Event: 4th International Practice Exchange - Interculturalism: Art and Policy.
Date: 15 & 16 December 2010.
Time: 10am - 5pm.
Location: Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance (travel)
Attendance: Primarily by invitation, but there are some places available for interested people. Please email [email protected] if you would like to attend. Lunch will be provided on both days.
Britain is often viewed as being particularly progressive among European countries in terms of its policies and practice around ethnic and cultural diversity. But the current economic crisis has created a climate where anti-immigration attitudes affect the treatment of British citizens of foreign descent, and severe cuts in public spending are likely to hamper work for community cohesion and integration. The close of 2010 is therefore a particularly appropriate moment for the Platform for Intercultural Europe to mount the first of its Intercultural Practice Exchanges in the UK, building on previous work in Sweden, Austria and Italy.
This interaction between a European association and prominent proponents of interculturally engaged arts practitioners from the UK will draw out insights into the arts’ contribution to democratic development in societies marked by ethnic and cultural diversity. The aim is to see a genuine interaction between different sectors – cultural, political, academic and civil - and to encourage a critical examination of intercultural arts practice from wider social and political viewpoints.
EU Member Governments have recently agreed to collaborate on policymaking for cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue. This event will inform the Platform for Intercultural Europe’s attempt to accompany and guide the work at EU Council level.
Border Crossings, a UK-based company working in intercultural theatre and combined arts, and member of the Platform for Intercultural Europe, is the local organising partner.
Together they are hosting the 4th International Practice Exchange - Interculturalism: Art and Policy at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance on December 15-16 from 10-5. The Practice Exchange will bring together cultural workers and policy makers from diverse backgrounds, both from the UK and across Europe, with the aim of creating a genuine dialogue and interaction between the sectors.
A full Practice Exchange programme is available for download as a PDF file here.
CONTRIBUTORS
- Helen BURROWS - Chief of Staff to Ed Vaizey MP, UK Minister of Culture. Professional photographer. Formerly worked for Dance UK.
- Shami CHAKRABARTI (tbc) - Director of Liberty, a human rights organisation and lobbying group.
- Prakash DASWANI (tbc) - chief executive of Cultural Cooperation (London), an arts and education charity with the mission is to unite people through high quality engagement with the world’s cultural heritage.
- Femi ELUFOWOJU Jr. - Associate Artist at the Almeida Theatre, London and Founder and ex Artistic Director of Tiata Fahodzi.
- Graham JEFFERY - Reader in Music and Performance, University of West Scotland. Specialised in arts educaton, creative pedagogies, and culture-led urban regeneration. Previously led NESTA-funded Pathways into Creativity action research at Newham Sixth Form College and Programme leader for Performing Arts at UEL.
- Vernon KIZZA NXUMALO - Project Manager at Mewe Theatre.
- Gabrielle LOBB - Director of Polygon Arts. Fellow at the Imperial War Museum in London, developing Holocaust Education projects with young people excluded from mainstream schools and also with the Roma community. Freelance ‘creative educator’ at the British Library.
- John MARTIN - Director of Pan Intercultural Arts. Extensive work experience with refugees and other marginalised communities. Taught Britain’s first course in non-western theatre techniques and their accompanying philosophies at Goldsmiths’ College. Secretary of the Commonwealth Theatre Laboratory, author of The Intercultural Performance Handbook, and Visiting Professor at Rose Bruford College.
- Ann-Marie OLUFUWA - Founder & Artistic Director of Mewe Theatre
- Dan REBELLATO - Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Royal Holloway University of London. Award-winning playwright. Editor of the ‘Theatre & …’ series of books, including his own Theatre & Globalization.
- Eugene SKEEF - composer from South Africa, poet and educator, living in London. Work in conflict resolution. Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Artistic Director of Quartet of Peace.
- David TSE KA SHING - Creative Director of Chinatown Arts Space in London, and founding artistic director of Yellow Earth Theatre. Winner of the Windrush Arts Award 2004, and Fellow of Rose Bruford College.
- Jatinder VERMA - founder and artistic director of Tara Arts theatre company in London. The first non-white director to direct at the National Theatre of Great Britain.
- Hardish VIRK - Audience Development Consultant, and director of Multi-Arts Nation. Clients have included Arts Council England and National Theatre of Great Britain.
MODERATORS
- Michael WALLING - Artistic Director of Border Crossings, and Visiting Professor in the Research Centre for Multicultural and Intercultural Performance at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance.
- Sabine FRANK – Secretary General of the Platform for Intercultural Europe, Brussels. Previously Deputy Secretary General of Culture Action Europe, the European arts advocacy umbrella. Ex-parliamentary assistant to MEP Dr. Barbara O’Toole, socialist coordinator on the European Parliament’s Committee on Education and Culture (1999‐2004).
RAPPORTEUR
- Brendan JACKSON - independent writer, photographer and producer, member of artists’ group Laundry Line.
