Wor Culture: Hyperlocalism, Culture and the North East

Much has been written about the importance of belonging, identity and place in England and the UK from Paul Gilroy’s description of ‘postcolonial melancholy’ to current writing on superdiversity. Alongside this superdiversity many cultural practitioners see a continuing hyperlocalism – this may be applied geographically or within specific demographic communities or communities of interest. Cultural provision in the hyperlocal context has been successfully delivered for example via Creative People & Place schemes or the community engagement work as part of Coventry City of Culture. And, of course, it’s not just the UK – you could look at the balcony art project in Berlin, for example.

In the North East we are at least as aware as anywhere else of the importance of hyperlocalism in cultural provision – this has come through just this year in the light of research for the North Tyneside Cultural Strategy led by Catherine Hearne and Iain Watson.

In this ‘Wor Culture’ session we want to explore what hyperlocalism means for cultural practitioners, for audiences and for delivery of cultural services in the North East and we have some questions! Does it just keep us all in our own comfort zones or is it the start of a journey to a wider and more engaged cultural life? Does it mean we ignore world events and create our own ‘cosy’ vision? How do we deliver these services in light of public funding cuts and a cost of living crisis – or is hyperlocalism an answer to this as the balcony project suggests? How does locally delivered culture support belonging and identity and a sense of place? How does co-production work at a hyperlocal level. So-called ‘amateur’ provision has always been engaged at a hyperlocal level – does ‘professionalisation’ damage this and how do the people of an area get the best from both paradigms? These are a starting point – we hope you’ve got more questions and thoughts about culture and hyperlocalism.

Host or Publisher Newcastle University Engagement Team