Digital Deficit and Cultural Democracy: Building Back Better, a post-COVID cultural ecology

At this webinar, recorded in November 2020, we hear provocations from Shadow Minister for Cultural Industries and MP for Batley and Spen Tracy Brabin, Len Grant, Dr Jonathan Gross, Dewsbury artist Stephen Turner, The Cultural Ecology Project founder Madiha Ansari and Proper Job’s Director Dr Chloe Whitehead to discuss the future of the arts ecology post-Covid.

During COVID, the resilience of the arts in communities across the UK has been tested: funding has been diverted, libraries, theatres and community centres shut, and artists and freelancers have been left without work.

There have also been energising changes: community organisations and collectives have become more flexible and nimble, leadership structures have become more horizontal and every day we see the value of creativity in boosting wellbeing, bringing communities together and helping shape the identity of a place.

This discussion draws on the experiences and insight from North Kirklees in West Yorkshire – and is relevant to all towns and cities grappling with what the post-COVID landscape will bring. A sharing of ideas and experiences, this will be an opportunity to discuss what the future may hold and how arts and culture can become more prominent in our local ecologies.

We also launched Creative Scene’s first book, Parking A Poem in a Biscuit Factory: unpacking a cultural ecology, with writer and artist Len Grant.

The book looks at what it takes to build a creative ecology in an area of West Yorkshire identified by Arts Council England as being below the national average for participation in the arts, its people often alienated from the prevailing cultural scene.

It shows what motivates local people to get involved, and uncovers the unusual spaces and places which are the setting for artists and performers to create and present to curious new audiences – from cricket stations and rugby grounds, community centres, pubs and social clubs.

You can purchase the book here: https://bit.ly/Biscuit-Factory-Book

Share your thoughts on Twitter with #artsaftercovid - or let us know what you think @creativescenewy.

To find out more about Creative Scene, please visit: www.creativescene.org.uk