Cultural Production in the Pandemic Age

It is 13:30 in Oslo. I am sitting by my kitchen table in my one-room apartment and from a tiny window on my computer screen. A woman is reading a poem from her house in the UK. Several people have tuned in through their webcams, listening to her while she reads. The experience feels intimate and personal because although the performer is far away from my physical location, her art is located in my home.

Writer, Katja Fjeld reflects on her experience of the No Jobs in the Arts Fringe Festival.

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‘De-Risking the Arts’

“The whole festival felt collaborative, it wasn’t simply a case of showcasing early-career creatives in the East Midlands but rather a chance for those delivering workshops to trial ideas, and those attending the talks and workshops to gain confidence, skills and the ability to network. It was, indeed, a risk free way to gain experience in the arts.”

Writer, Kellymarie Palfrey reflects on their experience of the No Jobs in the Arts Fringe Festival.

Header image: Donna Briscoe-Greene by Joe Westley

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How to: Live Documentation - Joe Westley

Northampton based photographer, Joe Westley hosts a talk on documenting live performances and artistic events. He reflects on his professional experience and offers some hints and tips on creative documentation. Anyone interested in capturing creativity though a lens will love this talk. The presentation is followed by a short Q&A.

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Collecting Creativity: Leicester and Zines

A panel discussion with Leicester Zine Library's (LZL) Courteney Campbell, Anoushka Goodwin, and Jack Squires. The conversation centres on LZL’s collection and what zines can do. The LZL team showcase some of their favourites from their collections and talk about how they hope to develop as a project. This talk will be of interest to anyone who loves zines or is interested in creative publications. The panel discussion is led by Charlie Collins, the project coordinator of Derbyshire Zine Library.

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Curating the Region: Amber Jesson and Jenny O'Sullivan

Amber Jesson and Jenny O’Sullivan discuss their experiences working as early-career curators in the East Midlands and beyond. The curators talk about their creative roles, themes they are interested in, their routes into the arts, and why they think it is important to collaborate with emerging creatives. This talk may interest those wanting to look at the visual arts from a fresh perspective and networking with a new generation of curators.

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What can we do for you? - No Jobs in the Arts and Elizabeth Hawley-Lingham

No Jobs in the Arts ask ‘What do early-career artists/curators/producers want and need from us?’ with Elizabeth Hawley-Lingham. This talk is a live evaluation of their projects. With this dialogue, they want to think creatively about how they evaluate a project by opening the learning process to others. This event might be of interest to anyone who plans creative events or wants to help shape the future of No Jobs in the Arts.

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Double Crisis: Covid and the Mental Health System, Artist Talk with Sarah Woolf

Artist Talk with Sarah Woolf about her video work, Double Crisis, for No Jobs in the Arts Fringe Festival.

Content warning: mental health In this short artist talk, 25mins, we chat to Nottingham-based photographer and artist Sarah Woolf about 'Double Crisis': a series of work that captures and exposes some of the harsh realities facing people with mental health issues during the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst acknowledging the potential for change and ‘recovery’.

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Why Volunteer in the Arts? - Jenny McKenzie and Chris Boote

In this talk, creative practitioners Chris Boote (Surface Gallery) and Jenny McKenzie (The Green Man Gallery) discuss their experience of volunteering in the art industry, and how their experiences have shaped their creative careers. The event covers learning opportunities experienced by the panel and why they continue to volunteer in the arts. This talk may be of interest to those who want to gain experience within the arts.

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Happy Chances - Chloe Henson

Working off the idea that you need to do a good few ‘bad’ drawings to get to the one you’ll love; this workshop pushes you to start to ignore the perfect and just go for it. Using a series of drawing exercises, Chloe will help you to follow your instincts and start building the basics of your illustrative style. Drawing exercises will include timed drawing, drawing with abstract shapes and drawing from memory. You should hopefully leave the workshop inspired to look for those happy chances.

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2020: Year in Review

2020 has certainly been a year to remember. A challenging time for people all over the world, and particularly for the creative industries and we do not underestimate the terrible toll it has taken on lives and livelihoods across the UK. However, from closures and cancellations, new ideas and formats emerged. We have seen the most incredible adaptability and versatility across the creative sector. Artists and cultural communities have rallied together and made some amazing things happen, from online festivals and exhibitions, to campaigns like #artistsupportpledge and #portraitsfornhsheroes, the resilience has been amazing. So as we approach the end of this unforgettable year, we thought we’d share a round up of our 2020 projects and news.

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ArticleUK New Artistsmagazine, M3
The Art of Working (Internationally): Ryan Boultbee

We are pleased to share the third film in this series commissioned in partnership with Eurodesk UK as part of Eurodesk’s Time to Move 2020 campaign. Ryan Boultbee was one of the artists that UKNA took to Shanghai for Artshake 2019 with Yiyuan Tang Museum and Seojung Art Centre, Seoul - what an adventure that was! Hear more about Ryan's search for hidden treasures in the sprawling abandoned factory site in China, as well as Ryan's creative process and practice.

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The Art of Working (Internationally): Saziso Phiri

UKNA is delighted to share the second in a trio of short films commissioned in partnership with Eurodesk UK, as part of Eurodesk’s Time to Move 2020 campaign.

Here, we meet Producer and Curator Saziso Phiri. Saziso is the Curator for UKNA City Takeover: Leicester 2021; founder of The Anti Gallery; founding member of SHEAfriq Collective; part of the organising team for Nuart Festival, Norway; and has recently been announced as Curator in Residence at City Arts Nottingham.

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ClickForTaz: In Conversation

UKNA catches up with spoken word poet and YouTube creator, ClickForTaz, who has been the subject of a recent YouTube 'Spotlight' documentary. In the documentary, Taz reflects on her difficult school years. She returns to her high school 10 years on, to inspire the students in year 7 with a spoken word performance, meeting key inspirations along the way, including Casey Neistat and poet Suli Breaks.

Here, UKNA and Taz discuss the catharsis of writing poetry; the impact of creativity on mental health; and Taz's inspirational message to young people.

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FilmUK New Artistsmagazine, M2
The Art of Working (Internationally) - AJA

UKNA is delighted to share the first in a trio of short films commissioned in partnership with Eurodesk UK, as part of Eurodesk’s Time to Move 2020 campaign.

The Art of Working (Internationally) is a series of short documentary films featuring interviews and work from three UK artists. The interviews focus on the influence and impact of having international experiences either through festivals, exhibitions, performances or residencies.

The first film features AJA, who discusses her practice, collaborations, and reflects on her experiences of performing at CTM Festival at Berghain and working with Sounds Queer in Vienna.

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The Viewing Room: In Conversation

To celebrate Leicester Art Week and the launch of The Viewing Room, Michelle Bowen, Director of UKNA is ‘in conversation’ with Curator Garth Gratrix, and Leicester-based artist Jarvis Brookfield.

Garth and Jarvis discuss their work and delve into their first experience of curating and exhibiting in a virtual exhibition. A great opportunity to gain an insight into this new world of virtual exhibitions, and to think about what the future holds for this way of working.

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FilmUK New Artistsmagazine, M2