Two London projects are set to tour the country targeting issues and areas of low arts engagement as part of the Arts Council's Strategic Touring Programme
Two London projects are set to tour the country targeting issues and areas of low arts engagement, with combined funds of £963,134.
Film and Video Umbrella commissions, curates and produces moving-image works, and supports the artists behind them. It has been awarded £93,134 for its project Changing Places.
The tour will take works by South Asian filmmakers to eleven locations across England currently experiencing urban or architectural change. Partnering with heritage and arts organisations, FVU will work with the British Asian community and others interested in exploring Britain's alternative histories.
The Touring Consortium Theatre Company brings together eight theatres across the country from its base in London. It will receive £870,000 for the continuation of its large scale project, taking four contemporary productions to communities across the UK.
The project will promote sustainable relationships between partner venues, local schools and youth and community groups, and use digital technology, creative learning and participation activities to help establish a legacy of independent theatre going.
Joyce Wilson, Area Director, London, Arts Council England, said:
"These strategic touring projects exemplify the benefits of London investment for the rest of the country. Touring Consortium Theatre Company's tour is a vital step in addressing the challenge of attracting and retaining young and first-time theatre-goers, with a huge national reach. FVU will raise the profile of often marginalised artistic voices and take their work to places where there are fewer opportunities to engage with contemporary arts and culture. They both have real potential to effect change."
Strategic Touring - evaluation
The Strategic Touring Programme was launched in 2011 with funding to increase access to high quality arts and culture. This latest investment comes as the Arts Council has published the first in-depth report into the programme.
Within the evaluation, key findings show that:
The programme is reaching more people in areas of low arts engagement, and has made an important contribution to the regional balance.
The programme has strengthened relationships between touring supply and demand.
Organisations are thinking more creatively about how to reach new audiences. The programme is supporting work that would not otherwise have happened.
The full evaluation and the Arts Council's response can be found here.
Strategic Touring - showcase
London-based BookTrust is highlighted in the evaluation as an example of the impact that the Strategic Touring Programmes are having across England.
BookTrust, based in Battersea Studios, is the largest reading charity in the UK. In 2013, it received £299,487 for its Stories tour.
The ambitious project took multi-lingual (Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Somali) literature performances to libraries, community centres and prisons, around the UK focusing on deprived urban areas and reaching families from BAME groups. Performance and participation helped break down language barriers, promote community and family cohesion and inspire a love of books.
It reached a live audience of over 3,000 - nearly three times its target figure - and an online audience of 36,000. It was shortlisted for the Nursery World Award for inclusive Practice and the Children and Young People Now Award for Arts and Culture.
Commenting during one of the prison workshops, a mother said "Seeing my son sitting there reading with his dad is just amazing - normal - we don't get time like this."
Huzaifa Hussein, Actor, said: "Speaking Urdu, Gujarati or Punjabi was a big benefit for this tour: I was able to open up to children and take away that barrier."
Diana Gerald, BookTrust CEO, said: "Reading - and sharing stories, can bring families together and can be a fantastic ice breaker when relationships have been stalled due to absence, or are challenged through language issues. The Stories Tour was so appreciated by the adults and children who took part that it was a salient reminder of how simple activities, such as reading a book together or sharing a story in a language all can understand, can enable all communities to access the many benefits of reading for pleasure.
Also announced today were 7 applicants who have collectively been awarded £2,482,506 in the latest funding round of the Strategic Touring programme. A full list of projects can be found online here.