Wildewire

 I often envy writers, painters, sculptors- any creative artist who can create their work without collaboration with others! They don't have to persuade and cajole and hand-hold and play down to achieve their work, they 'see' what's in their minds and they can go for it. Theatre isn't like that. Even a solo show usually needs someone to switch lights etc on and off. I love theatre for its capacity to make the impossible possible, for its ability to create magic, but it seems that its a lucky theatre maker who has an entire crew sharing their dream. Risk... people, supposedly creative people today are afraid of risk! That constantly shocks me. Recently I have watched a series of documentaries about and discussions with creative greats like the Jazz Divas of the mid twentieth century, contemporary musicians, writers, actors, architects, artists of the European Renaissance etc. Over and over, the people who "made it" were the risk-takers not the line tow...

Strategy v Delivery Now is not the time for investing in “strategy”, at least; in minority arts! I have lost count of the number of consultations and strategies I’ve witnessed and to which I have contributed since 1985. Each one promised a great leap forward for minority arts and culture, so why does it seem that so little has been achieved? How many full time UK creative companies, let alone venues are run by and for people from minority communities? How much public money has been spent to deliver consultations and research ‘on our behalf’? Why does it seem that so many of those consultations were conducted by the ‘Usual Suspects? Why are so few professionals from minority communities acceptable to “Strategic” agencies to conduct consultations and deliver reports? How did those who have the confidence of ‘Strategic Agencies’ attain their trusted positions? Why is it SO much easier to secure funds for research than it is to support actual creativity? What...

It is hard to stick to my new non-moaning rule lol. What does one do when the very people FOR whom you have been fighting begin to act like the enemy? It is a poor excuse that basic tenets of a project that has existed since 2006 and whose reports and commentaries and summaries are not only widely available but I have forwarded copies to those people several times in the last four years. They receive the information, don't read it and then complain that they don't know what is going on. They demand that issues that are and always have been central to the project be addressed. They dismiss "the past" and criticise 'reinventions of the wheel', they tell me that they do not expect me to have all the answers but direct (previously answered) questions to me. Then they wonder why it takes so long to achieve anything. I have worked to support minority artists in North East England since 2006 by helping them to present professional project proposals, developin...

I showed a friend this blog- more to show her how easy it was to start one. As she read post after post I became so uncomfortable I have stayed away from it for a couple of months! WHAT A MOANER!!! To be fair to myself, one of the reasons for this blog was to have a place to vent my (many) irritations in a fairly benign way, but this was too much! A problem with putting that stuff in a blog is NOT dealing with the real world issues that precipitated the negative responses in the first place. I needed to find a balance in my life that would stop me from actually bashing people who piss me off. There is also my perennial problem of retaining SOME dignity and not writing about really personal things in a public forum. Suffice it to say that things have changed on all fronts for me and there is a general feeling of positive possibilities in my life- even though the key work-related issue of getting ACE to release the funds to allow us to create a centre for the development of minorit...