Wales – A Diverse Nation? An Access Symposium – this access symposium is hosted in partnership between Taking Flight Theatre Company, hynt and Theatr Clwyd. The event on February 16 will bring together theatres, arts centres, performers, producers, companies and other creative professionals working across the performing arts to discuss how the arts scene in Wales can become more accessible and diverse.
The symposium will feature key-note speakers including Jamie Beddard (Diverse City), Michele Taylor (Director for Change at Ramps on the Moon), Jafar Iqbal (writeofcentre) and Dr Emily Garside who will give a presentation and put forward a provocation. Following each speaker there will be an open space where further questions can be debated in smaller break out groups. There will also be sessions on accessible marketing materials (tactile model boxes and audio / BSL flyers) and Running an Accessible Rehearsal Room.
Provocations
Jamie Beddard (Diverse City)
“Placing people as “other” becomes an excuse for inertia; we are afraid of getting it wrong or offending. Diversity becomes rocket science, and we let ourselves off the hook. Any action is isolated, policy-based and often ineffective, rather than part of a holistic approach around making art (the exciting bit!). New stories, perspectives and imagining, should be the lifeblood of the arts. Therefore, those previously marginalised or unheard are in the box seats to deliver.”
Emily Garside (researcher and writer)
“A lack of diversity in Welsh arts is driving talent away from the country and severely limiting the work we make. But is this lack of diversity part of an underlying issue in Wales where the arts, and access to the arts, is controlled by a narrow inward looking group afraid of change?”
Jafar Iqbal (reviewer)
“If gatekeepers really want to solve the problem of access for people in Wales, then opening the gate with a friendly smile isn’t enough. They need to throw us the keys and trust we won’t break the china.”
Michele Taylor (Ramps on the Moon)
“Seriously – are we STILL talking about this”
Details and to book: https://www.theatrclwyd.com/en/whats-on/breaking-out-of-the-box-4/
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/taking-flight-theatre-company