The Arts & Culture Landscape
The citizens of Bristol come from over 180 countries, practice 45 religions, and speak 91 languages. But where people of colour account for 16% of the population, this isn’t really reflected in the city’s creative/ cultural output or practitioners. Whose Culture? (Rising Arts Agency, and Bristol City Council).
In an article called Culture in Crisis, the Centre for Cultural Value reported that Covid highlighted the importance of developing robust cultural networks, to bridge the gaps in a traditionally fragmented sector. Such networks can act as a platform for artists to collaborate, and exchange knowledge and ideas.
Local & Regional Level
In 2022, an in-house survey conducted by the Diverse Artists Network found that 95% of DAN’s artists felt unrepresented in Bristol’s arts and culture scene.
At the same time, a report from Bristol Creative Industries found that increasing diversity and inclusion was a significant priority for 59% of creative firms, but they struggled to recruit more diverse people – almost 50% said they needed help with finding underrepresented talent.
Our Impact So Far…
This is the context in which we operate, and why nurturing artistic diversity is so important. We’ve done this through events connecting artists with organisations, venues, schools and funders, to provide a safe and welcoming space to explore issues affecting diverse artists, and to open up opportunities for further inclusion into the arts and culture sector.
Over the last four years, these efforts have helped to create a network of almost 1,500 people. We regularly nurture this network to exchange knowledge and expertise through 15 regular events in Bristol and across the South West.
We also provide direct support to over 50 artists in their continuous professional development, through things like community engagement and artistic programming consultations (eg our insight and development sessions on Developing Your Creative Practice, where artists were given support and advice to apply for Arts Council England funding).
And, through, for example, networking events and our inaugural DIASPORA! festival, we’ve collaborated with some of Bristol’s best-loved institutions, eg RWA, Tobacco Factory, Bristol Old Vic and Bristol Beacon (to name just a few). We’ve done some great work with major festivals, too, like Shambala, WOMAD, Wye Valley Festival and We Out Here, helping them to diversify their audience and programme.
Looking ahead, we will be launching our artist agency and membership scheme, to formalise the grassroots work on which we’ve built our reputation. Establishing these as pillars of the way we operate will help our organisation stay sustainable and flexible, and nurture artistic diversity in Bristol and the South West.
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