The Shift Norwich home page

Links to some of the cultural organisations and projects below which the Shift is associated with:

Art in Norwich and Music in Norwich

Art in Norwich and Music in Norwich publications are currently suspended due to the Covid pandemic - back soon!

As well as disseminating a wide range of information about arts and culture in Norwich and surrounding area, The Shift produces two publications and website: Art in Norwich and Music in Norwich which are intended to inform people about music and art in the Norwich area.

As well as print publications twice a year there are websites - click on the pictures

Arts & Wellbeing in the East of England

61% and Smiling was a conference on 27 April 2016 which looked at how the arts and wellbeing sectors can work more effectively together and how arts and culture can benefit people. You can see presentations and films of sessions here

What about What Next?

What Next? is a national campaign to advocate the value of arts and culture. What Next? Norfolk is the local chapter of What Next? and is linked with other chapters in the country.

A-N Paying Artists Campaign
Find out more about the working conditions of artists and to think about how we can improve the situation.

A-N is a member organisation which helps and supports artists. Membership is

If you would like to know more about What Next? read my blog post about it here and visit their website here

Culture White Paper
The Government published a White Paper for Culture, the first for 50 years and only the second one ever. Read it here

Arts Council and policy updates

Watch a slide show and read a transcript about the Arts Council's advocacy for the arts toolkit. Read more here.

Norfolk Arts Forum publishes a really useful list of opportunities each week. Sign up for your own email or look here

Marion Catlin of Culture Shift is an independent representative on the Norfolk Arts Forum Executive so if you have any ideas or concerns which can be passed on to the Forum please get in touch

Changes to NPO Funding in England. Read more

Watch this video by Sir Ken Robinson. He is saying something that is not really new but he explains it with illustrations and in a very coherent way.

About The Shift

The Shift Norwich is a creative consultancy specialising in the cultural sector - that is - arts, heritage and the built environment. Our mission is to improve people's quality of life and the places and communities in which they live, in a culturally sensitive way. We use the arts and creativity as a catalyst for change and to get people involved and excellent design and communications as a way of telling them about it.

We also want to help develop and promote Norwich as a city of culture, particularly the smaller venues and lesser known organisations and individual artists and promoters. So this site is also for people who want to know more about the creative and cultural side of Norwich and its surrounding county of Norfolk, whether you want to live and work here, or get the best out of visiting as tourists. Look for links across the site.

And if you are an artist wanting advice or someone who wants to commission high-quality cultural and creative work, this is a good place to start. Please get in touch.

The Shift has a number of parts which work together to provide a connected and cohesive consultancy service - click on the links above for info.

What The Shift can offer

Tweets by @NorwichCultCity

This is Norwich! It's a very nice city. It's also a UNESCO City of Literature alongside Edinburgh, Dublin, Melbourne, Iowa and Reykjavik

Google calendar of events
This is a public Google calendar of major events in Norwich. It's an annual event overview to help you plan. You can add it to your own Google calendar for convenience.
Click here for a bigger version

Some useful links

8 reasons why Norfolk is cool
Young musician Benjamin Clementine
Astonishing artwork in Norwich
Art in the Undercroft recommended by The Guardian
Open Culture Free cultural resources - films, book, courses

News and blog posts

Check the latest blog posts here

If you like and appreciate my pro bono work you can buy me a virtual coffee using the link above.
Thank you!

Current work

Currently working on Art in Norwich, Music in Norwich, Sir Thomas Browne Project and building partnerships with colleagues in Norwich's twin city of Rouen, in particular Ensemble Variances.
Recent work includes a feasibility study for a the development of the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket, and a creative hub in King's Lynn
Find out about more here

Support Culture Shift Norwich

You can support the free work that The Shift does to promote the arts in Norwich through Culture Shift updates and support of individual artists, and small organisations such as Sistema Norwich and Norwich Puppet Theatre by donating - small amounts help a lot

Mind Shift
New! Artist development services including advice, mentoring, career support and how to set up a website! Head over to Mind Shift for more.

Design Shift
Full design service, arts or no arts! Get in touch for an initial discussion

Contact us!

Whatever project you have in mind contact us to see if we can help.
Call 07946 261651 or email info@theshiftnorwich.org.uk

Culture Shift Network
For Culture Shift email updates about what's going on in and around Norwich, sign up here.

The cultural landscape in Norwich

There are lots of really good people and organisations that we like working with in Norwich especially in the independent sector. Have a look at useful links here.

Here's a link to the building on Duke's Wharf where artist Rory Macbeth painted the entire text of Thomas More's Utopia on the outside walls. Amazing!

Sir Thomas Browne

Who is Sir Thomas Browne? The answer - a highly respected physician living in Norwich at around the same time that Samuel Pepys was writing his diaries in London. He wrote several notable works and explored science, religion and curiosities through study. He lived in the Hay Hill area of Norwich where there are two sculptural tributes to him. A new website has just been launched to celebrate his life and to pull together the various sources of information about his work and life. www.sirthomasbrowne.org.uk

Interested in Puppetry? Info about Norwich Puppet Theatre available here

The Shift Norwich supports several local charities including Sistema in Norwich. You can also help this ground-breaking programme which uses music to help transform the lives of children who would not otherwise have the opportunity to play in an orchestra. You can donate to Sistema in Norwich via this link - regular giving of small amounts is the most effective help.

A useful blog for free things to do in and around Norwich - click the link

pic by Facundo Arrizabalaga

Writers support Norwich as England's first UNESCO City of Literature
Norwich has been a UNESCO City of Literature since 2011

Design Shift offers graphic design, communication, PR and marketing services aimed primarily at the arts, heritage and cultural sectors. This is a broad offer and includes branding, interpretation, public realm, signage and information design. Here's a link to more about what we can offer.

Digital Shift - with experience and expertise in the arts and heritage sectors we can work with you to develop ideas and strategies and then deliver web development, social media, bespoke apps, film and sound. Find out more.

Culture Shift is a resource to help develop the cultural offer in Norwich and elsewhere, through creative projects, cultural tourism, place-making, cultural planning, business, artist and audience engagement and development through collaborative working. Get details about Culture Shift here

Culture Shift Network is a free arts and cultural network resource in Norwich. Working mostly by email updates, it is random, informative, casual and useful. To sign up for email updates click here.