The UK Government has now made the decision to end our country's relationship with the Creative Europe Programme, something which has awarded nearly £78.6 million to UK-based cultural organisations from 2014 to 2018, and has contributed greatly to employment, learning and development in the British cultural sector. Below is an open letter (orchestrated by Artsadmin) from over 700 artists and organisations across the UK to the Secretary of State, Rt Hon Oliver Dowden, protesting the damage and loss that this withdrawal will cause to our country and culture. International collaboration has always been fundamental to D6, and we will continue to work with our friends and neighbours abroad despite this decision.

To add your name please contact ArtsAdmin here:
www.artsadmin.co.uk/blog/372/open-letter-creative-europe

9 March 2020
​
Dear Secretary of State, Rt Hon Oliver Dowden,

​It is with deep dismay, frustration and alarm that we note the UK Government’s decision not to renew and continue its relationship with the Creative Europe programme at the end of 2020. By ending our participation, the UK Government is erecting barriers to continued cultural exchange. Moreover, this decision makes no financial sense. It is well established that Creative Europe grants have delivered a net benefit back to the U.K. creative economy on both soft and hard measures (worth €74 million since 2014, benefitting 334 organisations), leveraging additional funding, helping to create employment. UK organisations in culture projects have more than doubled their Creative Europe grants from private sector sources, philanthropy and the public sector, generating over €20 million in match-funding while MEDIA beneficiaries in the UK have leveraged match-funding worth nearly €120m. The multilateral approach to transnational cooperation afforded by Creative Europe is irreplaceable.
It’s not just about the money. Creative Europe amplifies the UK arts and creative industries’ domestic market opportunity to one that is pan European from the outset. Ours is a sector that is growing fast in reaching audiences at home and internationally, with projects funded with UK partners set to reach 61 million audience members – with 7 million of those based in the UK. The Creative Europe Desk UK Impacts Report details many achievements that go beyond-the-financial, including how Creative Europe funding has enabled organisations to take risks, explore new business models and be innovative, for example in the exploration of new digital technologies.
The kind of cultural exchange, collaboration and innovation that Creative Europe facilitates can only be achieved through its unique international framework. For organisations who have participated in Creative Europe-funded networks, these projects give us essential and long-term funding, which in turn enables us to leverage further support, as well as a rich network of collaborators, touring opportunities and knowledge exchanges that enable us both to teach and learn.
This decision threatens an impoverished future for British creativity and sends the message that the UK is closing itself off to our nearest neighbours.
We implore the government to reconsider this decision and renew its commitment to Creative Europe for the benefit of our artists, audiences, and our creative economy.
Yours sincerely,
Róise Goan (Artistic Director), Deborah Chadbourn (Executive Director) and all the team at Artsadmin

Sam Trotman, Director, Scottish Sculpture Workshop
Kris Nelson, Artistic Director/CEO, LIFT
Stella Kanu, Executive Director, London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT)
Jo Verrent, Senior Producer, Unlimited
LJ Findlay-Walsh, Artistic Director, Take Me Somewhere
Tarek Iskander, Artistic Director, Battersea Arts Centre
Jonathan Reekie, Director, Somerset House Trust
Jo Crowley, Executive Producer, 1927
Thomas Spurgin, Audience Development Manager, Philharmonia Orchestra
Jonathan Meth, Director, The Fence Network; Project Dramaturg, Crossing The Line
Alistair Wilkinson, General Manager, Music Beyond Mainstream.
Matt Burman, Artistic Director/CEO, Cambridge Junction
Clymene Christoforou, Director D6 Culture in Transit
Lizzie Vogler, Executive Producer, English Touring Theatre
Henrietta Hale and Nikki Tomlinson co-Directors, Independent Dance
Scottee, Artistic Director, Scottee & Friends Ltd.
Graeme Miller, Artist
Laura McDermott, Creative Director, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts
Ben Pugh, Freelance cultural sector Production Manager
Rob Drummer, Artistic Director & CEO, Boundless Theatre
Ine Van Riet, Executive Director, Boundless Theatre
Maggie Cronin freelance actor, writer, director.
Rosemary Lee, Choreographer and Filmmaker
Julia Skelton, Executive Director, Mind the Gap
Deborah Pearson, artist and founding co-director of Forest Fringe
Amelie Snyers, general manager, Village Underground and board member, Trans Europe Halles
Anne Torreggiani, CEO, The Audience Agency
Hugo Glendinning, Photographer, Filmmaker
David Boyd, Director, Beat Carnival
Aaron Wright, Artistic Director, Fierce
Bill Gee, co-Artistic Director, Inside Out Dorset and Creative Director, IF: Milton Keynes International Festival
Neil Butler, founding partner in Creative Europe project Insitu, CEO and Artistic Director, UZ Arts, Scotland
Stella Hall, Festival Director, Festival of Thrift, Redcar
Neil Beddow, Artistic Director, acta community theatre, Bristol
Emma Gladstone, Artistic Director & Chief Executive Dance Umbrella
Anthony Bowne, Principal, Trinity Laban
Max May, Chief Executive Officer, Rural Arts North Yorkshire
Kumiko Mendl, Artistic Director, Yellow Earth Theatre
Maddy Morgan, Executive Director/Producer, Rhiannon Faith Company
Rosalind Blake, Artist and Lecturer in Fine Art, University of the Highlands and Islands
Maite Jauregui, Actress & writer, London
Ralph Lister, Executive Director, Take Art
Selina Thompson, Artistic Director of STLtd
Wendy Houstoun, Performer , Director, Teacher
David Drake, Director, Ffotogallery Wales
Geoffrey Brown, Director, Euclid Consultancy
Ruth McCarthy, Artistic Director, Outburst Queer Arts Festival Belfast
Anthony Shapland, Artist and Creative Director & Co-founder, g39, Cardiff, Wales
Chris Brown, Company Director & Co-founder, g39, Cardiff, Wales
Cinzia Mutigli, Programme Director, Warp, Cardiff, Wales
Daniel Pitt, Director, Chisenhale Dance Space
Jen White, Creative Programmes Manager, The MAC
Wieke Eringa, CEO/Artistic Director Yorkshire Dance
Season Butler, Artist, author, lecturer
Auro Foxcroft, Director Village Underground and EartH
Nastassja Simensky, Artist and Artists Union England National Executive Committee Member
Jane Coyle, arts journalist, critic & writer
Ben Pettitt-Wade, Artistic Director, Hijinx
Daniel McGowan, Head of Film/Pennaeth Film, Hijinx
Robert McMillen, Journalist
Hannah Tookey, Producer, Upstart Theatre, Voxie Productions and This Little Rock Films
Una NicEoin, Executive Producer Prime Cut Productions
Mhari Robinson, Executive Producer, Independent Arts Projects
Laura Kriefman, Creative Director: Hellion Trace.
Fiona Ferguson, Creative Development Director, Imaginate
Claire Eliza Willoughby, Artist and Co-Director of Snap-Elastic.
Liz Pugh, Executive Producer, Walk the Plank
Nuala Ní Néill
Jassy Earl, Freelance Artist
Joyce Nga Yu Lee, Resident Director, Mind the Gap
Brian Lobel, Professor of Theatre & Performance, Rose Bruford College
Molly Goyer Gorman, Fundraising Manager, Imaginate
Cian Smyth, Chairperson, Outburst Arts
Sarah Gray, Scottish Theatre Producers
Lois Keidan, Director, Live Art Development Agency
Angela McSherry, Freelance Producer
Joseph Morgan Schofield, Live Art UK
Emma Hogg, CEO, WildWorks
Marion Bourbouze, Head of Marketing & Communications, Imaginate
Matt Addicott, Programme Lead, Platform
Vicky Rutherford-O'Leary, Producer, Curious Seed
Katie Day, Artistic Director, The Other Way Works
Ross Williams, Director, Creative Kernow
Mamoru Iriguchi, Artist
Nela Milic, Senior Lecturer, UAL
Joe Frankland, CEO, PRS Foundation & Keychange Core Partner
CA McAlonan-McCrudden, General Manager, Aisling Ghéar Theatre Co
Liz Whitehead, Director, Fabrica gallery
Yvette Griffith, Executive Director, Jazz re:freshed & GiveBLACK co-founder
Clare Purcell, Associate Director, Meadow Arts
Cat Moore, Executive Producer, New International Encounter
Jen Shepherd, Producer, Tinderbox Theatre Company Ltd
Marie Lewis Creative Director, SEALL, Isle of SkyePaul Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive, Imaginate
Oisín Kearney, freelance writer and director
Steve Rimmer, Director, CADS Trust
Kevin Gamble, Director, Féile an Phobail
Mary Osborn, Artists’ & Public Programme Producer, Artsadmin
Rebecca Dalzell, Marketing Office, Grand Opera House
Luca Silvestrini, Artistic Director, Luca Silvestrini Protein
Nick Williams, CEO, Perth Theatre & Concert Hall
Pelin Basaran, Programme Manager, Contact
Eileen Evans, Executive Director, Forced Entertainment
Mark Cosgrove, Cinema Curator, Watershed
Karl Taylor, Director, BUZZCUT
Luke Pell, Maker, Curator, Dramaturg and Writer
Zannah Chisholm, Artistic Director & CEO, Pavilion Dance South West
Seth Honnor, Artistic Director, Kaleider
Jess Partridge, Keychange Project Manager phase One
Ilana Mitchell, Artistic Director, Wunderbar
Catherine Angle, Visual and Live Art Programme Manager, Chapter Arts Centre
Stephen Beggs, Freelance Theatre Maker & Chair, Tinderbox Theatre Company
Helen Nisbet, Artistic Director, Art Night
Claire Marshall, Deputy Director, Carn to Cove
Michael Norton, Producer, Artsadmin
Kiera Blakey, Curator, Art on the Underground
Kate Wood, Executive and Artistic Director, Activate Performing Arts
David Micklem, Producer, Arts Consultant and Writer
Xavier de Sousa, Performance Maker and Cultural Worker
Leila Hasham, Deputy Director, Forma Arts and Media
Richard Mantle, General Director, Opera North
Sarah Crompton-Howes , Senior Producer, New International Encounter & Polka Theatre
Emma Clark, Performance Maker and Producer
Padraig Coyle, broadcaster and writer
Charlotte Mountford, Co-Director, Lyth Arts Centre
Pamela Walker, Senior Producer, Imaginate
Helen Medland, CEO/Artistic Director, SICK! Festival
Jenna Hall, CEO Belfast Community Circus School and Festival of Fools
Alistair Spalding, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Sadler’s Wells
Nassy Konan, Assistant Producer (Producing and Touring), Sadler's Wells
Siobhan Davies, Artistic Director, Siobhan Davies Dance
Damaris McDonald. Executive Director, Siobhan Davies Dance
Adrian De La
Jodi Myers, consultant
Simon Brown, Managing Director, ArtReach
David Sheppeard, Co Artistic Director, Marlborough Productions
Georgina Bednar, artist and creative producer, No Ordinary Experience
Chris Hibbert, Manager, Borlase Smart John Wells Trust
Amit Lahav, Artistic Director, Gecko
Sam Collins, Head of Production, Artangel
Paula McFetridge, Artistic Director Kabosh
Thomas Spurgin, Audience Development Manager, Philharmonia Orchestra
Jana Robert, Producer, The Bridge Festival
Teresa Dillon, Artist
Kerry Bartlett, Executive Co-Director, Artsreach
Yvonne Gallimore, Executive Co-Director, Artsreach Rural Touring
Catharine Des Forges, Director, Independent Cinema Office
Jennifer Phillips, Producer, Starcatchers
Kate Coyne, Associate Director, Michael Clark Company
Jenny White
Sarah James, CEO The Arts Development Company
John Harris, Red Note Ensemble Scotland
Rachel Clare Artistic Director/CEO Crying Out Loud
Harry Josephine Giles, Managing Director, Anatomy Arts
Bobbi Rai Outreach Manager Prime Cut Productions
Roger Dane, Freelance Actor/Director, Manager of Belvoir Studio Theatre
Caroline Wright, Artist and Academic
Nadia Niesterowicz-Newstead, Communications Manager, Clore Leadership
Maxie Gedge, UK Project Manager, Keychange
Fatoş Üstek, Director, Liverpool Biennial
Maria Bota, Arts Director and Consultant
Ellen Wilkinson, artist and writer
Roxanne Carney, Producer and Theatre Maker
Jo Mackie, Independent Producer
Alison Carminke, Academic Enterprise Manager, University of Wolverhampton
Tom Mansfield, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Upstart Theatre
Sadie Newman, General Manager, BE FESTIVAL CIC
Atxarte Lopez de Munain, Senior Producer, BE FESTIVAL CIC
Ruth Mariner, Writer/Director and Librettist facilitator, Royal Academy of Music
Annie Lloyd, Co-Director, Compass Live Art, Leeds
Stephanie Jessop, Creative Producer, Culturapedia
Angus MacKechnie, Executive Director, OutdoorArtsUK
Tatty Hennessy, playwright
Julia Carruthers, Programme Director, Warwick Arts Centre
Catherine Makin, Projects Coordinator, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland
Vanessa Reed, former PRS Foundation CEO; currently President of New Music USA
Charlotte Mountford & Tom Barnes, Co-Directors of Lyth Arts Centre, Caithness
Francine Gorman - Outreach Coordinator, Keychange
Frances Land and Steve Johnstone Co-Artistic Directors Black Country Touring
Jo Bannon, Artist
Sally Rose, Producer
Roisin Hughes, Fundraising & Strategic Development Manager, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (hcmf//)
Graham McKenzie, Artistic Director & Chief Executive, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (hcmf//)
Helen Lannaghan & Joseph Seelig,Directors, London International Mime Festival
Alex Neidert, Project Consultant; and General Manager, Siobhan Davies Dance
Robert Softley Gale, Artistic Director, Birds of Paradise Theatre Company
Emma Williams freelance theatre director
Josephine Burton, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Dash Arts
Cristina Catalina, Associate Producer, Dash Arts; Creative Associate at Firehouse Creative Productions; Freelance Producer
Calum Paterson, Composer & Sound Designer
Richard DeDomenici, Artist
Paul Geoghegan, Managing Director, MA Music, Leisure & Travel Ltd.
Heather Hughes, Professor of Cultural Heritage Studies, University of Lincoln
Jamie Wood,Artist
Suzannah Bedfird, Director, City Arts (Nottingham)
Sian Baxter, Producer, Take Me Somewhere
Lisa Mallaghan, Director, Bradford Producing Hub
Helen Cole Artistic Director/CEO In Between Time, Bristol
Avatâra Ayuso, Artistic Director AVA DANCE COMPANY Michael Walling, Artistic Director, Border Crossings
Lauren Zawadzki - Director National Festival of Making CIC & Deco Publique
Sam Curtis Lindsay and Nina Lyndon, Co-Artistic Directors, Hackney Showroom
Oona Doherty, Artist
Sarah Bird Director Wild Rumpus
Clara Giraud, Independent Cultural Worker
Judith Knight MBE, Founder and ex-Artistic Director of Artsadmin
Sally Rees, Chair Dylan Quinn Dance Theatre, Arts Over Borders ( Festival and Concert Co-ordinator, Enniskillen)
Jatinder Verma MBE, former Artistic Director Tara Arts; currently Director, JV Productions Ltd
Prof. Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Wales Literature Exchange Cyfnewidfa Lên Cymru
Alexandra Büchler Director, Literature Across Frontiers
Matt Fenton, Artistic Director/Chief Executive, Contact, Manchester
Claire Morton, Executive Producer, Vamos Theatre
Katie Tranter, Actor and Artistic Director of Fun in the Oven Theatre.
Ellie Griffiths, Artistic Director / CEO of Oily CArt Theatre
Sarah Sahim, writer
Matthew Austin, Co-Director, MAYK
Liam Rees, Artist
Roisin Caffrey, Executive Producer/Joint Chief Executive, Stan’s Cafe
Alex Ferguson, Producer, Homotopia
Madelaine Moore, Artistic Director, The Thelmas WMC Ltd
John Ashford, Director, Aerowaves
Anna Arthur, Administrative Director, Aerowaves
Tina Ellen Lee FRSA Artistic Director Opera Circus UK
Kaya Stanley-Money, Executive Director and Joint CEO, Camden People’s Theatre
Laura Veart, STEAM International Programme Manager
Andrea Francis, Cultural Development Manager, BCP Council
Mel Scaffold, CEO, Theatre Bristol
Kate McStraw, independent producer
Flora Herberich, independent producer
Caroline Winn. Executive Director, Take Me Somewhere Festival
Amy Letman, Creative Director, Transform festival
Ben Larpent, Head of Classical Music, Southbank Centre
Darren Abrahams, Co-Founder of The Human Hive
Janet Smith, Principal and Artistic Director, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds
Vicki Amedume, Artistic Director, Upswing
Joe Mackintosh, Director Out There International Festival of Street Arts and Circus
Jo Royce, Executive Director, Candoco Dance Company
Charlotte Darbyshire, Artistic Director, Candoco Dance Company
Philip Parr, Artistic Director Parrabbola, Director York International Shakespeare Festival Secretary and Council Member European Shakespeare Festivals Network
Alison Andrews, Artistic Director A Quiet Word
Libby Battaglia, Creative Director, Audacious
Stephen Munn, Artistic Director, Absolutely Cultured,
Liz Cullinane freelance designer, writer & director
John Smith, artist filmmaker
Susan Kempster, Choreographer
Martin Hargreaves, Director of Research and Postgraduate Programmes, London Contemporary Dance School
Jeff McMillan, Artist
Zoe Svendsen, director, METIS projects
Rosie Cooper, Head of Exhibitions, De La Warr Pavilion
Ackroyd & Harvey, Artists
Sue Robinson, Director, Culturapedia
Eckhard Thiemann, Artistic Director & CEO, Shubbak Festival
Assis Carreiro, Director, International Arts and Cultural Projects
Leslie Howard, President, The Liszt Society
Eloise Tong, General Manager, Theatre Bristol
Jennifer Hunter, Executive Leader, Culture Counts
Steve Wald, Production Manager
Ben Duke, artistic director, Lost Dog
John Heffernan, Senior Curator, Humber Street Gallery
Dr. Alastair Niven LVO OBE - former Literatur Director ACE & British Council, Chair Border Crossings
Tessa Wills Creative Director Theatre Bristol
Sara Jane Bailes, Writer and Theatre Artist, University of Sussex
Katharine Stout, Director Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea
Jane Greenfield, Independent Producer, Hastings
Graham Howes and Karen Lynne Artistic Directors Missing Pieces Theatre Show
Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso, Producer, Shubbak Festival
Barney Stevenson, Artistic Director, Marsden Jazz Festival
Ian Wild, Chief Executive, Showroom Workstation, Sheffield
Ian Nicholson, Director, Writer, Performer
Caley Powell, Producer, Lights Down Productions
Lara Parmiani, Artistic director, LegalAliens Theatre
Claire Symonds, Senior Producer: Artist Development, The Lowry
Adrian Heathfield, Professor of Performance and Visual Culture, University of Roehampton, London
Harpreet Kaur,Cultural Consultant, West Midlands
Kate Adams, Director Project Art Works, Hastings
Sarah Worth, Executive Director, Highly Sprung Performance Company, West Midlands
Joe Kelleher, Professor of Theatre and Performance, University of Roehampton
Jude Barrington-Smuts, Co Artistic Director, Wet Picnic
Dominic Johnson, Professor of Performance and Visual Culture, Queen Mary University of London
Anthony Baker, Executive Director & joint CEO, Freedom Festival, Hull
Mikey Martins, Artistic Director & joint CEO, Freedom Festival
Laura Drane, independent producer
Clare Whistler, Artist
Justine Kenyon, Knowledge Exchange Coord, Network QMUL Centre for the Cultural and Creative Economy
Freddie Opoku-Addaie, Choreographer and curator
Sally Anne Tye, Executive Director, New Perspectives
Mat Jenner, Artist / Director, TACO!, Thamesmead, London
Cath James, Artistic Director, South East Dance
Rachel Gibson, Executive Director, South East Dance
Natalie Richardson, Executive Producer, Konzept/David Glass Ensemble/H2DANCE
Augusto Corrieri, Lecturer in Drama, Theatre & Performance, University of Sussex
Steve Mead, Artistic Director/CEO, Manchester Jazz Festival & Vice-Chair, Jazz Promotion Network (JPN)
Tim Crouch, Playwright, Director, Performer
Becka McFadden, Artistic Director, Beautiful Confusion Collective
Oliver Weindling, Director, Vortex Jazz Club, London
Liza Dimbleby, Tutor, Royal Drawing School London
Timothy Hyman RA painter and writer
Jocelyn Pook, composer, Musician
Holly Graham, Artist / Head of Artist Development, Turf Projects
Charlie Morrissey Choreographer and Curator of Wainsgate Dances, Yorkshire
Zain Dada, co-founder of Khidr Collective
Irene Aristizábal, Head of Curatorial and Public Practice, BALTIC, Gateshead
Jorge Nieto, Creative Director, Village Underground
Charlotte Still Artist
Phoebe Davies, artist, researcher and producer, Somerset House Studios
Dr Diana Damian Martin, artist and researcher, Senior Lecturer in Performance Arts at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Allison Gardner, Programme Director, Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow
Lydia Wharf, Independent Producer
Dave Moutrey, Director & CEO, HOME, Manchester
Hayley Reay, Learning and Participation Manager, The Guildhall Trust
Alan Rogers, Executive Director, b-side, Isle of Portland, Dorset
Sally Folkard, Strategic Manager, Film Hub North
Julian Bell, artist and art writer
Imogen Weatherly, C Fylm & Carn to Cove
Karen Shannon CEO Manchester HIstories
Mafalda Dâmaso, Lecturer, King’s College London
Cathy Bolton, Co-director, Manchester Literature Festival, Manchester
Bojana Janković, artist
Deborah Mason, artist
Akeim Toussaint Buck, Interdisciplinary performer and maker
Vlatka Horvat, artist
Alistair Hudson, Director, the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery
Miguel Oyarzun, Co-director, BE FESTIVAL CIC, Birmingham
Isla Aguilar, Co-director, BE FESTIVAL CIC, Birmingham
Francesca Murray-Fuentes, Artistic Director, Hurricane People
Delphine Gaborit, Movement Director
Sharlit Deyzac & Amy Clare Tasker, directors, Voila! Europe Theatre Festival
Lucy Atkinson, Creative Producer, interim CEO Stratford Circus Arts Centre, UK
Dan de la Motte, Creative Climate Leader with Julie’s Bicycle, supported through Creative Europe
Vicky Rutherford-O’Leary, Executive Producer, Curious Seed
Aaron Cezar, Founding Director, Delfina Foundation
Noel Patrick Qualter, Cineman Films Ltd, London.
Yvonne Murphy Artistic Director & Executive Producer Omidaze Productions
Julia Amour, Director, Festivals Edinburgh
Andrew Comben, Chief Executive, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival
Helen Waters, FEAST, Creative Kernow
Bridget McKenzie, Director of Flow Associates and Climate Museum UK
Georgia Attlesey, Creative Producer
John Summers, CEO Halle Orchestra
Richard Matthews, Head of Marketing and Development, Graeae
Marty Langthorne, Lighting Designer
Susan Murray, Development Manager, Pan Intercultural Arts
Jessica Norman, Writer and Producer
Anne Beresford, film and television Producer
Ruby Baker, Independent Producer/Poet in the City
Lauren Barton, Producer, Walk the Plank
Cathy Boyce, Performance Programme Manager, Chapter Arts Centre
Helen Wewiora, Director, Castlefield Gallery
Timothy Lenkiewicz, Director, Cirquit Productions
Tony White, novelist
Youness Bouzinab, Performer and theatre maker.
Florian Roithmayr, artist
Heather Fulton, Artistic Director, Frozen Charlotte
Nicky Dewar, Director of Learning & Skills, Crafts Council
Alma Daskalaki, Innovation Programmes Manager, Crafts Council
Vikki Heywood CBE
Clare Harris, Director, Scottish Contemporary Art Network
Elisa Braglia, Communication Officer, Pan Intercultural Arts
Katy Spicer, Chief Executive & Artistic Director, English Folk Dance & Song Society
Sho Shibata, Executive Producer, Stopgap Dance Company
Sophie Larsmon, Artistic Director, Any One Thing
Ben Cooper-Melchiors, Executive Director, East London Dance
Gordon Douglas, artist
Chris Fremantle, Producer, ecoartscotland
Jo Thomas Composer
Andy Field, Co-Director, Forest Fringe
Jane Frere, artist
Gemma Paintin & James Stenhouse, co-artistic directors, Action Hero
Jasmina Cibic, artist
Emily Holmes, Programme Assistant, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Jo Capper Collaborative Programme Curator, Grand Union Gallery
Stefanie Blum, artist
Niall Stevenson, artist
Robin Simpson, Chief Executive, Voluntary Arts
Edward Boott, Artistic Director & CEO, Nonsuch Studios, Nottingham
Rosy Naylor, Director, Art Walk Projects
Briony O’Callaghan, Artistic Director, Created a Monster
Lauren McLaughlin, Founder, Spilt Milk Gallery
Tim Etchells, Artistic DIrector, Forced Entertainment
Sara Svati, Artist - Director, Orientale Sarda
Rosanna Irvine, Artist
Áine O’Brien, Co-Director - Counterpoints Arts
Marie Bidegaray, Founder, Agora Arts Circle
Kate Craddock, Director, GIFT, Gateshead International Festival of Theatre
Ian McKay, Editor, Art North magazine, Highland, Scotland.
Susannah Stevenson, Artistic Director: Charleston Festival, Small Wonder & Literary Programmes, Charleston Trust
Graham Callister, Director of Festivals, Birmingham Hippodrome
Oliver Jones, Director Creativity Works
Clemmie Sveaas, freelance artist
Yami Lofvenberg Movement Director, Hip hop theatre Maker
Laura Collier, Independent Producer
Beth Cassani, Choreographer, Dramaturg, Teacher
David Ward, Composer
Susanna Eastburn MBE, Chief Executive, Sound and Music
Donald Smith, Director, Scottish International Storytelling Festival
Naomi Brown, Marketing & PR, Glasgow Print Studio
Mark Neville, Artist Activist, London
Dani Admiss, Independent Curator
Jenny Sealey MBE, Artistic Director and CEO, Graeae
Michal Murawski, Lecturer in Critical Area Studies, School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, University College London
Mark Wigglesworth, conductor
Dave Howard, Creative Learning Producer, Stan’s Cafe Theatre
Astrid Alben, CEO, Poetry Translation Centre
Cathie Boyd, Artistic Director and all the team at Cryptic
Tunde Adekoya, Artistic Director, Big People Music & Big People Community CIC
Moya Maxwell, Executive Director, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance
Hazel Sealeaf, Associate Director, Open Theatre Company
Wendy Houstoun, Performer , Director, Teacher
Guy Dartnell, Co-Director Earl Street Creative Space, Hastings.
Mary Swan, Artistic Director & CEO Proteus
Sam Wise, Theatre and Music Venue Consultant, London
Michelle Deignan, Artist
Angharad Cooper, Independent Producer and Consultant, London
Ben Qasim Monks, Executive Director, Improbable
Lina Džuverović, Curator and Lecturer, Birkbeck College, University of London
Emma Sampson, Producer, Upstart Theatre
Deirdre Figueiredo, Director of Craftspace
Cath Mattos, Projects Director, World Fringe, What Next? Co-ordinator
Gemma Kerr, Theatre-maker and director
Lizzy Leggat, Access Manager at Graeae Theatre Company.
Anne Bevan, Artist & Academic, Orkney College, University of the Highlands & Islands
Anna Ledgard - Producer and Educationalist
Charles Gaskell, Composer
Charlotte Vincent, Artistic DIrector / CEO, Vincent Dance Theatre
The Modern Institute, Art Gallery, Glasgow
Tim Sayer - Senior Lecturer, London College of Music
Kate V Robertson and Michelle, Emery-Barker, Sculpture Placement Group
Juliet Dean, Director, PACE
Paul Reeve, CEO, Into Film
Charles Garrad, Filmmaker, Chairman, Artsadmin
Lou Rogers, Senior Producer, South East Dance
Rose Kigwana, Senior Producer, South East Dance
Polly Risbridger, Chief Executive & Artistic Director, East London Dance
Ben Twist, Director, Creative Carbon Scotland
Pete Moss, Photographer, Director, Waddington Studios
The Common Guild, Glasgow
Jolanta Dolewska, artist, Glasgow
Stacey Menzies-Toner, Director, M:ADE
Jo Jackson, Director, b-side Portland
Caroline Jeyaratnam-Joyner Theatre Arts Yoga Ayurveda
Ros Rigby, Creative Producer and Chair, D6 Culture in Transit.
Jude Henderson, Director, Federation of Scottish Theatre
Jess Chandler, Director, Prototype Publishing
Dr. Narbi Price, Artist, Curator, Lecturer
Ivan Wadeson, Manchester UNESCO City Of Literature
William Conway, Artistic Director, Hebrides Ensemble
Jayne Austin, Curator, UPSTAIRS Gallery
Pete Moss, Photographer, Director Waddington Studios
Vicky Holliday, Senior Producer, Creative Scene
Sarah Grange, theatre-maker and Research Associate at Improbable
Laura Pando, Managing Director, Julie’s Bicycle
Tam Dean Burn, theatremaker
Sophie Motley, Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Company
Ted Hodgkinson, Head of Literature and Spoken Word, Southbank Centre
Caitlin Davies, Freelance Curator, South Wales
Andrea Spisto, Performance Artist, Tylor and Vincent
Cath Lloyd, Animator
Yuyu Wang, theatre maker and creative producer
Daniel Clark, co-director, Gaada Projects C.I.C.
Ruth Maclennan, Artist, Board of Directors, North Lands Creative
Kate Whitlock, General Manager, Hebrides Ensemble
Diana Stevenson, Festival Manager, Glasgow International
Georgina Kettlewell, Director, Yorkshire Artspace
Jo Killingley, Managing Director, Dot To Dot Productions Ltd
Caitlin Shepherd, artist, educator, researcher. PhD candidate at University of West of England and Lecturer at University of the Arts London.
Emilyn Claid, choreographer, professor, writer, University of Roehampton
Nathaniel Hepburn, Director and Chief Executive, The Charleston Trust
Vince Virr, choreographer, dancer and international artist
Paul Russ, Chief Executive & Artistic Director, Dance4
Betsy Gregory, Chair, Dance4
Andrea Carter, Lead Producer, D6: Culture in Transit
Kasper Klop, Actor & Theatre-Maker
Mary Prestidge Independent Dancer , Liverpool Improvisation Collective
Wolfgang Weileder, Artist and Professor of Contemporary Sculpture, Newcastle University
Jacky Lansley, Choreographer and Director, Dance Research Studio
Cíntia Gil, Festival Director, Sheffield Doc/Fest
Melanie Iredale, Deputy Director, Sheffield Doc/Fest
Patrick Hurley, Director of Marketplace and Talent, Sheffield DocFest
Manon Euler, Marketplace and Talent Producer, Sheffield DocFest
Marta Berto, Head of Communications & Press, Sheffield Doc/Fest
Sarah Preece, Joint CEO Mountview, Peckham, London
Jude Christian, Associate Director HOME
Bren O’Callaghan, Curator HOME
Hanna Gillgren and Heidi Rustgaard, choreographers and curators, H2DANCE and Fest en Fest
Simon McBurney OBE, Artistic Director, Complicite
Polly Gifford, Executive Director, Complicite
Fergus Early OBE, Artistic Director, Green Candle Dance Company
Martin Smith, chair of trustees, St John’s Smith Square (music venue)
Esther Huss, Dance Artist
Alex Oates, Playwright
Alison McMenemy, Director, Highland Print Studio
Xavier Velastín, Theatre Composer and Sound Designer
Debra King , Director Brighter Sound
Silvia Ziranek, Independent Artist and Writer
Bob Riley, CEO - Manchester Camerata
Alice Hubble, Musician, London
Christopher Daniel, Director, Polysemic Ltdg
Chloe Whitehead, CEO, Proper Job Theatre Company
Amy Sharrocks, artist Ginny Elston, Visual Artist and Lecturer, Edinburgh
Jonathan May, Director (maternity cover), Abandon Normal Devices
Emma Rees, Executive Director & CEO, Theatre Centre
Clemency Tate Thorburn, writer and producer, London
Roger Graef OBE, filmmaker and writer
Kully Thiarai, Creative Director Leeds 2023
Rosie Hunter, Executive Director, People’s Palace Projects
Rob Watt, Artistic Director, Theatre Centre
Jo Stendall, Executive Director, Boy Blue
Lizzie Glithero-West, CEO, The Heritage Alliance
Glenn Boulter, Artistic Director, Full of Noises, Cumbria
Arike Oke, Managing Director, Black Cultural Archives
Helen Galliano, Independent Producer and Co-director, Arbonauts
Helen Willmott, Programme Director, Made in Corby
Susan Whiddington, Chief Executive, Mousetrap Theatre Projects
Jamie Wood Artist
Louise Hargreaves, Programme Producer, Abandon Normal Devices
Sarah Bond, Programme Assistant, Abandon Normal Devices
Cat Shaw, Producer, Abandon Normal Devices
Nod Knowles Administrator, European Folk Network
Debra King
Adina Levay, Artistic Director, Concentric Circles, Norwich
Sharone Lif, Artist
Emily Pearce, Alice Rush, Luke Seidel-Haas and Frankie-Rose Taylor, Co-Founders, CB4 Theatre
Jane Lawson, Artist Development Co-ordinator, Castlefield Gallery
Jo Towler, Executive Director, Music in the Round
Sarah Shead, Director, Spin Arts
Emma Dean, Curator, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead
Eleanor Lang, Executive Director, Theatre Royal Stratford East
Philip Braham, Artist and Programme Director for Art & Philosophy, University of Dundee
Lisa Spirling, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Theatre503
Shelagh Wright, Vice-Chair of Compass
Peter Jenkinson, Creative Change Agent
Beki Bateson, Producer
Amanda Smethurst, Consultant and Facilitator
Thomas Small, Artistic Director, Shaper/Caper
Alicja Kaczmarek, Director, Centrala Space/ Polish Expats Association
Sarah Waller, Creative Producer and Educator
Trui Malten, Lighting Designer Myra Rowland, Operations and Programmes, Open Source Arts
Rachel Valentine Smith, Artistic Director, The Faction
Amanda Sutton, Director, Venture Arts
Elizabeth Newell, Producer
Julian Maynard Smith, Artistic Director, Station House Opera
Dr Jess Baines, Senior Lecturer, Design School, London College of Communications, UAL
Daniel Gorman, Director, English PEN
Maureen Freely, Chair, English PEN
Kelly Hill, Creative Producer & Photographer
Michael PAWLYN, Architect
Emily Alden, Dancer & Choreographer
Sarah Hughes, Curator, West Dean College of Arts and Conservation
Imogen Howarth, Producer
Florence Peake, Choreographer, Artist
Lucy Kerbel, Director, Tonic Theatre
Sarah P. Maguire, Independent Producer
Alessandra Cianetti, Founder, performingborders
Susie Jackson, Independent Producer & Programme Administrator at Greenbelt Festival
Roshanak Khakban, Artist and Curator
Lee Simpson, Co Artistic Director Improbable & Comedy Store Players
Vicky Ireland Chair Action for Children’s Arts
Ellen Booth, Producer Coventry City of Culture Trust
Brodie Sim, Artist and Producer
Georgia McDowall, artist and student
Manca Bajec, artist and researcher
Ailie Crerar, Producer
Jen Skinner, Director, Screen Argyll
David Crump, Head of Business Incubation, Cockpit Arts
Karen Phillips, Director, North Lands Creative
Nadja Dias, Independent Producer & Consultant for Claire Cunningham Projects, Scottish Dance Theatre
Claire Cunningham, Artist
Shân Edwards, Chief Executive, Edinburgh Printmakers
Nick Sweeting, Producer @ Improbable and with Javaad Alipoor
Ian Stephen, writer and artist
Audrey Whitty, Board, North Lands Creative
Amanda Catto, Head of Visual Arts, Creative Scotland
Dot Sim Designer & Maker
Kesia Guillery, Co-director of Theatre Anima/Research Assistant for ZU-UK
Frances du Pille, TV Producer
Kirsty Ogg, Director New Contemporaries
Murdo Macdonald, Emeritus Professor of History of Scottish Art, University of Dundee
Stephen Jameson, Principal & Artistic Director, Mountview
Sophie Lepinoy, Designer and Lecturer, University of the Arts London
Alexander Whitley, Artistic Director, Alexander Whitley Dance Company
Faye Hackers, Programme Leader, Contemporary Textiles BA (Hons), University of the Highlands and Islands
Maria Oshodi , Artistic Director and CEO, Extant
Lea O’Loughlin, Co-Director, Acme
Adie Mueller, actress and theatre maker
Andy Brydon, Creative Director, Curated Place
Declan Baharini, Director, International Newcastle
Eileen Bellot, Writer Director
Despina Tsatsas, Executive Director and Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director - Young Vic
Ayse Koklu, Education Coordinator - Sound and Music
Janet Gibson, Convenor of the Opera All Party Parliamentary Group
Nic Millington, CEO - Rural Media Charity
Gavin Barlow, CEO/Artistic Director, The Albany
Kenny McGlashan, CEO, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland
Kay Michael, theatre-maker and Co-Founder - Culture Declares Emergency
Beth Watton, Artistic Director, Poplar Union
Sara Hill, Director, Theatre Delicatessen Ltd
Laura Simpson, Director, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
John Martin, Artistic Director, Pan Intercultural Arts
Karen Poley, Director, KP Projects CIC
Joon Lynn Goh, Organiser, Migrants in Culture, Asia Art Activism.
Sharna Jackson, Author and Artistic Director, Site Gallery
Fanny Dulin, Executive Director, Exchange Theatre
Kelly Large, Tutor, Curating Contemporary Art Programme, Royal College of Art
Efrosini Protopapa, Choreographer and Reader in Dance, University of Roehampton
Delma Tomlin MBE, Director, National Centre for Early Music
Sean Egan, arts lawyer and trustee
Lina Johansson, Artistic Director, Mimbre
Silvia Fratelli, Artistic Director, Mimbre
Lissy Lovett, Executive Director, Mimbre
Alison Surtees Anna Lindh Foundation UK Network Coordinator In Place of War
Ruth Daniel, Artistic Director and CEO IN Place of War
Clarisse Trognot, in charge of PR and student in political science, Exchange Theatre
Dr Andrew McNiven: artist; Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture, Zeppelin Universität, Friedrichshafen
Judith Liddle, Event Producer, Edinburgh Printmakers
Beth Bate, Director, Dundee Contemporary Arts
Maddie Maughan, Independent Creative Producer
Brandi P. Clark, Executive Director, Glass Art Society and Board member for North Lands Creative
Paula Morison, artist
Victoria Taylor, Head of Programmes, Cardboard Citizens
Anita Clark, Director, The Work Room, Glasgow
Sarah Gee Chief Executive, Spitalfields Music
Tom Davies, Chair, Upstart Theatre
Barbara Gardner-Rowell, Artist
Lexie McDougall, General Manager, Streatham Space Project
Gill Lloyd, Chair of People Show
Leonor Lemee, Actor and Theatre-maker
Chloe Gilgallon, Artist & Freelance Arts Administrator
Karen Gallagher MBE, Freelance Creative Consultant, Karen Gallagher & Associates
Dan Bates, Chief Executive, Sheffield Theatres
Robert Hastie, Artistic Director, Sheffield Theatres
Chris Rawcliffe, Artistic Director, Forma Arts & Media
Simone Stewart, Head of Programme, The Barn (Woodend Arts Ltd)
Neil Barker, Architect
Simon Chatterton - Independent Producer and Strategic Lead 101 Creation Space
Katrin Sohns, Head of Programme, Goethe-Institut London
Ottilia Ördög, Managing Director ,Beat Bazaar Projects Ltd
Anna Kritikou, Co-founder, Monamas Theatre Company
Chrysanthi Avloniti, artistic director, Monamas Theatre Company
Donna Meierdiercks, Producer, Alexander Whitley Dance Company
Katherine Warman, CEO and Creative Producer, Andro & Eve.
Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director, Kiln Theatre
Daisy Heath, Executive Director, Kiln Theatre
Dylan Frankland, Theatre Maker and Actor
James Lingwood, Co-director, Artangel
Nicholas Till, Professor of Opera and Music Theatre, Universities of Sussex and Amsterdam
Sarah Whatley, Professor of Dance and Director, Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University
Tim Spooner, Artist
Janette Kerr, Artist , Hon RSA, PPRWA
Gareth Evans, Event Producer & Curator (Whitechapel Gallery)
Steve Freeman, Bryony Shanahan & Roy Alexander Weise (joint Executive), Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
Emma Cameron, Independent Producer
Shona Reppe, Theatre Maker
Liz Gardiner, Director, Fablevision and Doctoral Researcher with University of the West of Scotland
Hamish Walker Rhodes, Director, Clyde Docks Preservation Initiative
David Dolan Martin, Theatre Consultant and Producer
Leslie Huckfield, Lecturer, Glasgow Caledonian University
Richard Chappell, Choreographer and Producer, Richard Chappell Dance
Hamble Wallace, freelance arts fundraiser
Alison Sterling, Producer, Ignition Films
Emily Morgan, Producer, Quiddity Films
Rupert Lloyd, Producer, Noor Pictures
Adrian Jackson, Artistic Director, Cardboard Citizens
Christine Hartland, Producer, Patchwork Productions
Daniel Titley, Filmmaker,Researcher
Verity Wislocki, Producer, Wislocki Films Ltd
Emilie Jouffroy, Producer, Elation Pictures Ltd
Claire Goddard, Development Director, Southbank Sinfonia
Alex Thiele, Producer, 65 Wilding Films Ltd
Emma Hannon, Director (maternity cover), Somerset House Studios
Jimmy Fay, Artistic Director, The Lyric Theatre, Belfast
Chris Curling, Producer, Zephyr Films Ltd
Alexandra BLue, Producer, Bluebird Productions
Wendy Griffin, Producer, Selkie Productions
Anja Meinhardt, Artistic Director, Justice in Motion
Sarah Kemp, Artistic Director Théâtre Sans Frontières
Paula Vaccaro, Producer, Pinball London Ltd
Susanna Cappellaro, documentary filmmaker, writer, actress
Michael Chamberlain, Producer, Tearaway Films Ltd, Luton
Ryoko Akama, Artistic Director (ame C.I.C.), Huddersfield
Elizabeth Benjamin, Producer, Elizabeth Benjamin Ltd
Natalie Taylor, Artist, Development Officer for National Galleries Scotland
Kevin Dagg, Artist and Art College Lecturer
Elizabeth Lynch, MBE Independent Arts Advisor.
Steffan Jones-Hughes, Director, Oriel Davies, Newtown and all staff and creative team
Christine Payne, General Secretary, Equity
Miriam Nash, Writing Programme Leader (Schools), Ministry of Stories
Richard Heason, Director, St John’s Smith Square
Sandra Whipham, Director, Doc Society
Ása Richardsdóttir, Secretary General IETM - International Network for the Contemporary Performing Arts
Turan Ali, interim Artistic Director, Theatre Deli
Molly Sharpe, Producer, Fuel
Alessio Antoniolli, Director, Gasworks and Triangle Network
Zadoc Nava, Gholam Films
Martina Murphy Director MDI, Artistic Director LEAP Festival
Charlie Coffey, Residencies & Awards Programme Manager, Acme
Jeremy Wong, Operations and Finance Officer, Improbable
Liz Rosenthal, CEO & Founder, Power to the Pixel, Curator Immersive, Venice International Film Festival
Francesca Pich, 2D Animator
Naomi Tattum, Freelance Producer & Artist
Sam Corcoran, Communications & Sales Co-ordinator, Sound and Music
Emanuela Evangelisti, Communications Manager, OutdoorArtsUK
Marine Thévenet, producer, L’Amicale & Les Tombées de la nuit, France
Juliette Desorgues, Curator of Visual Arts, MOSTYN
Vijay Patel, Performance Artist
Rebecca Leach McDonald, artist & Co-Director, Climate Museum UK
Sophie Venner, independent producer, Z56Film
Elhum Shakerifar, Producer and Curator, Hakawati
Robbie Synge, Artist
Julia Nottingham, Producer, Dorothy St Pictures Ltd
Chiron Stamp, Artist
Rachael Clerke, Artist
Leopold Benedict, Independent Theatre Maker
Robert Bentall, Principal Lecturer, Leeds College of Music
Chris Goode, artistic director, Chris Goode & Company
Cheryl Jones, Director, Grand Union
Jasper Llewellyn, Artist, workshop facilitator
Rosana Cade, Artist
Christina Birt, Director, All Ways Making
Laonikos Psimikakis-Chalkokondylis, Performer and Composer
Liz O’Neill, Artistic Director, CEO, Z-arts
Gemma Riggs, Artist and Filmmaker
Jenna Omeltschenko, Touring Partnership Manager, National Theatre
Sarah Warden, Producer, Action Hero
Oriana Franceschi, Programme Manager, Sheffield Creative Guild
Lydia Bassett, Executive Director, Mid Wales Opera
Fiona Harvey, Consultant
Ivana MacKinnon, Producer
Guy King
Minty Donald, Artist and Professor of Contemporary Performance, University of Glasgow
Vanessa Grasse, independent dance artist
Je Ahn, Founding Director, Studio Weave
Rebecca Manson Jones and John Holmes, Artistic and Executive Directors, Spare Tyre Theatre
Becky Edmunds, Independent Filmmaker
Anna Harwich, Actress
Louise Ahl, Artist
Simone Kenyon, Artist
Zoe Katsilerou, Independent Dance Theatre Artist, Voice Coach and Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts at Leeds School of Art
Kerry Rush, Positive Change Arts Projects, Creative Practitioner
Heather Marshall, Artistic Director, Creative Electric
Michael Kitchin, Assistant Producer, The Place
Eleanor Perry, Dancer, Choreographer, Co-Director of Thick & Tight
Simon Russell, Euronoize Contributor, University of Reading
Emiliano Battista, Film Editor
Dr Lisa Alexander, Artist, Curator, Writer
Ant Hampton, Artist
Rahel Vonmoos, independent dance maker

D6 has been working with the artist Henna Asikainen since 2016. This ongoing artist-producer relationship has evolved through a research residency, commissions, events and plenty of discussion around co-production and deep engagement between artist, producer and a broad yet transient community of participants.

In recognition of World Refugee Day 2019, Henna reflects upon her practice, cultural democracy and the latest iteration of her ongoing participatory project with newly arrived communities at the National Trust site, Wallington (Northumberland, UK).

Andrea, D6: To start, it may be interesting to re-introduce your practice and motivations around engagement and participation as a collective cultural inquiry, specifically with newly arrived communities and ethnically diverse groups in the region…

Henna: My principal interests as an artist are in questions surrounding landscape justice, migration and the human relationship with nature, and the complex social and ecological issues emerging from this relationship. These interests were, to some degree, already a part of my practice when I lived in Finland but have been brought into sharp focus by my own experiences as a migrant. Understanding what it means to be displaced from one cultural, social and ecological environment and then to establish a home in another, which is fundamentally different, has been the basis for the emergence of my recent projects.  These have combined aspects from my earlier practice - the site-specific elements for example - with an explicit exploration of the communal and social experiences of migrants and with the participation of those specifically with a refugee and asylum seeker background. 

It is often the case that refugees and asylum seekers are housed in the most deprived parts of a city and often in inadequate housing and with limited financial support. Effectively they are confined to the urban spaces in which they are housed by a lack of both economic and cultural resources. Means to access the rich natural and cultural environment of their new living environment is too often a rarity, closing down the opportunities of a common ground for a dialogue with the host community.  My recent participatory projects have sought to address this aspect of the migratory experience - a sense of being ‘out of place’ and alienated; searching for belonging and beginning to lay down roots through the discovery of environment, culture and natural landscape.

In my experience, this ability to access and experience landscape and nature provides an important psychological and emotive link between countries of origin and destination, even when they present very different characteristics. Finding my way into the countryside, experiencing the landscape and nature that surrounds this city (Newcastle) helped me to put down roots – to begin to feel at home.  My projects have been built around this experience and sharing what I have discovered about building a sense of belonging.

Andrea, D6: Thinking about natural and cultural heritage more widely, it begs the question ‘Who is it for’? What are the possibilities of artistic methods seeking to democratise shared environments such as cultural sites and natural spaces? How is this methodology applied within your projects?

Henna: Democracy is only democratic when people are able to access its processes and structures on equal terms. Education, experience and a mutually inclusive dialogue are a critical part of this preparation.  

Basically, these participatory art projects have been grounded in beginning this dialogue - they make opportunities to talk and share, to take meals together, to become friends in the context of the beautiful rural environments of the North East.  This has provided the participants with the means to step outside of their immediate location and to collectively explore what constitutes a sense of belonging in a different context. 

In these difficult times, the idea and experience of migration is of particular concern to creative and cultural practitioners whose home and work has always had an international dimension. Our cultures have never been more extended and accessible to people as technologies begin to break down the barriers to engagement and participation. Brexit and the deeply disturbing resurgence of xenophobic, populist and fascist ideologies, the policy of building barriers and closing borders makes it especially important to bring forth and highlight the positive impact of migration and for us to begin again to develop positive values based upon hospitality, friendship and neighbourliness. And although it is not a fashionable concept - too vague and unprofitable - we need to once again find that which is beautiful between us. To take beauty seriously. To make it political.

Reflecting on the nature of beauty, the Finnish philosopher and environmental aesthetician Yrjö Sepänmaa wrote, 

Beauty is not only a surface property, a matter of appearances, but the beauty of processes.

I think this is very much applicable to my previous participatory commissions produced by D6, Forage and Delicate Shuttle. It is political in the sense that it is made together by people. It is process driven in the sense that an approach that engages with and foregrounds the effects of shared environmental experiences and the possibilities of those as a means to build dialogue and friendships has been applied and evaluated and reassessed and reapplied.  That a commonality is emerging that is not culturally exclusive but makes a space for new voices and that recognises the positive contribution of these experiences and their saying. 

The beauty of this ongoing project reaches far beyond the notion of exhibition as a destination for art projects. Each and every person who was part of the work has brought to it their politics, their history, their culture and customs, their friendship and hospitality, to the places we visited, the walks and conversations we had, everything we encountered and shared together. This process draws an outline of human relationships and connects us all in the great task of protecting and appreciating that shared outline. It delineates what is possible.

Andrea, D6: Wallington was one of the earliest sites gifted to the National Trust by the Trevelyan family. In April, you facilitated a site visit there with over 30 participants who were mainly newly arrived individuals and families, currently residing in and around Newcastle. Co-hosted by National Trust staff, the group experienced the grounds and river walk in addition to the former home and art collections of the Trevelyans.

As part of these series of walks and visits to heritage sites, you gently interplay questions and observations around the consumption of a constructed British heritage versus the ‘undocumented’ heritage, instrinsic to the evolution of the site or place itself but so often hidden or downplayed as part of the narrative. You guide participants around these complexities through an open and personal response to each site.

Why Wallington this time around?

Henna: Wallington Hall is particularly interesting in its diverse collection of art and curiosities from around the world - a collection that represents colonialist sentiments - that presents the world as an object to be interrogated and owned. A fascinating series of paintings commissioned for Wallington by the Victorian artist, William Bell Scott reminds us of the diverse groups that have made the history of Britain and its engagement with the world.  The paintings show us that Britain’s history has been made at home and abroad. The people who made Britain have always been migrants - from those who first occupied the land after the last ice age to the North African and Dacian regiments of the Roman army who lived and walked on Hadrian’s Wall - to the idea of Britain as the workshop of the world in the industrial revolution and the expansion of military and cultural resources to enforce and build markets for the products of this workshop.  Wallington is a sort of cabinet of curiosities that exemplifies both that history and the development of an idea of the world as something to collect, encounter and categorise - to make elsewhere different and ‘exotic’ - foreign.

The National Trust is a national collection of ‘heritage environments’ that have come to exemplify this ‘Britishness’. This makes them interesting places to visit in themselves. They are also extraordinary and unique places, and stand in stark contrast to the often deprived and run-down environments that displaced people are sometimes housed in. The gardens are pristine and immaculately cared for. They are points of departure into escapism, in some cases into the fantasies of those who established them as temples to themselves and their ability to shape and contain nature.  These landscapes are steeped in history that often contains traces of the colonial past in botanical and architectural contexts. These traces are images of a selective and acceptable mode of migration and appropriation and can be found in the gardens and interiors – the careful construction of a quarantined past that excludes the inconvenient details.

It is a very powerful experience to visit these places with our diverse group and to think about what is being presented to us; how these spaces seem to be defined through who they are designed and kept for. The making of a space through an opposition to ‘the Other’, through the exclusion of minorities from these idealised landscapes presented as playgrounds for the ‘white’ and wealthy.  We can and must ask questions: How do these spaces position us? Which history is being told? Who owns this history? What does that tell us about our present and its own obsessive nostalgia for that which never was?

Andrea, D6: One of the things that struck me was a simply stated but profound reflection by an older participant from Syria as he showed me images on his mobile phone which he had taken at Wallington, “I never expected to be living in Britain. To be British”. His family are currently separated across three European countries, negotiating new identities. I was moved by this experience and exchange.

Henna: Yes. He reminds us that any of us can become a refugee at any time. You can never be sure what direction life takes. We are all immigrants of one kind or another separated only by historical time.  We need to remember this and locate it at the centre of our idea of belonging and, in remembering and thinking through our own journeys, we need to be hospitable to those who are, right now, engaged in a journey to make a home in a new place.  

#ThereisBeauty

For further information, please visit:  
Henna Asikainen - http://www.hennaasikainen.com

World Refugee Day - commemorating ‘the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees’https://www.un.org/en/events/refugeeday/

Wallington - https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wallington

Images: Wallington, April 2019 (Janina Sabaliauskaite)
​

As an organisation that works with artists across borders, being part of international networks is essential. Especially now.  With the political landscape so uncertain, and the UK's relationship with the rest of the world still unknown, we can draw on our network of friends and colleagues to safeguard and build our future.

In Ljubljana (SI), in early April we represented Res Artis at a meeting of Contemporary Dance Residencies which considered the value of residencies to cities. With a residency programme ourselves this global network of artist residencies reveals new practices and shared opportunities.

From the Europe Jazz Network that our new chair Ros Rigby has been part of, to our longstanding membership of Culture Action Europe promoting the value of culture at political levels, we join networks to create programme and share knowledge, but also to amplify our voices so that our sector can be heard.

D6 Director Clymene shares her thoughts on the importance of networks in the video below, when she was invited to take part in a panel discussion at the Barbican as part of CONNECT! Creative Europe Desk UK Forum on the Value of Networks last September. 

If you are an artist or represent an organisation, why not take a look at some of the European arts networks you could join here.

 
A couple or so years ago longstanding friends and colleagues - Carla Delfos (NL), Mercedes Giovanizzo (ES) and Chrissie Tiller (UK) came together to discuss women, leadership, power and diversity - referencing contemporaneous discussions across Europe and beyond. They are experts in their field and at the helm of pan-European networks, programmes and projects.
 
These were perhaps the kind of conversations that many of us have been having.  Yet they took it a step further pursuing the idea of a space to share, to think and ultimately, to influence:  A European network of women cultural leaders. 
 
In July 2018, D6 was invited to an inaugural meeting of HERstory at the Art Academy in Basel.  The event which took place over three days, brought together producers, artists, filmmakers, academics, public sector officers, politicians and cultural managers operating across Europe. A total of 45 influential women, representing 15 countries.  
 
What were these conversations reflecting?
Why in 2018 we should still be thinking about gender equality in the arts? 
What more could be said and what needed to be done?
 
Immediately, we could identify that the issues are procedural and they are measurable:
 
Equal pay in the UK has been the law for more than 40 years, yet in our sector, women are on average still paid less per hour than their male colleagues. Up to 40% less in commercial galleries and auction houses and up to 14% in our public museums and galleries. 

To this day, three of the oldest cultural institutions in Western world, the British Museum (est. 1753), the Louvre (est. 1793), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (est. 1870) have never had female directors.
 
In the centre of Basel, the hallowed halls of the impressive Kunstmuseum has collections and changing exhibitions. Yet on the floor showing the works of Jasper John, Claes Oldenburg and Jackson Pollock, not a single female artist was represented. “Why have there been no great women artists?”the feminist art historian, Linda Nochlin famously asked in her landmark 1971 essay. Her point was of course that there had been, but centuries of misogyny in the art world meant a lack of visibility and presentation in museum collections and exhibition programmes.
 
This imbalance remains not only in collections in established and publicly funded institutions, but research compiled by the Guardianover the last decade reveals that male artists made up 88% of solo shows at Gagosian 76% at White Cube and 83% at the Lisson Gallery.
 
These are issues of parity and equality that can be measured.  Perhaps quotas could be introduced, inequalities exposed and policies written. This is necessary.
 
But what of the culture that creates these conditions?  What of religion, of class, of commerce and the instruments of nation states? 
 
In a world dominated by a ‘growth is good’ agenda, we questioned where power lies and if these are the values that we want to live by.  We asked about leadership and where the space is for those who do take the risk and achieve creative success, but are rarely rewarded with a prestigious job title or a large pay packet?  Are the heads of institutions and ministries the leaders, or are these slow moving monoliths looking to others and those more likely to take a risk.  Who is the leader here? Where does this leave the artist or organisation whose work connects at a slower or deeper level?  
 
HERstory was an opportunity to explore what we could learn from one other. Our conversations were wide-ranging and cross-cutting from neo-liberalism to the economic crisis, from diversity to inclusion, from heritage to language.
 
As recent graduates, with a fighting spirit, D6’s (then ISIS Arts’) first exhibition in 1992 was for International Women’s Day.  In 2018 things are measurably better, and across the world policies protect, support and promote the rights of women.  
 
So why are these conversations still necessary?  
 
They are necessary because inequality still exists and will continue to do so unless we create a fairer, kinder and more equal society.  This is not just about the what, but also the how. From Serbia to Finland, we represented most of the countries of Europe, yet we did not represent the diversity of Europe.  Is this just about women? The answer is certainly no.
 
So, what next for HERstory?
 
We will continue to have and share these conversations.  Is it a movement, a network or a series of informal meetings?  Perhaps it’s too early to say.  Perhaps the structure is not what is important. 
 
Clymene Christoforou,
Director, D6
July 2018

Let us introduce you to D6: Culture in Transit, the new name and identity for ISIS Arts. From now you will start to see changes in the way we present ourselves.  
 
This story is simple – our old name had become the news, and it was time for a change. We suspect you are not surprised.
 
With our friends and colleagues, we have looked again at the journeys we take with artists and partners to produce our projects and programmes. We have considered local and international communities and the connections we make between them.  We have reaffirmed our belief in the value of the arts in creating fairer, informed and more generous societies.
 
We wanted a name that would be easy to remember and work across cultures. (It resonated with us that D6 is the gate at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam that brings you in and out of our region).
 
We have chosen D6 as a portal to the rest of the world, where cultures meet and exchange and where artists and ideas come together to reveal our complex, surprising and interconnecting lives.
 
We are now D6: Culture in Transit. We hope you like it.

Dear Chi,
 
I’d like to tell you a little story.  We are a small arts organisation based in Charlotte Square in the city centre.  We have been creating projects connecting our city to European and international communities for over 25 years.
 
We have been more successful than most at bringing Creative Europe funds into the city and although we are not a large institution, nor a large employer, we are often in the position of promoting Newcastle as a cultural centre, presenting our programme at international conferences and events.  (In November I will speak on Brexit in Paris, at the Centre Culturel Irlandaise.  My 8th such presentation in the past 18 months. )
 
We know the value of culture in contributing to fairer, kinder and more confident neighbourhoods. We have made great connections all across Europe using art to bring people together.   Newcastle’s international cultural standing is stronger for it.
 
But I am worried.
 
Yesterday’s leaked report on the Tory plans for immigration is, I recognise, not policy, but it generated little response from the Opposition. I am immensely proud of our achievements, yet these proposals would be a disaster for us. Our artists, producers and colleagues flow seamlessly from European state to European state.  They are highly qualified and interesting individuals, yet we can rarely award long-term contracts.
 
I was pleased to finally hear Kier Starmer support the UK’s continued membership of the Single Market. It is vital for our survival. Now we need to hear of the value that free movement brings to our country. It’s not just about fruit pickers or bankers. The cultural sector needs free movement for artists and cultural producers or Britain’s thriving cultural world will slowly die.
 
We are already struggling with the negative press the UK is receiving across Europe, and the blustering jingoism of our chief negotiator further diminishes our reputation.
 
I’d like this story to continue as a story of hope, hope that Labour will show the leadership we need in these damaging times.  Hope that Labour will consider its domestic policy in a European context, where the work we do is as much about creating fairer, safer and more generous societies as it is about free trade. There is so much more to our relationship with the other 27 states than the lining of our pockets.
 
Arts and culture underpin our sense of identity and our understanding of each other, from music to television they reveal the hidden and celebrate what we share. Yet  we are so often overlooked in political debate. The arts play a vital part in our region’s profile in the world. Please help support our ability to keep cultural exchange alive.
 
 
Clymene Christoforou
Executive Director, ISIS Arts, Newcastle