A Space arts and God’s House Tower has announced a new programme of events for Black and non-Black artists of colour in Southampton.
The events will take place as part of Futures Forum, a professional networking and support initiative set up by the team at God’s House Tower, a new arts and heritage venue in Southampton.
This month attendees at Futures Forum online events will hear from a number of speakers who have all been asked to share their experiences as Black artists working in the creative industries.
The events have been set up in a bid to offer Black and non-Black artists of colour in Southampton professional development support, in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement, in order to address the lack of diversity in the local arts scene, and as part of ‘a space’ arts’ mission to become an anti-racist organisation.
The speakers:
May 13th, 6-7pm: Mary Genis, artistic director and founder of CultureMix Arts, Maria Amidu, Royal College of Arts graduate
May 26th, 6-7pm: Helen Cammock, artist and Turner Prize winner 2019
Venue manager Hannah Preston said: “We’re thrilled to have so many exciting and experienced speakers lined up and we hope local artists will make the most of the opportunity to hear how they have made waves in their chosen fields. God’s House Tower – as ’a space’ arts’ flagship arts and heritage venue – is committed to offering opportunities to diverse audiences and to becoming an anti-racist organisation. We hope these exciting events go some way to reaching those goals.”
Caterina Loriggio from Mayflower 400 – one of the funding organisations of the Futures Forum programme said: “Throughout the Mayflower 400 programme we have worked to support the development of cultural leadership in the city. This has been through commissions, mentoring, community grants and a scheme to support the advancement of emerging D/deaf and disabled artists. Our plans for network events for Black and non-Black artists of colour could not happen due to the pandemic, so we are delighted to be able to support Futures Forum through funding these inspiring speaker events.”
‘a space’ arts and God’s House Tower is very grateful to Mayflower 400 Southampton, Southampton City Council and Arts Council England for contributing funding towards the speakers programme.
For more information and to book tickets, visit: http://godshousetower.org.uk/whats-on/