On 26 October 2022, Arts Council England will announce the results of their long-awaited investment decisions into which arts and cultural organisations have been successful in their applications to become National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) or Investment Principles Support Organisations (IPSOs) between 2023 and 2026. The Mighty Creatives are in the same position as everyone else in the sector and are ready for the email on 26 October which will tell us about what our relationship with Arts Council England will be over the next 3 years.
So, in the meantime, in the spirit of hoping for the best but planning for the worst, here’s a reflection which highlights some of the amazing work the charity has done for, with and by children and young people in the East Midlands over the last ten years.
Today’s reflection: a Grand Tour with a Grand Ambition
One of my first jobs as CEO of The Mighty Creatives was to tour the East Midlands’ arts and cultural organisations to find the inspiration to rise to The Mighty Creatives’ core challenge: how can we get better at providing cultural education for children and young people?This post was about the first month of the ‘Grand Tour’.
Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.
On 26 October 2022, Arts Council England will announce the results of their long-awaited investment decisions into which arts and cultural organisations have been successful in their applications to become National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) or Investment Principles Support Organisations (IPSOs) between 2023 and 2026.
It’s been a complex and intense process since January, what with the publication of guidelines and relationship frameworks, introductory conversations, digital briefings, opening of application portals, diversity monitoring, application assessment, balancing and decision-making. The process resulted in 1,728 applications to the programme, requesting just over £2 billion over the three-year period. This is more than double the number of NPOs that the Arts Council currently invests in and makes it their most over-subscribed investment round to date.
There will no doubt be winners and losers in this process. Some organisations will find themselves being able to speak and present their work perhaps for the first time; others will breathe a deep sigh of relief whennthey hear that their work is going to be continued to be supported and others will find themselves silenced and potentially shut down.
Was it ever thus. This process happens usually every three years and leads to an anxious sector with organisations uncertain for their futures. Scenario planning takes on a whole new levels of complexity and arts administrators the length and breadth of the country are noticeable by their absence of hair, shortage of nails and wild eyed staring look due to many sleepless nights.
The Mighty Creatives are in the same position as everyone else in the sector and are ready for the email on 26 October which will tell us about what our relationship with Arts Council England will be over the next 3 years. So, in the meantime, in the spirit of hoping for the best but planning for the worst, the next 10 days will highlight some of the amazing work the charity has done for, with and by children and young people in the East Midlands over the last ten years.
Today’s reflection: Let’s Create: arts packs through the Covid-19 Pandemic
Let’s Create packs were packs of arts resources for children and families who had been struggling through the pandemic. We focused on reaching children and families in poverty by working with Local Cultural Education Partnerships and with the End Child Poverty campaign. This highlighted the roles of food banks in communities which “became clear quite quickly, and where there weren’t links to food banks, we made them”.
Some families who received these packs would not otherwise have had access to creative materials. This was especially relevant in the city where packs were distributed through food banks serving people experiencing financial hardship.
One food bank manager spoke of how being able to offer packs made a material difference to families’ financial welfare and quality of life:
“It takes the pressure off and – all these lovely things that people have got, but not had to go into debt for. For lots of people these things are normal, but not for everyone. They were extra things that we could provide for them, for the whole family, although it is for the kids it helps the whole family.” (Let’s Create City Partner)
For more information about The Mighty Creatives supported this project in the East Midlands are here.
Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.
Over the last few years, I’ve been supporting The Mighty Creatives’ annual ‘Be Mighty, Be Creatives’ fundraising campaigns. This year is no exception. Called The Mighty (Un)Mute, we’re aiming to raise £5,000 to support the artistic creation for one of ten Globe Sculptures in The World Reimagined art trail across Leicester, one of the most multicultural cities in the UK.
On 5th October The TMC staff team supported the campaign by taking part in the Mighty (UN)Mute, a day-long vow of silence, which saw us taking a Journey of Discovery of all ten Globe Sculptures around Leicester. This is what we discovered:
Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.
It’s been an eventful journey for us all afternoon and it’s pleasing to know that we have seen all the globes in situ, before they all get moved to their final resting place outside the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery in New Walk.
It’s been a new walk for all of us; if not individually then certainly collectively. Eventful but silent: we undertook the whole experience muted although it was evident all day that whilst we had adopted a vow of silence, our communications were irrepressible. Whether this be through our sombre genuflections at some of the globes, our facial gestures of concern, of pleasure, or of hilarity; our hunched bodies in the cold autumn air or our physical responses to the questions that members of the public directed towards us, or our imagined conversations between historical and cultural figures, we couldn’t help but communicate what we were experiencing throughout the journey.
We may have been muted, we may have been silenced but nothing can stop our desire and innate hunger to communicate our condition in whatever context. There’s been lots of learnings on this journey today: but for me, the main one has been that nothing can stop us communicating our histories, dreams and visions. We may not be heard at first; but time will tell, truth will out and discoveries can never be silenced.
Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.
Having all reassembled successfully at our very own globe in the Highcross Retail monolith, I was surprised when Caroline cheerfully signalled to us that we had another 2 globes to visit. Or at least that’s what I think she was signing. Whaaa… I thought, well on the way of being ready for a sat-down, recuperative pint. Do I really need to step off again, along the pavements, across the streets and around yet more corners? How much further do we need to go?
But such was the journey of discovery, that we stepped off resolutely towards DMU and the next Globe Sculpture by Lakwena Maciver (theme: Staying Power) based just outside the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre, and a few yards away from Trinity House.
I remembered that a few years ago I had been invited there to a graduate lunch by DMU and remember reflecting afterwards, you never know what’s just around the corner:
So I sit down amongst the finery and refinery sporting my guest badge meeting with a laudable gent from the Guild of Patten Makers and a lecturer in photography and before you know it there’s a very decent three course meal and then someone gives a welcome speech and then I’m chatting to someone from the arts and humanities department about the cross overs between arts and science and then there’s a very nice glass of wine on offer but I’m not drinking as it’s midweek and then I think I’d better get off to work as it’s a busy day and I have a meeting in thirty minutes and then I have a train to catch and then there’s loads to do and it’s fifteen minutes until the next meeting and then and then and then and then…
But suddenly I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned a corner in the dining room, looked up at the altar at the end of the chapel and saw the magnificent stain glass windows by Christopher Whall, (a distant great uncle on my mum’s side) benignly staring at us assembled hordes just feet from where we were sitting. How something in our past can be just around the corner out of sight: but so present and impressive if we are prepared to turn to see it.
We don’t stop often enough to take stock of what’s just around the corner: and we lose out, being engulfed in the mist of our daily routines. How much further do we need to go? Not that far at all: just show some staying power and look at what’s around your next corner.
Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.
It’s not long before we encounter the next globe sculpture on our journey of discovery: the work by Hannaa Hamdache, Sarah Mensah & Gabrielle Ubakanma (theme: Ecology of Existance).
We’re especially enamoured with this globe as it’s particularly close to our heart. When we heard about The World Reimagined project being developed back in 2020, it became clear in those early days that no-where in the East Midlands was being ear marked to host a globe. Bristol, yes; Manchester, yes; Liverpool, obviously. But the East Midlands?
As ever, it seemed that the region was being marginalised by some larger national interests so we thought, that in our role as Arts Council Bridge organisation for the East Midlands it was up to us to see if we could persuade some of the larger local authorities in the region to step up and support it. So, although approaches to Nottingham, Derby, Northampton and Lincoln all came to nothing, Leicester City Council, God Bless It, stepped up and found the resources and political will to support the programme, underwrite the financial requirements and make it happen.
We played our part in this process too by sponsoring one of the globes (guess which?) and involving one of our team, Hannaa Hamdache to produce the globe together with local young artists. Mission accomplished. Nearly.
Our sponsorship of the Globe has required us to underwrite its production using a combination of our own unrestricted reserves and public donations. Our trustees promised that for every £ we could raise through our campaigning, they would match it, £ for £ until we reached the target of £10,000.
We’re not there yet but are heading in the right direction: so any help you can offer would be much appreciated.
And even if you can’t donate your cash at this moment in time, please do come and visit all the globes (especially ours. Which we really love. As if you couldn’t guess.) – they’ll provide a fascinating journey of discovery not only around Leicester but across the world.
The imagined conversations between Joe Orton and Richard Rawlins accompanies us as we continue our journey of discovery into central Leicester and the site of our next Globe Sculpture by Zita Holbourne (theme: Still We Strive).
“The quintessential English cup of tea and its insidious intertwining with sugar are the cornerstone of the economic construction of Britain” Richard starts.
“Until I was fifteen, I was more familiar with Africa than my own body.” Joe retorts.
“I am an invisible man; I am a man of substance flesh and bone fibre and liquids and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible simply because you to refuse to see me,” quotes Richard from Ralph Ellison.
“I needed the invisible butler in What the Butler Saw as a symbol for the complacency of upper-middle-class lives,” Joe reminisces.
We have to leave them struggling out some meaning of their imaginary collision as we process into the city centre. It’s a very different experience from walking up New Walk or through Highfields. Here, we could be tourists, we could be locals, no-one knows as we’re subsumed into the anonymous flow of humanity which is experienced in perhaps all city centres.
There are a few landmarks which indicate that we’re specifically in Leicester but the main view is of corporate retail opportunities which could be anywhere in the western world. The landmarks and sounds which mark out this place as specifically Leicester are valuable reminders of where we are and why we are there.
Somewhat incongruously, the globe sculpture is parked right next to a takeaway food stand. Imagining a conversation between these two objects becomes a step too far for this afternoon: despite being reminded that “our lives begin to end the day we are silent about all of the things that matter.”
The busy city centre flow picks us up and we head through the Highcross monolith to the next globe sculpture which we have a particular interest in visiting.
Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.
Heading off back town-wards, the exertions of the afternoon are taking their toll and the group starts to straggle out along the pavements and roadsides, slowly pulling us apart. Traffic lights and zebra crossings don’t help the group cohesion and before too long we’re taking up a lot of pavement space in our Journey of Discovery towards the next Globe Sculpture by Richard Rawlins (theme: A Complex Triangle Indeed).
Located in Orton Square which is bordered by Curve Theatre, Leicester Athena, St George’s Church and the Exchange Building (Leicester’s very own answer to New York’s Flat Iron building), Rawlin’s work is a sculpture which pulls you up sharply with its combination of direct text and images. If you’ve ever caught yourself saying ‘these things aren’t black and white’ this sculpture and its texts insist that on the contrary, things are very much black and white – and shades of grey too.
Imagine a conversation between Orton and Rawlins taking place in the Exchange Buildings. Orton might start with this from Loot:
Truscott: Why aren’t you both at the funeral? I thought you were mourners.
Fay: We decided not to go. We were afraid we might break down.
Truscott: That’s a selfish attitude to take. The dead can’t bury themselves, you know.
Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.
We march on from Medway Community Primary School dodging the prams, pushchairs, school buses and young children and parents who are now doing their own dodging of the traffic. It’s ‘School’s Out!’ time and the street has become a flurry of activity all the way down to the Highfields Centre where we encounter the next Globe Sculpture on The World Reimagined trail. Created by Marcus Dove, it’s theme is ‘Abolition and Emancipation’ and is located just outside the offices of the Race Equality Centre which is now based at the Centre.
The Centre itself is a significant presence in the landscape but you never quite know how significant it is until you’re inside. Complete with recording studios, art rooms, performance spaces and meeting rooms galore the Centre is a veritable Tardis.
Their call to action: “Enhancing Lives, Empowering Communities, Enterprise For All” is a Tradis-type call too: a big, inclusive dynamic ambition summed in just seven words.
We’re mindful of the flow of young people heading our way and our call to continue our Journey of Discovery so we wave a silent farewell to Fatima and Aaron who have kindly come out to see us and figure out what on earth is going on. Showing them our orange badges isn’t having impact on them either so we shrug, wave good-bye and some how gesticulate that we’ll be in touch with them again soon. They seem bemused by it all but send us off in good cheer. Next stop: the sculpture at Orton Square.
Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.
Every step of the way away from Victoria Park takes us into a journey of discovery of the community of Highfields where we reach the Globe Sculpture of Lou Boyce (theme: Stolen Legacy: the Rebirth of a Nation) placed next to Medway Community Primary School in St. Stephens Road.
We notice how noticed we are becoming as we make our journey: people stare at us as we straggle along the streets in silence, looking at our phones or checking the paper maps that one or two of us have. One shop keeper comes out to ask what we’re doing, and we show him the orange badge, point to the QR code and he takes this as a sign that we are a group interested in nature.
We get the impression that there aren’t many times when a group like us stroll down these streets, looking suspiciously like tourists. Whilst these streets may offer you security and a place to hang your hat and settle down, they wouldn’t necessarily be your first choice as a tourist destination.
The Highfields Remembered website hosted by DMU University provides greater knowledge of the area than we learn from our journey of discovery into the area, and reminds us that since the early 20th century Highfields has often become the home of new communities: Jewish, Polish, Latvian, Caribbean, and East African:
“In 200 years, Highfields has grown from a sparsely-populated rural area to the thriving multicultural community it is today. All the communities which have settled, either staying or moving on, have made a contribution to the area’s development, leaving a legacy of thriving mosques, temples, churches, shops and other secular buildings.”
We arrive at the location of the Globe Sculpture at Medway Community Primary School where the school’s concerns about slavery are evident through its website. Again, this is not a matter of dry, distant historical interest but is a live issue which families face in the here and now:
Modern slavery is the severe exploitation of other people for personal or commercial gain. Modern slavery is all around us, but often just out of sight. People can become entrapped making our clothes, serving our food, picking our crops, working in factories, or working in houses as cooks, cleaners or nannies.
They are also explicit about the differences between child work, child labour and child slavery:
Child work: Some types of work make useful, positive contributions to a child’s development, helping them learn useful skills. Often, work is also a vital source of income for their families.
Child labour: Child labour is not slavery, but nevertheless hinders children’s education and development. Child labour tends to be undertaken when the child is in the care of their parents. Hazardous work” is the worst form of child labour. It irreversibly damages children’s health and development through, for example, exposure to dangerous machinery or toxic substances, and may even endanger their lives.
Child slavery: Child slavery is the enforced exploitation of a child for someone else’s gain, meaning the child will have no way to leave the situation or person exploiting them.
Child trafficking: Trafficking involves transporting, recruiting or harbouring people for the purpose of exploitation, using violence, threats or coercion. When children are trafficked, no violence, deception or coercion needs to be involved, trafficking is merely the act of transporting or harbouring them for exploitative work.
The school also recognises that child marriage can also obscure what are in reality cases of slavery or slavery-like practices, being clear that child marriage can be referred to as slavery, if one or more of the following elements are present:
* If the child has not genuinely given their free and informed consent to enter the marriage
* If the child is subjected to control and a sense of “ownership” in the marriage itself, particularly through abuse and threats and is exploited by being forced to undertake domestic chores within the marital home or labour outside it, and/or engage in non-consensual sexual relations
* If the child cannot realistically leave or end the marriage, leading potentially to a lifetime of slavery.
But their focus is not just on the impact of slavery on children but also on the impact on adults and families and the causes of slavery:
Forced labour is any work or service which people are forced to do against their will, under threat of punishment. Almost all slavery practices contain some element of forced labour….
… Forced labour happens in the context of poverty, lack of sustainable jobs and education, as well as a weak rule of law, corruption and an economy dependent on cheap labour.
We bade farewell to Medway Community Primary School, thankful that it offers a sanctuary for children and their families against the tyrannies of slavery and enslavement. Next stop: Highfields Community Centre and its relationship with the fashion workers of Leicester.
Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.
Dr Nick Owen MBE PLUS 