A Network Approach
In January 2019 we surfaced an appetite among local creatives to form a collective taking cultural action with local people. Informal gatherings over dinners led to increasing collaborative cultural action and projects throughout 2019 and into 2020 which continue to have ripples.
We now nurture an action network, focused on connection, learning and action. Membership is open to all. The network convenes four times a year at Seasonal Gatherings which help deepen relationships, share ideas and different creative experiences. People can be inspired by and take part in creative/ cultural action. They are welcomed and valued for the many forms of creative expression, cultural value and collaborative potential they represent. In 2023 over 100 people engaged in the network. The Gatherings were co-curated by 29 local creatives who showcased their creative process and creative documentation of shared learning from projects, and invited those present to engage in cultural animation and imagining activities.
Organising in a cultural emergency demands leadership from the most diverse array of lived experiences, perspectives and knowledges possible.
We seek to achieve this through an open network of cultural collaborators embracing a plurality of culture making.
What if… we put relationships first?
A collective of local creatives co-design, produce and host Seasonal Gatherings of an open network in Dudley.
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Winter 2022 Gathering: Rehearsing the Futures We Want
featuring We Are Makers, Time to Make, Stitchers in Time, Getting Into Hot Water and Dudley People’s Archive. Invitations to shape Dudley People’s School for Climate Justice, Cultural Ecosystem Vital Signs and a Manifesto for Dudley’s Cultural Futures.
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Spring 2023 Gathering: Cultural Action for Climate Justice
featuring a screening of Giving Voices, a documentary made by young Black artists from Dudley convened through Creart Collective CIC sharing their experiences of racism and discrimination through film, spoken word, music and dance.
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Summer 2023 Gathering: Dudley Creates
an opportunity to find out more about Dudley Creates: a 100 Year Cultural Strategy in Action for Dudley borough, and the action being led by Time Rebels of Dudley during the first year of the strategy. Arts Council England invests £75,000 in this action.
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Autumn 2023 Gathering: Our Cultural Ecosystem
an invitation to creatively map Dudley’s Cultural Ecosystem using found natural materials. Makin the culturaleecosystem more visible and wa s in which local projects and cultuial action connect and support the cultural strategy.
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Winter 2023 Gathering:
featuring a showcase of collaborative work and creative documentation from 66 workshops and activities involving 433 local people, led by 29 locally-based artists and creatives in 2023.
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Spring 2024 Gathering: Vital Signs
sharing collective learning from activities in 2023, the vital signs for flourishing cultural ecosystem which have been catalysed an nourished, and the opportunities this generates in 2024.
Navigation Tool: Roles we can take in a network
There are a multitude of roles people play in cultural ecosystems. We suggest some network roles which involve making collective imagining, long-term thinking, a practice of questioning, and taking cultural action by local people much more possible. Use the Roles Canvas in the Dudley Creates Navigation Guide to reflect on and spark new ideas about roles that you and people around already take on or could take on.
What's your niche in this network?
Who else do you know in the network and what roles do they play?
Who would you like to introduce to the network across these roles?
