What about What Next?
What Next? Norfolk started in Norwich on 5 March 2014 and meets weekly in Norwich Playhouse Playroom in St George's Street. This page gives you a bit of context. For updated meeting notes and useful links, email [email protected] to be added to the mailing list. The idea, which started in London a couple of years ago, is to create a space in which discussions can take place about what is next for the arts and cultural sector in the face of government cuts and changes in policy. A lot of leaders of organisations felt that they needed to join forces, resources, contacts, skills and experience to help advocate for arts and culture, and to open up the debate on the value of both to our society, in a bigger picture kind of way, and to try and monitor the effects of changes and cuts. This sort of discussion has been somewhat closed down in recent years as everyone has been preoccupied with fighting for survival, looking after their own corner and funding streams, and justifying their own existence, leaving little time to advocate for the greater good. After hearing about the What Next? movement at an Arts Development UK meeting recently, I looked to see what was happening nearer to me as weekly meetings in London at 8.30am were a tad unfeasible. I discovered that there is a What Next? Chapter in Cambridge but also one had started closer to home in Norwich, jointly with Suffolk, convened by Norfolk & Norwich Festival, meeting weekly on a Wednesday 1-2pm with a monthly meeting with both Norfolk and Suffolk together. At the Norwich meetings, a lot of the discussion has been about out how What Next? might work in Norfolk and Suffolk. There are a number of Chapters (20?) popping up around the country and they all work slightly differently. So it was really interesting to hear Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp from The Place tell us about the provenance of What Next?, how it started, how it has progressed - and also what the reason for What Next? is. (see notes later) On their website, there are a couple of videos from the 2013 What Next? conference which explain the roots and ethos of the movement, and they are in the process of updating the rest of their website at the moment - currently there are no employees of What Next? and the aim is to keep it as an informal movement rather than an organisational structure. The London chapter of What’s Next has been able to meet with ministers, politicians and major influencers, and it has to be an opportunity for all of us to make the case for the arts and culture to our councillors and local leaders and get them onside. In Norwich, there has been a lot of discussion about timing of meetings, how often, when they are held, where, who should come, how to get more people there, attracting speakers - and also, it has to be said, what is the point? There seem to be two camps, broadly – those who think that there is no point unless the group has a purpose with tangible tasks and outcomes and those who want a space for conversation and to allow ideas and discussions to grow. There is probably a balance between the two in as much as I really believe that we do need space to think about what we believe and what we want to say about the value of the arts, to hear what others have to say and to learn about what other people know as well as sharing our own knowledge and experience, without being tied down by objectives and purpose. But I also think that there is a real benefit to be had from being able to come together to bring about collective action - something we have not had for a long time - and there is real potential to act as a consultative body for policy makers and as a lobbying force. It is recognised across What Next? that there is a need for the public to understand how they can benefit from more resources for the arts and greater accessibility. This is an opportunity to formulate and reinforce arguments and evidence of the benefits of arts and creativity to life and human potential. Kenneth’s watchword is conversation followed by action and big things start in small circles and their website www.whatnextculture.co.uk has plenty of tips for what we can do to positively advocate. Notes from the 2nd joint Norfolk Suffolk meeting Wednesday 23 April It was the 2nd joint meeting and closely followed the first Suffolk meeting which happened earlier that morning. The main speaker was Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp OBE CEO of The Place, London. He has been involved in the development of What Next? From the early stages He said:
Four main areas of concern/action 1. Olympics legacy was initial driving force - ie What Next? after the Olympics and 2012? What would happen with momentum and also what would happen to funding without the Olympics in the frame 2. Political Advocacy. Perceived need to advocate on behalf of arts and culture in the post-Olympic context, and to act swiftly in the wake of 2012. This needs to be joined up and collective 3. Education - the implications of changes to education system, curriculum and creative education. How can we use our collective knowledge and ability. Particular concern of ROH 4. Public engagement - how do we convince e unlicensed as well as politicians and policy-makers about the value of the arts? And what they would miss without it. If other areas of life are threatened, the public come up in arms eg woodland when the Forestry Commission was threatened but arts are still often seen as elitist and for the well-off without people realising the reach in terms of well-being and quality of life, and how the arts have a fundamental role in the development of human potential.
Some of the issues with What Next? locally
Benefits
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