Co-Creation Projects

     The line between collaborative and co-creative projects is blurrier than that between contributory and collaborative projects. The distinguishing feature of co-creative projects is that they are originated in partnership with participants rather than based on institutional project goals. (Suggest bold of this key sentence and make it first. SB) A community group may approach the museum seeking assistance to make a project possible, or the institution may create a platform that invites outside participants to propose and work with staff on a project of mutual benefit. Rather than the institution saying, "we want to do an exhibit on potato farmers, please come and help us make it happen," the institution says, "hey potato farmers, do you have an idea for an exhibit you'd like to make with us?" or the potato farmers approach the museum on their own accord.

     Beyond this initial project framing and development, co-creative projects progress very similarly to collaborative projects but confer more power to participants. Staff and co-creators work closely to achieve their shared goals, which represent the expectations and desires not only of the institution but of the co-creators as well. The development process itself may also be heavily influenced by the preferences and working styles of the co-creators than in collaborative projects, and co-creators tend to feel more ownership overall over the process and the final products.

     While co-creative projects bear great resemblance to collaborative projects in implementation, they are often rooted in a fundamentally different and radical concept of the institution's role with relation to its community. The initiators of co-creative projects are often interested in the idea of institutions as community-based organizations in service to the needs of their consituents, rather than as providers of services that are perceived by the institution as valuable. (Another sentence worth writing in bold. SB) Co-creative projects are "demand-driven" in the most rigorous sense of the term, and they often require institutional goals to take a backseat to community goals. This becomes clear when exploring the case study of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, a museum that pursues a comprehensive co-creation model and operates very differently from traditional cultural institutions.

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