Reflections on Shifting Cultures, the 2021 North East Cultural Partnership Forum — There’s been a lot of talk this year about the ways in which virtual conferences just don’t hit the same spot as an “IRL” meet up. …

A short reflection as part of Shifting Cultures, the NECP 2021 Annual Forum — The following is a 5 minute reflection was prepared for a panel discussion on leadership in the independent sector. The discussion was part of Shifting Cultures, the 2021 edition of North East Cultural Partnership’s annual forum. …

By Jeanie Finlay, Artist and Filmmaker Note: Jeanie Finlay will be taking part in a follow up, online panel discussion and Q&A on Wednesday 16th September at 7pm - Register for free here My name is Jeanie Finlay. I am an artist from Teesside who by accident found the thing…

By Soweto Kinch — multi award winning saxophonist, composer,poet, MC, producer and presenter. Note: Soweto Kinch will be taking part in a follow up, online panel discussion and Q&A on Wednesday 15th July at 7pm - Register for free here Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic has bought all sorts of inequalities to…

by Toby Olié co-artistic director of Gyre & Gimble Two weeks before lockdown officially began, when social distancing was an emerging ideal, I was leading a puppetry training week with the cast of Regents Park Open Air Theatre’s production of 101 Dalmatians. There were over twenty performers in a small…

By Sarah Wilson-White A post Covid-19 era. Let’s take a moment to imagine that (impossible though it may feel now). We can freely hug our loved ones, gather with strangers indoors, and the smell of alcohol hand gel might have finally left our nostrils. The new world will smell and…

By Paul Gudgin None of us are likely to forget 2020 in a hurry. We’ve gone from an incredibly buoyant and fertile festival and event landscape to a wasteland in a matter of weeks as events from Glastonbury to Glyndebourne have cancelled in quick succession It may be cold comfort…

The Inevitable Conclusion of a TESTT Space We’ve got some news to share so this is a slightly different blog post. At 30 months and counting we recently received the inevitable tap on the shoulder from our landlords. By the end of this year, TESTT Space will be no more. …

Originally presented at Experimental Research in Space at Baltic 39, 2 May 2019 This article was presented verbally as part of Baltic39’s Reorganising Cultural Institutions conference. As such this is the source material of the presentation , including speaker notes, rather than a verbatim record. (INTRO) Hello, my name is…