We’re opening 2021 by welcoming two new partners to the network: Certain Blacks and Timber Festival.
Certain Blacks are joining the Artistic Directorate this year – an arts development organisation that was formed to support the growth of diverse artists. They present performance, live art, music and theatre from the creative voices of our diverse society, aiming to challenge the norms of performance and what is seen as diverse. Certain Blacks showcases art from the ‘margins into the mainstream’ and work this year will explore ideas around our post-pandemic nation and the idea of being ‘British’ following Brexit and Black Lives Matters.
‘Certain Blacks are excited to be a new member of Without Walls. The organisation is dedicated to supporting and developing diverse artists and commissioning new work. Without Walls is a leading commissioning and touring organisation with outdoor arts. We hope that through our membership we can support the exciting work that the organisation presents and support new, diverse artists to work outdoors. The organisation is based in Royal Docks in Newham, East London and it is our hope that we can bring outstanding outdoor arts to our community and other diverse audiences across London. We look forward to working with partners, including GDIF, to develop, produce, and present new Outdoor Arts to our audiences.’
Clive Lyttle, Artistic Director of Certain Blacks
Also new to the Artistic Directorate is Timber Festival – it is an immersive and revitalising festival that takes place in the heart of the National Forest celebrating our relationship with trees and forests through music, art and ideas. For one weekend in July, new thinkers, activists, makers, artists, musicians and writers will gather to play, provoke and inspire our complex and rewarding relationship with the natural world. Timber offers the chance to recharge and reconnect. Run by Wild Rumpus, a rural social enterprise working at the intersection of arts and nature, Timber explores their founding principles to take audiences outdoors to reimagine their relationship with the world around them, using the arts to help imagine a more sustainable future. Timber is a joint venture between the National Forest Company and Wild Rumpus.
‘Timber Festival is thrilled to become part of the Without Walls network, allowing this new and ambitious event to benefit from co-commissioning and collaboration opportunities. We’re looking forward to joining with other festivals to help champion work that provokes conversation and debate around how people can live in harmony with the natural world.’
Sarah Bird and Rowan Cannon, Directors of Wild Rumpus producers of Timber Festival
Elsewhere in the network, The Culture House will be joining the Touring Network Partnership. Based in Grimsby, The Culture House aim to positively impact on everyday life by presenting work in a wide range of indoor and outdoor local spaces. Other new partners who have recently joined the Without Walls network include The Arches Festivals in Worcester and Historic England.
Outdoor work has never been more important as the entire arts industry seeks to rebuild confidence in audiences wanting to attend events. Without Walls leads excellence in outdoor arts – commissioning work from the intimate to the epic, which tours to reach large, diverse and new audiences across the country and internationally. The network makes high-quality arts experiences accessible to all regardless of personal, social or economic circumstances.
Images courtesy of Certain Blacks.