Case Study: Making the most of... creating further access for communities
Visual Vernacular performer Ishtiaq Hussain and Producer Omar Haq are d/Deaf creatives who have been supported to produce new works and run workshops with Creative Black Country and partners across a number of projects.
CBC has been on a self-development journey building actions over the years to create work which is accessible. This has been achieved through a number of ways…
Action: The team undertook training with DASH around Access and the Social Model of Disability.
Outcome: This has enabled a sense of confidence and we encourage others to think about how their work can be more accessible.
Action: Developing partnerships with key organisations.
Outcome: Solidifying relationships by being part of significant platforms such as CEDIA (Centre for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts part of Birmingham City University) and More Than a Moment (co-ordinated by Culture Central as the West Midlands Arts sector’s promise to take radical, bold and immediate action, to dismantle the systems that have for too long kept Black artists and creatives from achieving their potential in the arts and cultural industries).
Action: Ensuring our commission call outs are more inclusive.
Outcome: Offering Easy Read and BSL interpretation of opportunities and including a percentage of overall budget to support all CBC commissioned activities with accessibility needs and any additional costs.
Action: Working directly with Deafscope to support our needs around BSL interpretation and videos.
Outcome: Amplifying our work with d/Deaf audiences and raising the profile of activities.
By putting these actions in place it will (and has) enabled more accessible work to be created. We will continue to develop our organisation to ensure that we reach communities who may not have opportunities to access arts and culture as widely as others. Here are a few examples of how we have put this into practice:
CBC and Deafscope
We continue to develop our relationship with Deafscope; an organisation that brings together deaf-friendly and deaf-owned businesses, services, professionals, and events to enhance the lives of the deaf and hard of hearing.
So far, we have commissioned several signed films, making information about our major project strands - Creative Connections and Creative Communities - available to organisations, artists, and creative practitioners from d/Deaf communities. We want this to give the community confidence to approach us directly with their creative proposals, to benefit from the support CBC has to offer, and then increase the amount of creative work made by and for the d/Deaf community in the Black Country.
The relationship we have with Deafscope isn’t just about CBC: We’ve also been connecting them to some of our partner organisations and the creative practitioners we support so that they too can make their work, activities, and events accessible. This has included commissioning: information videos, BSL signers for events and workshops, text and scripts written simply (some members of the deaf community can find standard English tricky to read and understand).
We know we are still in the early stages of our own journey as we try and make CBC and its work as accessible as we can. We’re sharing the learning as we go, hoping to encourage others to see what’s possible and inspire them to explore how they might make their work and their practices accessible to those who are d/Deaf or hearing impaired.
“Deafscope have provided CBC with some wonderful insights and supported our work with the d/Deaf community. Helping provide access, a further understanding of community needs and support, as well as introducing us to some great artists.”
Sajida Carr, Director of Operations and Development at CBC
CBC joins CEDIA
CBC joined the Centre for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts which is an initiative that seeks to engage with, promote and challenge issues of equality, diversity and inclusion in the Arts. The relationship with CEDIA is still growing and since it began we have facilitated conversations between organisations such as Deaf Explorer who curated an online event with d/Deaf artists.
Our ambition is to support CEDIA in creating new local and global partnerships that seek to promote excellence in this area while also becoming a catalyst to offer space in the creative and cultural sector across the Black Country.
“Creative Black Country have been a member of the CEDIA steering group for two years now, and it has been a pleasure to work with them this year. They proposed an excellent project in collaboration with CEDIA to develop a toolkit for accessible evaluation for arts organisations, which has great potential for wider reach and impact. I look forward to working with them further on this project next year.”
Dr Karen Patel, Research Fellow, Director of CEDIA
The team will continue training and developing our actions to ensure that our work reflects that of the people who live in the region and gives opportunities to people who may get overlooked or may not have the ability to take part in creative and cultural projects and events.
You can see more about our actions here: https://www.creativeblackcountry.co.uk/equity-diversity-and-inclusion