrupts the taken-for-granted assumptions upon which existing policy processes and practices are sustained and reproduced. It presents alternative stories of failure, with the intention to encourage new routes for future policy intervention intended to support cultural participation. The data includes interviews, workshops, and surveys with policy makers, cultural practitioners and participants.