City of Openness, Imagination and Originators A Strategy for Bristol Culture @CulturalBristol tom fleming / creative consultancy / Contents Foreword: Why this Matters 3 1. Bristol – a City of Culture 5 1.1 The Challenges we Face 6 1.2 The Opportunities we can Embrace 8 2. Building the Conversation 11 2.2 Three Themes 12 3. A Cultural Framework for 14 Bristol 3.1 Cultural Cultural Leadership Group 15 3.2 Cultural Investment and Infrastructure 15 3.3 Cultural Pathways 17 3.4 Districts of Culture 18 3.5 Cultural Place-making 19 3.7 Unlimited Collaboration 20 4. Next Steps 22 Appendix 1 Investment Options Paper 23 Appendix 2 Four Pillars 23 Appendix 3 Overview of workshops and list of Consultees 24 2 tom fleming / creative consultancy / festivals, and a buoyant creative industries sector. Bristol is an international cultural city, reaching out and connecting with cities, Why this matters artists and audiences across the world. Bristol is a city undergoing transformation, with a youthful population drawn from across the world generating new distinctively Bristolian identities. With Brexit, it Bristol is a city of culture. In Bristol, culture is who people are, what is all the more important that Bristol is open – tolerant and people do, and what people want to be. Culture is every day and for accepting at home and connecting internationally to build the special occasion; at home, on the streets and across every relationships. district. It has been a catalyst for economic diversification and growth, for talent attraction and retention, for inward investment and Bristol is also a city with a particularly principled and socially driven tourism, and for innovation and competitiveness. Culture greatly cultural sector. Its cultural organisations include some of the best in improves the quality of life for people across the city, with cultural the country for engagement, education and inclusion. They operate participation in activities which go far beyond what might be as part of an ecosystem with an increasing number of passionately recognised as ‘the arts’. It provides access to ideas, to community, engaged artists. Bristol is then becoming known as a city that to fun and to employment. It is impactful for confidence, cohesion, positions culture for inclusion, environmental and social health and wellbeing. It is, put simply, the thing that makes Bristol sustainability. and that offers so much potential for Bristol’s future. However, there is much to do if Bristol is to fully embrace a This Strategy is for the city and of the city. It is the culmination of a progressive future. It is a city part-built on slavery which is yet to period of critical discussion and research which has provided a set develop a more inclusive collective memory that fully recognises the of fresh perspectives on the role of culture in Bristol and how culture suffering by so many for the wealth of so few. It is a city of can shape the city’s future. Led by the Mayor, it has been created economic, social and physical disparities, with communities severed with the people and in many ways by the people. It is a new type by poor post-war planning, inadequate transport infrastructure and of strategy where the City Council is a partner alongside others, and housing inequality. where the recommendations of the strategy set out some challenges and opportunities for which we share a collective Like other big cities in the UK, Bristol faces a set of systemic social responsibility. With a steering group of committed people and a and economic challenges. The city has some very successful, wider community of stakeholders drawn from across the city, this is distinctive and prosperous districts where culture has played a key a strategy for an inclusive and ambitious city of culture where role in their transformation. It has a city centre which has embraced everyone has a role to play and where no single organisation owns culture as a resource and shows so much potential to grow into one the city’s cultural agenda. of the best cultural destinations in the UK. But the city centre has not yet reached its cultural potential and some parts of the city Bristol has a very active and high quality cultural offer driven by a demonstrate multiple indicators of deprivation. Such places may cultural sector that includes many individual artists, world-leading feel disconnected, yet every part of the city is very cultural – imbued organisations, brilliant museums, exciting and critically engaging 3 tom fleming / creative consultancy / with its own distinctive cultural identity, housing many different types of cultural practice. As the Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, makes clear, there is a real and pressing need to address inequalities of health, wealth and opportunity in the city, supporting everyone to reach their potential by creating successful places to live, work and play: “…my mission is to make sure the world sees a Bristol where every citizen is participating in our city’s success; and not a Bristol held back by the price of inequality. The city must not succeed only for the benefit of the few, at the expense of the many.” Culture can play a transformational role for Bristol – giving every community in every district a role to play in re-shaping the ways the city talks about itself and is understood by others. It can provide purpose and enhance confidence, connect people across generations, genders and ethnicities; and it can reinvigorate senses of place and belonging. It can also provide jobs, offering pathways into economic as well as socially impactful activities; helping to build a stronger and more inclusive economy for the future. This Strategy identifies how culture in Bristol can deliver a better future for the whole of the city. 4 tom fleming / creative consultancy / - The cultural economy is able to grow and in turn add value to other parts of the economy – such as in the creative 1. Bristol – a City of industries, tourism, digital and science – by providing ideas and experiences that attract people to live, work and play in the city Culture - The identity and experience of the city improves – as a more dynamic, open, distinctive and gratifying place to be. “Bristol is creativity and innovation…if ever there was a British city on the rise, it's Bristol…the south west's largest city has reinvented So what do we mean by culture? itself as a hub of culture and creativity. From Clifton's iconic suspension bridge to Brunel's ground-breaking steamship, the Culture is our lives, identities and communities SS Great Britain, it's a city that's awash with historical interest. But It is the way we see ourselves and our place in the world. It is Bristol is also known for its offbeat, alternative character, and you'll where we live and who we are. It is how we live our lives. It is how find a wealth of art collectives, community-run cafes and music we dress, communicate, eat and drink. It is how we build and venues dotted around – not to mention murals left behind by the decorate our homes. It is how we express ourselves – from music city's most notorious son, the mischievous street artist Banksy”. to sport. It is how we design and inhabit our streets and open (Lonely Planet). spaces. It is how we dress, celebrate, work and play. It is what we do and why we do it. It is who we were and who we are becoming. In Bristol, culture is everywhere. The city itself is a cultural proposition: an amalgam of people and places, memories and identities. Our Strategy is for every citizen to be able to express Culture is Heritage themselves, to feel involved, to be. Get this right, then the whole It is our memories and stories, lived through our friends and city benefits: relatives here and elsewhere. It is what we imagine ourselves to be. It is our possessions and artefacts. It is the built and natural - Communities are less isolated and more connected landscape. It is our story and how we re-tell it. It is who we were - People are happier, more engaged, more active and and who we are becoming. therefore more healthy - Young people are able to more effectively navigate Culture is museums, galleries, cinemas, music pathways from cultural participation at home through school venues, theatres, libraries, festivals and events and college and into employment It is how we record, collect, curate and present our identities. It is - Artists, creative businesses and cultural organisations can how we preserve and bring to life our stories. It is how we perform reach new and larger audiences and markets; and they can our distinctive senses of who we are, what we have and what we access talent that is more diverse and expressive of all that can become. It is how we express our world to others. It is about Bristol has to offer the conscious experience of culture. 5 tom fleming / creative consultancy / it has achieved this bounce in quality and status without the whole Culture is practice city benefiting. Issues here include: It is the applied imagination of artists, writers and performers. It is the (sub)conscious act of making – ideas, text, code, objects, Reach and coordinated provision paintings, sound and vision. It is performance. It is active Despite many incidences of excellent practice, the cultural sector participation. It is innovation and renewal. has struggled to reach and engage people everyone in this complex and changing city. Limited capacity and the challenge of connectiveness are daily challenges. As a consequence, the Culture is industry cultural sector has not yet been able to deliver to the impacts most It is the economic value generated by culture.