The Community is the Artist Forum Discussion

The Community is the artist
/ powered by collective imagination

As part of MAV’s Powered By program, this forum is inspired by Bong Ramilo’s new book The Community is the Artist. Facilitated by Bong, the discussion invites artists, organisers and cultural workers to explore cultural democracy, grassroots creativity and the universal right to make art.

Together, we will reflect on how collective creativity thrives in everyday spaces, from choirs to festivals to TikTok, and how communities making art can help shape a more connected and democratic future.

Bong’s book, The Community is the Artist will be available for purchase at the event.

Forum Provocations:

If the community is the artist, how does that change how we see and value creativity? The forum will shape around these questions, not for answers alone but as provocations to spark collective reflection and dialogue.

1. What does cultural democracy look like when communities set the agenda?

2. How can practising accompaniment reshape the way we create together?

3. What shifts when we stop talking about the arts as an industry and see it as everyday life?

4. If making art is a human right, how do we uphold that right in our communities?

About the facilitator and author:

Bong was an activist and songwriter against the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines in the 1970s and 1980s. 

Since coming to Australia in 1986, he has explored diverse approaches, including the Theatre of the Oppressed and interactive digital media, in community arts.

He is the 2018 recipient of the Creative Australia Ros Bower Award, which “acknowledges the achievements of an artist or arts worker who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to community arts and cultural development”. 

He is an Executive Officer and Creative Producer at Darwin Community Arts and is a member of Asian Music for Peoples’ Peace and Progress (AMP3).

About Powered By:

Powered By is Multicultural Arts Victoria’s multi-year program supporting artists of colour to lead, create and collaborate on their own terms.

Rooted in cultural equity and artist care, it provides space for new ideas, practices and conversations that redefine what multiculturalism means in today’s creative landscape.

In a world of AI and autocorrect, we welcome what makes us human. Powered By is driven by care, culture and creativity that cannot be measured.

The Community is the Artist forum is part of MAV’s program Powered By at No Vacancy Gallery presented in partnership with the City of Melbourne, as supported by Creative Victoria and Creative Australia.