Consultancy news /

15th December 2020

A 5 Year Arts Strategy for Jersey

TFCC is excited to be commissioned by the Government of Jersey to undertake a 5 Year Arts Strategy for the island. Jersey, a British Crown Dependency, has a rich and distinctive heritage, beautiful natural landscape, and increasingly dynamic and innovative arts sector. This includes leading arts organisations such as Art House Jersey, Jersey Opera House, Jersey Arts Centre, and a plethora of socially engaged and participatory providers.

The Government has made a commitment to investing 1% of GDP to the arts from 2022. This Strategy will provide the Government with an evidence-based framework and plan for arts and cultural investment, governance and partnership.

Through an extensive consultation process, TFCC will build a shared vision for arts and culture which is closely tied to wider strategic priorities in society, economy and environment.

With luck this will involve a programme of in situ consultations. Alternatively, we will roll out a programme of digital consultations.


www.gov.je

11th December 2020

Future Arts & Culture - Exploring Digital Innovation and International Collaborative Practice

Building on our three-year evaluation of the Future Art & Culture Programme, we are undertaking a targeted research exercise to explore how digital innovators in the arts are working during this year of lockdowns and travel restrictions.

Future Art & Culture is an Arts Council England programme led by British Underground. The model involves investing in a cohort of digital innovators to participate each year at Interactive, the emerging technology showcase at South By South West in Austin, Texas.

With SXSW cancelled in 2020, this research is exploring how digital innovators who would otherwise have travelled to Austin, are developing alternative approaches to collaboration and showcasing. It also identify future opportunities for showcasing and exchange - across different events and formats.

www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/three-more-years-future-art-and-culture-sxsw

9th December 2020

South East Creative Economy Network Creative Work Space Development, UK

TFCC has been commissioned alongside We Made That and Hatch to undertake a to support the South East Creative Economy Network Creative Workspace Master Plan. This is a follow-up activity from the Thames Estuary Production Corridor (TEPC) Creative Estuary project.

The outputs to be delivered are:
1. A proposal and project plan for delivering a Cultural Infrastructure map for the SECEN region
2. If approved, implementation of a Cultural Infrastructure Map
3. Assessment of opportunities and challenges of Creative Enterprise Zones for the Area
4. Co-create with planners and other experts cultural planning guidance for Local Authorities and guidance for SELEP funding panels
5. Creation of an online toolbox of resources for cultural planning
6. A launch campaign and dissemination of findings and outputs.

The creative economy of the SELEP area contributes more to the UK economy than any other LEP area outside of London. As part of the strategic economic plan for the South East, SELEP recognised that building a thriving creative economy is critical to future economic growth.

In response to this, creative sector leaders came together to form the South East Creative Economy Network. SECEN aims to identify barriers to growth and implement practical and scalable initiatives to overcome these barriers. By combining its efforts with local businesses and education bodies, SECEN is working to accelerate growth in the digital, creative and cultural sector in particular through collaboration with strategically positioned geographic hubs, as well as sharing knowledge and scaling-up network activity to add value on both a local and national scale.

TFCC has played an active role in research and strategy across the SELEP region for 17 years, from the first creative industries mapping study in Medway to the recent Cultural and Creative Industries Strategy for Tunbridge Wells.


www.southeastlep.com/good-governance/working-groups/south-east-creative-economy-network/

9th December 2020

3rd Seoul Dialogue on Africa

The Seoul Dialogue on Africa, launched in 2018 with the launch of the Korea-Africa Foundation, is a significant international 1.5 track conference seeking to generate understanding of and interest in Africa Asia collaboration and develop shared approaches to research and policy.

Tom Fleming will participate as a panelist on a session to explore new opportunities for cultural exchanges. Moderated by Hwa-rim Cho, Professor of French Literature, Jeonbuk National University, the session will explore the role of intermediaries in the African cultural sector and creative economy. It will also discuss how digital technology is generating new opportunities for Africa-led innovation in the creative industries.


http://eng.k-af.or.kr/eng/

23rd November 2020

Impact of Brexit on Cultural Relations - Report Launched

Brexit could trigger an artistic hiatus in the UK as cultural organisations struggle with loss of funding and new regulations, according to new research on the consequences of leaving the EU.

A study by researchers at The University of Manchester - undertaken in conjunction with Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy - has predicted that UK cultural organisations will be less likely to commission European artists due to uncertainty over Brexit and its consequences. This will be exacerbated by ongoing restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The research found that a lack of clarity on insurance, visas and travel restrictions, paired with potential complications caused by covid-19, could make European collaborations too risky or difficult to organise.

The study found that that EU cultural funding for England has amounted to 40m sterling each year over the past decade, but there are no current plans to make up for this loss of funding after Brexit. More than 1,300 artistic and cultural projects were awarded a total of more than 345m in EU funding between 2007 and 2016, including in leave-voting areas such as Stoke-on-Trent, Great Yarmouth and Middlesbrough.

The report says that arts leaders in these areas will be forced to rely more heavily on the British Council and The Arts Council England if they want to be able to continue offering a diverse cultural programmes. Cultural administrators can also turn to councils for funds, but culture is not seen as a priority by our local authorities. They already spend less on the arts than they do in any other European country, and this situation is unlikely to improve given the financial difficulties councils are facing across the UK.

Faucher found that arts leaders were attempting to develop their own European links, with partnerships between institutions being considered as a way to access EU funds. As well as these new partnerships, the report says there are other potential ways to continue receiving EU funding post Brexit, including opening sister companies in EU states, cooperating at the municipal level between twin towns and cities, bilateral government schemes and partnerships with European cultural organisations such as the Goethe-Institute or the Institut Francais.

TFCC will continue to uncover and report on the impact of Brexit on the arts and cultural sectors of both the UK and Europe. With our new sister company TFCC Europe set to launch in the coming months, we are determined to work harder than ever to build a European cultural sector based on trust, collaboration and tolerance.


www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/culture-organisations-face-potential-artistic-hiatus/
www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/nov/17/arts-after-brexit-study-warns-of-two-year-cultural-hiatus-in-uk