Mark Amery — Brokered Dreams: 98 Uses for Vacant Space

Wellington Independent Arts Trust 2020 Softcover. Published by New Zealand public art organisation Letting Space, Brokered Dreams: 98 Uses for Vacant Space discusses and catalogues a unique arts and community development programme. Urban Dream Brokerage brokers the creative use of vacant space, aiming to grow diverse community building living spaces in cities. From a mental health gym and a political hair salon, to a people’s cinema and a moodbank, this book details many inventive projects brokered between 2013 and 2018 in Wellington, Dunedin, Masterton and Porirua with words from both Letting Space and the occupants. We aim to inspire the occupation of space by artists and their communities to transform our towns and cities into sites of engagement and self-determination. Good.