Spirit of 2012 - introducing the partners
Over the next 24 months Creative Black Country will be working with 6 other dynamic organisations across the region on a new participatory performing arts project, which will aim to build bridges between D/deaf, disabled and non-disabled people using theatre and mime to tell stories of people around the Commonwealth.
The project, in collaboration with Birmingham 2022 and supported by Spirit of 2012 and Arts Council of England, will include live taster activity sessions and workshops for 280 people, with 165 adults going on to participate in regular performance workshops which will culminate in a touring performance and set of films to share across the Birmingham 2022 Cultural Programme.
CBC is thrilled to be embarking on this ambitious program, and while we are facing such challenging times, we will be striving to reach out to communities and ensure as many people are able to get involved.
As the team get started with delivering the project we wanted to introduce you to them.
Partners including Deaf Explorer, Black Country Touring, Disability Arts in Shropshire (DASH), Zebra Access, Deaffest and Deafscope will support and consult across different areas of the project.
Image by Kate green
DASH - Cultivating spaces for extraordinary artists
With a history of work including visual arts and festivals since the mid 1990’s, DASH began to emerge as an instigator and initiator in the commissioning of new work by Disabled visual artists within mainstream galleries in 2009, supporting talent development by enabling diverse artists to create new work and collaborate with new institutions.DASH continues to aspire to lead the way in the support of Deaf and Disabled artists within the mainstream visual arts and to challenge itself to develop new pathways to do so.
For the project DASH will support the recruitment of Disabled participants and advise on ensuring every aspect of access and inclusive best practice is carried out throughout the project.
Image courtesy of BCT
Black Country Touring
We bring the best theatre, dance & cinema to the heart of communities in the Black Country & tell local stories by creating original productions.
Black Country Touring brings some of the best professional touring theatre and dance from the UK and beyond to the local communities of the Black Country (the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton).
We work with local people in the Black Country to programme this work into places where the local community can get to see it – these might be a school, community centre or the local art gallery.
For the project BCT will act as a mentor and host the community production through their community promoter networks as well as working with Deaf Explorer to set up new community promoters in the deaf community.
Ishtiaq Hussain, Visual Vernacular artist
Deafscope Link
Deafscope Link CIC aims to bring all diversities within Deaf and Deaf ushers Community together to offer training and support opportunities, workshops (including Visual vernacular, British Sign language, guide to setting up a business), new businesses support, networking and education (such as history, fitness, wellbeing, cooking, motivational workshops and many more). Deafscope is also a third-party report centre for Hate Crime of Deaf people who feel that are being abused or bullied. People are able to contact Deafscope using BSL to help report any incident to local Police.
For the project Deafscope will provide Visual vernacular workshops online artist Ishtiaq Hussain while supporting the recruitment of Deaf participants and hosting workshops in the Dudley borough.
Deaffest 2019 by Zebra Access
Zebra Access
Zebra Access is a Deaf-led charity based in Wolverhampton and is dedicated to ensuring that all Deaf and Hard of Hearing people enjoy equal participation and access without communication barriers. We provide services to support individuals such as our Advocacy Service, Job Club, BSL/Deaf Awareness Training and English & Maths Tutorials. We also provide a variety of events, clubs and activities.
Various projects run under Zebra Access such as the Deaf Hub which provides support for Deaf people to access information and services and Deaffest, the UK’s leading Deaf-led Film & Arts Festival which supports, develops and showcases the talents of emerging and established Deaf filmmakers and artists from the UK and around the world.
Zebra Access aim to provide Deaf role models, enabling Deaf and Hard of Hearing people to have self-belief and confidence to achieve their potential by breaking down barriers.
For the project Zebra Access will support the recruitment of Deaf participants, host the premiere of the films at Deaffest and deliver a film project and documentary film.
The Deaf Explorer team
Deaf Explorer CIC
Deaf Explorer’s vision is equality for Deaf artists; breaking down barriers so more Deaf people are confident to take artistic leadership roles. Their purpose is to provide communication support so Deaf people gain skills and competences in their artistic work to be independent and successful.
‘Our values are about equality, as defined by British Equality Law, with a focus on Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Disability. Our ethos is that Deaf artists are not just one homogeneous Deaf culture, they always intersect with other kinds of cultural identity. This intersectionality widens audiences and improves engagement with arts and cultural industry.’
Deaf Explorer recognises that Deaf people are disadvantaged in life and their aim is to transform talented Deaf people so they can have the opportunity to fully participate and compete in the arts, facilitating new work and enabling Deaf people to demonstrate cultural difference, so that Deaf creativity is included in the Arts.
‘Our work benefit the arts by expanding the understanding of art forms from a Deaf perspective and promoting access to art forms with Deaf leadership. We create role models and establish benchmarks of good practice that demonstrate the value of Deaf artists gaining equality and fully participating in the Arts.’
For the project Deaf Explorer will be the Project Producer/ Manager. Mentor and manage a new trainee producer, manage artists and volunteers, recruitment and communication with participants. This will also coordinate all aspects of the film and performance production.
Find out more about Deaf Explorer here.
This project is produced by Deaf Explorer and Creative Black Country in partnership with Zebra Access, DASH, Deafscope, Black Country Touring and Black Country Together. In collaboration with Birmingham 2022 and supported by Spirit of 2012 and Arts Council of England.
If you would like to know more about this project please contact gavin@creativeblackcountry.co.uk.
