Culture, Arts and Refugees

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Ninian Perry, Paragon Ensemble

Location Visited

Manchester

What did you do?

My study visit included making phone and email contact with Community Arts North West, Arts Council North West and Refugee Action in Manchester. I also had a meeting with Cilla Baynes, CEO of CAN on Tuesday 19 February in Manchester. At present they are in the process of recruiting new staff following a successful Big Lottery application, and their Exodus programme finished in November 2007 so unfortunately I was unable to visit any workshops or performances. However the meeting with Cilla Baynes was so illuminating that I was able to gather a vast amount of very useful information from the study visit.

Contacts

What did you learn from your study visit?

Being on the Communications working group I was keen to know about CAN’s communication strategy. She said that although they did have a written document some years ago, the main ways of communication are by word of mouth, the website and internet, and by leafleting and mailouts.

As far as my own IDP goals were concerned, I found her explanations about the history, the philosophy and artistic practice of CAN extremely valuable. Also seeing a fair amount of printed literature was useful. CAN has built up some very strong partnerships with organisations and agencies connected with refugees and their work is well supported by the Arts Council and Manchester City Council. Much of the success of the Exodus project is because the partners meet on a regular basis under the umbrella of the Greater Manchester Refugee Arts Partnership.

What key issues or questions did it raise for you?

• How similar or different is the Scottish Arts and Refugee scene compared to CAN?

• What models of work could we try in Scotland?

• How did CAN grow and who were their partners?

• How can we adopt some of the successful models of CAN’s operations to the new cultural network that is being set up in Scotland?

In what ways has this experience changed or enriched you professionally?

First of all it was very useful to have a one to one discussion with a recognised and successful cultural leader in the UK in the field of arts and refugees. I learned much from her outlook, her philosophy and the methods of engagement that CAN use to attract participation and an audience for their work.

Thank you very much Creative Exchange for making my study visit possible. I gained a tremendous insight from one of the leading Community Artists in Britain. I learned a huge amount about how to run a successful company and how to attract participants and audiences for the work. It was a very inspirational meeting and has taught me a great deal about the value of arts with people of all kinds coming together to tell a story, paint a picture, write a symphony or dance a new dance. It’s about relevance to the people who join with the arts practitioners in creating something that will change their lives and give them a new and exciting tomorrow.