Art in General has invited artist, playwright and theater director Darren O'Donnell to develop Haircuts by Children in New York. Together, they work with a number of children between the ages of eight and twelve and, in popular hair salons in Art in General's neighborhood of Chinatown and Tribeca, offering the public free haircuts by children.

Haircuts by Children invites a consideration of children as creative and competent individuals whose aesthetic efforts should be trusted. The project takes up the belief that it's important to consider that children should be permitted to participate politically. The idea that children should have access to the political process is, to many, as alien as the suggestion that children should be allowed access to our hair. There's no doubt that hairstyles are one of the most personal and sensitive aspects of image. Letting children cut hair, we believe, whimsically references or evokes the kind of leap of faith, courage and understanding required to grant children deeper citizenship rights.

Darren O'Donnell (b. Canada, 1965) is an artist, writer, playwright, director, and actor. His projects are accessible and entertaining while remaining vigorously polemic in their exploration of political and social issues. In 1993, he founded Mammalian Diving Reflex, a group that engages in the artistic use of the institutions of civil society. He was the 2000 winner of the Pauline McGibbon Award for directing, the 2000 Gabriel Award for broadcasting and has been nominated for a number of Dora Awards for his writing, directing, and acting.

PERFORMA's Sofia Hernandez interviewed Darren O'Donnell on October 31, 2007, in the AIR Clocktower studio.