Authors

• Galanakis, Michail (York University. City Institute)

Keywords

citizen participation, communities, cultural pluralism, culture, discrimination, homosexuality, identity, immigration, minority groups, racism, social inequality, subcultures, urban areas, urban development, urban environment, urban planning, urban spaces, voluntary organizations

Abstract

The data contain three interviews conducted in English in Toronto as part of the research component of the public space art project called "My Public Living Room". The project was realized in collaboration with the Toronto-based non-governmental organisation SKETCH Working Arts. The interviewees were young aspiring artistic and cultural producers who participated in the project, attended a workshop and collaboratively developed and realized an installation in a central public space of Toronto. The project was an exploration on the importance of public space as a living room for homeless queer youth. Many themes were discussed during the project and some are mentioned in the interviews. Themes such as social and spatial exclusion, identity, representation, community and belonging, etc.

The focus of the interviews was public space. The interviewees talked about their backgrounds, their favourite public spaces, their positive and negative experiences of/in public spaces, their ideal public spaces, etc. The three interviewees were members of ethnic and sexual minorities, therefore some of the questions sought to unfold their understanding of the discrimination they might had suffered in public space.

Background information included the interviewee's gender and age.