nikki hafter
artist & project producer
I describe myself as a network artist, having tried and discarded the terms ‘community artist’, ‘socially- engaged artist’ and ‘artist-facilitator’.
Communication is as much about listening as about speaking - my practice takes the form of a network of opportunities for people to do both. I frequently work with people who experience barriers to communication - including people with lived experience of disability, brain injury, forced migration, childhood or old age - supported by a Masters degree in Inclusive Arts Practice. The latest node on my network is a CIC offering consultation in communication difficulties, recently co-founded with a speech therapist and graphic designer.
To develop “listening” networks, I use interventions and adaptations that guide people to encounter and experience the world that exists around them. Drawing attention to smaller and less noticeable moments and details reveals the abundance of vibrant human and nonhuman matter we experience everyday. These encounters can take the form of assemblages, disrupted texts, audio-description and games.
To create “speaking” opportunities, I facilitate people to engage in both traditional and non-traditional creative activities, from collage to food-making to growing. This has included research projects, workshops and collective performance with partners such as De La Warr Pavilion, Battersea Arts Centre, University of Brighton, University College London, Grace Eyre, Say Aphasia, Stonegrove Community Trust, Wandsworth Grant Fund and Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers.