The Creative Footprint

The social and cultural impact of widespread events is not a topic I had ever greatly thought upon. Within the theatre industry there is often a tendency to consider the impact a performance will have to a wider culture specifically for underrepresented groups such as the global majority or LGBTQI+. This concern is often the groundwork that lays the foundation for any performance and is always used to inform any research undertaken before the production begins being devised and also the make-up of the creative team. Through funding bodies like Arts Council England (ACE) the impact of any creative work is evaluated for its authenticity and its contribution to British culture. One such example, is that within the application process for project grants all applicants must provide information on the amount of people they expect to come into contact with their work. This number includes those who will attend any performances, but also any creatives that will be working on the project. A hard line is drawn to include the accessibility of the work for artists with additional needs and how a policy will be implemented to make your work as accessible as possible. Another addition to this number is any and all workshops or work that is undertaken past the conventional performance. This often includes any information on outreach to local interest groups or charitable organisations to once again make your work as authentic to its subject matter as possible.

The theatre industry is well aware of its failings towards diversity with a research study posted in 2020 monitoring the percentage of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) workers within National portfolio organisations at 11% with the number of BME works as Chairs of organisations for artistic directors being the same at 11%. Whilst this number is higher for female presenting workers at 47% there is still a significant drop in LGTBQI+ or disabled workers at a figure of 6%. This evidence is linked below where you can find the full study undertaken by ACE, and clearly shows that there is still much work to be done to create an equity in access to positions within the arts for underrepresented groups. With this in mind I believe that it is important to understand and analyse the ways in which the theatre and the larger events industry makes work accessible from participant stadpoint and as a workforce.

In Matarasso’s book Use or Ornament? The social impact of participation in the Arts they state that ‘Participation in the arts can have a significant impact on people’s self-confidence, and as a result on their social lives. Many participants go on to become involved in other community activities or personal development through training.’ (2003). They further go on to write about the lasting effect that cultural events can have on a population with them feeling the ability to access sectors of the industry that have not previously felt accepting of them and breaking down barriers to skills they had not thought of pursuing. This perfectly exemplifies the importance of the work of organisations such as ACE whose main goal is to expand the cultural world to anyone wishing to take part. This grounding within the accessibility and impact an event should have is clear throughout their management and evaluation process aand moves us forward towards a more diverse world of voices showing their own unique perspective to the world. In economic landscapes where tertiarisation has vastly changed the flow of money entering a city or town, the work of creative event industries can bring new life and tourism into that city. A prime example of this is Sheffield. Previously known as the City of Steel, its vast network of industrial buildings have been adapted into a flourishing and vibrant city of culture and heritage including some of the finset producing theatres in the country. This adaption to the times and change in economic markets has allowed the city to keep transforming itself to meet the needs and interests of a much younger population, with an average age of 38. Due to its blossoming cultural sector it has been able to bring a workforce from all over the country thanks to cultural trends like social mobility and increased movement thanks to institutions like its Universities.

I believe that this is true for many events from artistic to sporting. I was never largely into sports however I found this week's reading to be enlightening on how shared events such as Football clubs can help create a homogenous culture within a geographical location despite different social cultures and heritages coexisting. Thanks to world renowned events like the Olympic organisations, countries and cities are able to receive a huge windfall of new tourism and spending to be able to revolutionise their infrastructure and amenities for their local populace. However, all these events have a requirement to understand the longevity of the changes they make to their area. It is important for event managers and project managers to maximise the beneficial qualities of these events without causing damage to communities already present. By using the olympics as an example there are clear benefits and disadvantages given in Michael Pacione’s essay in The Routledge Handbook of Events. He states that while there is a long history of the Olympics creating quick regeneration of infrastructure such as in the ‘1988 Seoul Games’ which helped create ‘improved leisure and recreation facilities, a modernised urban road system, and middle-class housing developments’ (2014:391) there was also huge drawbacks due to a quick turn around of the event causing the demolition of 100 sites and 5,000 homes. Whilst the improvements made are hugely beneficial from a quality of life point of view, it cannot be forgotten within the planning and development process that those benefits affect all those within the area and not cause undue harm to the communities already present. Within this is the importance of the research and ongoing feedback from the local community I mentioned in my previous article. Without this direct input from the local communities affected, there is a high likelihood of indifference to your event or severe drawbacks to both the final event and its legacy due to the lack of acceptance from those directly impacted. For the vast part this can be done through many means; for instance, the majority of modern Olympic developments have taken place on grey land, previously unused or unable to be used due to potential contamination from industry. This choice helps rejuvenate a city through use of land unable to be used for any other purpose and also helps recover from deindustrialization and tertiarisation. As a prospective event manager, this understanding of what can and should be done is key to one's practice. Without the fundamental considerations of the area you are using and the economic and environmental factors posed by your event, you cannot create an event that hopes to give back to the community you are entering. All of the knowledge we are learning about risk assessments and the methods of creating sustainable creativity should inform the most basic choices made and with the inclusion of qualitative feedback and primary research, for a large event a legacy can be made giving the possibility for the effects of your event to be well received and continuing to develop areas once you have left.

When working within Sandwell, one key thing we did not want to do was ‘parachute’ into a community without understanding its culture and what was best for them. This consideration is especially important for the Mighty Creatives also, who always aim to keep the development of any community outreach expanding for as long as possible. Within Sandwell we were well aware that last time the event was run, there was an artist who did much of what I have just mentioned, causing a lot of distrust within the community and even some animosity with some of the parents of the young people. This was primarily down to the planning process being mostly shut off and out of their control. When I helped produce the festival I aimed to keep as much control in the hands of those who knew the local area as possible. In practical terms, this meant that one of the shareholders who worked for the Local council got us permission to use a large local college building in the city centre. This had the added benefit of already being an established building with good infrastructure for visitors and attendees to arrive, whilst also giving us access to lighting grids and sources of electricity key for running a large stage on the outside of the building. Though this was a difficult ask due to getting permission and having to complete additional documents specific for that branch of the council, it also opens us up to exhibitions already in pace at the building as well as a small makerspace which was going to be used for on-site workshops. This maximised our output of attractions within the festival without causing additional issues in programming and creation of those exhibits. Ultimately I believe our choice was sound, however with limited access to the space beforehand it caused significant issues on the day in regards to the logistics of participants getting changed and due to it being a public building, any safeguarding procedures which needed to be figured out on the ground during the day.

Through the course of this week's reading and research I have found the importance of logistical factors to running events that i had not previously envisioned and found evidence on why the community directly involved in the project should always be kept in mind throughout planning and development, only by having this at the core can the event be seen as a success that may go on to keep improving the quality of life for those in the area.

References:

Matarasso,Francois. Use or Ornament? The Social Impact of Participation in the Arts.Stroud:Comedia

Pacione,Michael. 2014 The Routledge Handbook of Events. Oxon:Routledge

ACE_DiversityReport_Final_03032020_0.pdf

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