Agenda item - The World Reimagined

Report of the Executive Director Economy, Environment, & Culture (Copy Attached).

RESOLVED:

(i) That the committee authorised officers to negotiate with The World Reimagined organisers to determine implementation, project delivery and levels of support as appropriate.

(ii) That the committee authorised officers to commit up to £160,000 of funding over the course of 2021/22 and 2022/23 to the national programme and to a programme of work involving local communities and organisations in the city.

(iii) That the final decision on becoming a partner was delegated to the Executive Director of Economy, Environment and Culture, subject to agreement on a project plan for The World Reimagined in Brighton and Hove.

25.1 The Chair invited the Arts Development Manager to introduce the report.

25.2 The Arts Development Manager introduced the report starting page 51 of the agenda.

25.3 Councillor Simson was informed that:

·       £50,000 makes up core costs to the World Reimagined organisers, and £35,000 is underwritten by the Council in case the sponsorship doesn’t happen.

·       £50,000 has been pledged towards the local grants scheme.

·       £25,000 has been pledged towards the legacy of the project.

·       Feedback from key stakeholders from the BAME Community in the city is positive about the project and they see it as a good opportunity to work with and educate the community.

·       The organisers will be including nationally recognised artists, but also local artists as well.

·       The underwriting of the cost has only been put in place as a backup.

25.4 Dennis Marcus (Co-Founder of the World Reimagined) made the following points:

·       £70,000 of sponsorship will be obtained across the city.

·       Brighton and Hove will be one of 8 cities involved in the project.

·       The funding for the project will ensure that 2 primary schools in the city will have an artist residency for 2 years.

·       School bursaries can be made available for those schools who may need help having their own globe sculpture.

25.5       Stephanie Prior raised the following points:

·       Black cultural events in Brighton and Hove are very small and often locally led, and there is huge opportunity to create events as big as Pride to create opportunities.

·       There is more that needs to be done on a local level to lead on the anti-racist initiatives instead of external projects.

·       The history of slavery isn’t the best starting point for the project in terms of a marketing perspective.

Ella Phillips responded with the following points:

·       The community program is about supporting local organisations for cultural events.

·       Budgets will be provided by next year to start creating local events.

·       The slavery aspect is a small part of the project and emphasises the present and future.

Dennis Marcus raised that sculpture trails build huge public engagement.

25.6       Stephanie Prior raised that she was unsure what the focus of the project was, and that there have been conversations about cultural offerings such as a carnival in the city, but that there is an issue in how local community groups are communicating with the Council, and that the project is moving too fast leading to disenfranchisement, explaining why some of they key leading Black community groups were not at the Community Advisory Group to discuss the project.

25.7 The Committee voted on the recommendations and they were agreed, with Councillors Simson and Brown voting against.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the committee authorised officers to negotiate with The World Reimagined organisers to determine implementation, project delivery and levels of support as appropriate.

(ii) That the committee authorised officers to commit up to £160,000 of funding over the course of 2021/22 and 2022/23 to the national programme and to a programme of work involving local communities and organisations in the city.

(iii) That the final decision on becoming a partner was delegated to the Executive Director of Economy, Environment and Culture, subject to agreement on a project plan for The World Reimagined in Brighton and Hove.