AMASS Policy White Paper: Suggestions for Stakeholders and Policymakers based on the Findings of the AMASS Project

Acting on the Margins: Arts as Social Sculpture (AMASS) is an EU Horizon 2020 research project funded under the theme of Societal Challenges and the Arts, which focuses on the cultural rights perspective of marginalisation and its effects on other forms of exclusion in Europe. Using arts-based interventions, this project aims to address marginalisation challenges through community involvement and community building.
This white paper compiles the outcomes of research studies and previous arts interventions (Section One) and the European testbed of arts-based interventions (Section Two). These insights form the basis of the identified needs and corresponding recommendations, which can be read in Section Three. Below is a summary of the sections.
As part of the AMASS project, qualitative and systematic literature reviews were performed to understand the current research discourse on the assessment of arts-based interventions with a social focus in Europe. According to our analysis, culture and the arts are framed as participatory, sometimes therapeutic, means of empowering individuals and communities to assert agency over their own lives, develop and express their identities and strengthen local learning and development initiatives.
Our results also point to effects that can be problematised as negative, such as the social reproduction of dominant groups’ values and practices at the expense of marginalised groups. Thus, the arts are not a given good but can depend on context. Previous arts-based interventions often lacked the personnel and financial resources to continue after the end of the funding period. In many cases, the assessment of project results was anecdotal or lacking. As a result, the power of the arts for social well-being and cultural integration could not be convincingly revealed.
The AMASS European testbed included 35 arts-based case studies to evaluate the impact of these approaches in addressing marginalisation. The outcomes of these testbeds were compiled around tasks designed to achieve the following:
1. Develop and sustain innovative artsbased projects
2. Collect, analyse and evaluate data to measure the impact of the projects
3. Encourage active participation as an added value
4. Promote networking and new modes of dissemination to increase impact
5. Sustainable use of public spaces to engage communities
6. Renew the promotion of culture using technology
7. Support cognitive development through art education