Public Art Encounters : Art, Space and Identity

This lively collection is a mix of academic and practice-based writing that scrutinises conventional claims on the inclusiveness of public art practice. It advances critical insights of how socially practiced public arts articulate and cultivate geographies of social difference, through the themes of power, affect and diversity. Drawing richly on case studies from the Global North and South, it will appeal to scholars, students and practitioners of cultural geography, the visual arts, urban studies, political studies and anthropology.

Public art is produced and ‘lived’ within multiple, interlaced and contested political, economic, social and cultural-symbolic spheres. This lively collection is a mix of academic and practice-based writings that scrutinise conventional claims on the inclusiveness of public art practice. Contributions examine how various social differences, across class, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, ability and literacy, shape encounters with public art within the ambits of the design, regeneration and everyday experiences of public spaces. The chapters richly draw on case studies from the Global North and South, providing comprehensive insights into the experiences of encountering public art via a variety of scales and realms.

This book advances critical insights of how socially practised public arts articulate and cultivate geographies of social difference through the themes of power (the politics of encountering), affect (the embodied ways of encountering), and diversity (the inclusiveness of encountering). It will appeal to scholars, students and practitioners of cultural geography, the visual arts, urban studies, political studies and anthropology.