Preview: Doing Things Differently festival

Hosted by Bristol City Council and community theatre performers/enablers Diverse City, this month’s Doing Things Differently festival (Sept 17-18) is billed as a “celebration of equality, diversity and accessibility in the arts”.

The weekend’s centrepiece is Weighting, a high-rig performance by integrated circus company Extraordinary Bodies, which will be accompanied by a mass community choir with BSL interpretation, audio description and touch tours: anyone and everyone is welcome to get involved with the choir, regardless of singing ability. Other acts involved include Bristol’s Cirque Bijou, British Paraorchestra, Firebird Theatre and Misfits theatre company.

Here are Claire Hodgson, CEO, Diverse City; Becky Chapman, executive producer, Diverse City; Jamie Beddard, co-director, Diverse City; and Rachel Adams, the festival’s producer, to tell us more.

How did Doing Things Differently come about?
Claire: Bristol City Council Culture Team asked Diverse City to work with them to create a programme, celebrating equality in the arts where it exists – but also imagining a future where there is a level playing field for all people in arts and culture.
Arts Council England is supporting the festival, and investing in many of the participating artists. We have Bristol favourites Cirque Bijou, pioneering the integrated circus company Extraordinary Bodies with Diverse City; the internationally renowned British Paraorchestra, based in Bristol and going from strength to strength; Bristol Old Vic associate company Firebird Theatre; and the Misfits, who have been breaking boundaries in training, arts and social events for many years. It seemed the right time to celebrate work that is leading change in the performing arts to make it more accessible, representative and interesting!

And what are your aspirations for the festival?
Claire: We want people to be able to see work that is fantastic, precisely because of the diversity of performers and viewpoints. We want to show the world as it actually is.
We want to encourage arts and culture to include all people in society – on stage, behind the scenes, in the audience. We want audiences to be excited by the range of companies and artists moving forward to a fairer society where all people are seen and heard.
Becky: We want Doing Things Differently to increase awareness of what is already happening – and encourage people to do more of it! There is already great work around developing deaf audiences at Watershed; Ujima Radio’s fantastic Collective of Black Artists activates change and creates new work. We want to touch audiences and get them along to see shows that might change their ideas about who the arts are for – but we also want to address artists and those people who decide what work gets made by whom.
Rachel: Our aim is to reach as many people as possible – engaging new and diverse audiences, touching those that think the arts ‘aren’t for them’. It’s about including a wide range of communities in an artistic dialogue; and challenging the arts scene across the city to explore new possibilities.

How do the arts compare with other sectors when it comes to diversity?
Jamie: In many ways the arts are lagging behind other sectors in approaches to diversity. For instance, diverse recruitment in banking is a matter of course, and recognition of the benefits brought by different perspectives, experience and talents is the hard business case. Sport, bolstered by the Paralympic movement, has also made significant strides. But, whilst there are many examples of brilliantly diverse practice in the arts, the sector as a whole has yet to grasp the nettle.
Claire: The 2012 Paralympics were a game-changer in terms of how disabled people are seen. The Cultural Olympiad profiled art that changed people’s minds. However, in real terms, it has become more difficult for disabled people since 2012. Many of the changes to the benefit system are now being seen as challenging basic human rights. Art, music, performance and artists themselves have a role to play – we can imagine, and physically realise, a different way of living. We can create art that shows what the world could look like if there was equality.
Bristol has a long and distinguished history of diversity and equality in the arts and elsewhere. This is the rightful home of this festival because this city really understands that including everyone means that everyone benefits. We can do things differently – it is within our grasp.

Doing Things Differently runs over the weekend of September 17-18, at various Bristol venues. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.doingthingsdifferently.org.uk