Author: Rachel

Fingersmiths Theatre are launching their new website with a screening of their filmed performance of ‘My Mother Said I Never Should’ which I was involved in filming in March 2020.

The play follows the relationship of three generations of women over several decades and is performed by a cast of deaf actors using both BSL and on-stage subtitles.

Back in March, after the government told audiences to stay away from theatres, Fingersmiths Theatre made the decision to go ahead with a closed door performance in front of the cameras at Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Sam Lockyer of Iconic Productions and I were treated to a personal performance by a talented and passionate cast and crew who stepped up amidst the looming dread of lockdown.

You can view the full performance from 7pm on Thursday 19th November as part of the launch of Fingersmiths Theatre’s new website. It is fully captioned and some parts of the performance feature BSL. Head to http://www.fingersmiths.org.uk/ to join in the screening.

The West Midlands Arts sector has launched the #MoreThanAMoment pledge for radical, bold and immediate action, to dismantle systems that have for too long kept Black artists and creatives from achieving their potential in the arts and creative industries.

I’m very grateful to those who have done the work on this and are creating guidance for us all to ensure we do better.

As a creative professional who got into this to help to raise the voices of less advantaged groups through media, More Than A Moment is really welcome – and a real challenge for me to consider my practice. How am I representing Black people through my work and how am I creating space for them to own their narrative? Plenty more listening and learning for me to do on this journey of allyship.

100 Stories Deep is a community storytelling project that tells 100 stories over 100 days by artists and creatives from across Balsall Heath and Birmingham.

Led by Balsall Heath based Arts organisation, The Gap Arts, and supported by Arts Council England, 100 Stories Deep was an ambitious project, completed during Spring and Summer 2020 in the midst of lockdown.

Each story is completely different – and is chosen by each individual artist of creative. I was invited to tell a story and chose the book ‘Child of St Kilda’ about the last people to live on the remote Scottish island of St Kilda before the community was evacuated. It follows the story of Norman John Gillies (no relation) and is wonderfully told and illustrated by Beth Waters.

Check out the full playlist here: https://bit.ly/2XpohDy

So many of us are seeking ways to connect with others and with nature in the midst of lockdown. We are appreciating the power of art, culture and creativity in providing solace and hope. So it has been an absolute pleasure to take this into my work through supporting Boundary Way Project in their new project inspired by Boundary Way Allotments, Postcards from the Plot.

‘Postcards from the Plot’ is a creative project that explores the meaning and importance of allotments today through activities, workshops and inspiring stories from growers in Wolverhampton and beyond.

The project explores allotments as a place for creative inspiration and a resource for artists, their role in sustainable food production and as places to connect with other people and with the natural world.

I have been assisting Artists in creating short instructional films on how to use natural materials to get creative. They feature botanical inks, printmaking, anthotypes, herbal remedies and a delicious curry.

I was also invited to collaborate with ‘Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists‘, AKA Black Country poets Emma Purshouse, Dave Pitt and Steve Pottinger, to illustrate three poems inspired by Boundary Way Allotments. They are beautiful reflections on the space, the changing seasons and our relationship with nature’s cycles and challenges.

A huge thank you to Moya Lloyd for her vision in devising this project and pulling together an application in the middle of lockdown. I spent my first day filming outside of my own four walls post-lockdown with her and Holly Pleydell on the plot where both they and plotholders made me feel completely welcome. What a great community.

This project is made possible through Emergency funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery Players.

I have been selected as one of the recipients of the Arts Connect WM 2020 ‘Thrive Bursary’ to research and develop a digital tool as part of my own work in heritage and learning.

In light of the growing movements around social justice, young people are raising questions around their Rights as citizens.  There is a real need to understand the link between how individuals experience Rights, where those Rights are enshrined in law, and the movements that brought those changes about.  How can we make this subject less abstract? How can we link it to social justice struggles today? Can we learn anything from previous struggles?

I have been working with historians and community groups to explore the history of political representation and rights in Birmingham through managing a Community Heritage project, Represent, for the People’s Heritage Co-operative.  Through working with two Artists, we have considered the relevance of these stories today and created a number of textile works which interpret these stories for others.  As the project comes to an end, I have been considering how this research can be brought to new audiences, to engage young people creatively in this important topic.

Following attendance at a number of Arts Connect WM’s Digital Pick and Mix events, I have been considering how John Sear’s approach to utilising digital narrative games could be used to bring themes around democracy and rights to life.  Allowing players to inhabit a role within a game could transform an abstract topic into something real and relevant.

Here’s what I will be exploring over the coming months:

How can digital tools develop and support an understanding of the link between real people’s stories, their Rights and how those Rights came about?

This will involve:

• Development of an Interactive Digital Game to help young people in schools and other settings understand the history of British democracy and movements for Equal Rights.
• Personal development through learning from John Sear how to employ digital tools to curate stories and engage new audiences.
• Building on research from The People’s History Co-operative’s ‘Represent’ community heritage project.
• Linking with South Birmingham Woodcraft Folk’s ‘Venturers’ group (aged 9+) to develop and test the tool – from initial research, to testing and developing the game and gaining feedback for evaluation.
• Presenting the findings to Birmingham Cultural Education Partnership to further a conversation as to how we can utilise Interactive Games within the area’s museums and develop digital practice in community heritage projects which work with young people.

If you work in education or with young people and have an interest in this topic, do get in touch – I’d love to hear your thoughts and learn more about what you are already doing to navigate this topic!

Title image: Piece from ‘Represent’ project banner, created by participants at Edgbaston Community Group, led by Artist Carolyn Morton.

I am thrilled to finally be able to share that I have been accepted onto the Creative Communities Fellowship. Over the next year I will be joining 24 others in Yorkshire, then the USA(!!!?) to develop some ideas I’ve been plotting and planning!

I am one of 25 creative entrepreneurs working to drive transformational change in their communities through the power of arts and culture. From Edinburgh to Brighton, Fellows were selected amongst communities throughout the UK to explore proven tools and frameworks with faculty and form a community of practise, enriching projects that advance a more equitable world.

The programme includes online learning modules in addition to two in-person convenings; one at an incubator-like environment in Yorkshire and one at a summit of arts and culture leaders in the United States.

UK Creative Community Fellows programme fees are underwritten thanks to generous funding through Arts Council England Transforming Leadership Programme and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch).

I’m so excited to meet the rest of the cohort!

#UKCCF #NASCCF

Full press release here: https://www.derbymuseums.org/news/25-arts-culture-entrepreneurs-selected-for-uk-creative-community-fellows

Today it has been wonderful to see the tag #WeShallNotBeRemoved gaining so much traction to champion the voices, the work and the rights of Artists with disabilities at the moment.

The Disability Arts movement has made huge gains in raising the voices of people living with disabilities, as well as using innovative, exciting approaches to art and performance. With the impact of Covid-19 on both the Arts and on people who have health issues, it’s so crucial that these Artists and Arts organisations can continue to thrive.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Fingersmiths, Extant and Deaf Explorer for commissioning me in the past to document some superb work. I’ve learnt a great deal about creativity, communication and accessibility through being part of these projects. We are all enriched through the graft of people who really raise the bar to make art accessible and inclusive. We are so much poorer without these important voices.

I highly recommend streaming Graeae Theatre’s ‘Reasons to Be Cheerful’ for a glimpse into an inclusive world where deaf, visually impaired and disabled performers take centre stage. ‘Crip Camp’, currently streaming on Netflix is also important viewing – it tells the story of America’s Disability Rights Movement and how its leaders were shaped by being in a space which allowed for their creativity and self expression. Now is the time to amplify work of such organisations so that these voices and this talent is not removed. We must make space for people living with disabilities to be seen and heard at a time when so many are in isolation.