Activism

Environmental

In April 2019, Artspace Lifespace declared a Climate Emergency. Our move to using stainless steel reusable cups at our venue was part of our drive to imagine and model ways that our organisation can work with others to regenerate the planet’s resources. We also invested in an e-cargo bike with the support of a TravelWest grant to use as a pool resource among our staff and artists. In 2020 in response to the Coronavirus and our concern that the pandemic would increase reliance on cars, we added the loan of the bike through our Artspace Resispace residency programme.

Declaration of Climate and Ecological Emergency ASLSDownload PDF

Bristol DIY Network

Artspace Lifespace is a committee member of The Bristol DIY Network; an independent gathering of arts organisations and arts practitioners, large and small, funded (Arts Council, Bristol City Council) and unfunded, all of whom deliver cultural programmes within the city of Bristol.

We meet regularly to advocate for the sector and to discuss and inform policy, as well as forming working groups in response to specific issues and to develop shared activity. This thinking feeds directly into the wider cultural conversations happening at a high level in the city through the Culture Board.

The group’s members work across different scales and different artforms; some specialise in participatory opportunities, others seek out an audience; some charge, some don’t; and some provide complex programmes that sit across a number of strands. 

Together, we are committed to the successful future of our city, and the creativity of both Bristol and Bristolians. 

Network members include Artspace Lifespace plus:

If you are an independent artist, practitioner or smaller organisation unable to attend a meeting, you can share ideas, views and concerns with us via Theatre Bristol who help to administer the group, or one of the members. Find out more from by contacting Theatre Bristol <eloise@theatrebristol.net>. If you would like to get involved you can sign up to the mailing list via http://eepurl.com/geaSl5

Cultural Spaces Workgroup

From 2017-2019 Artspace Lifespace headed up the DIY Cultural Spaces Work Group (CSWG) which led to the Futur Ville summit. The Cultural Spaces Workgroup is now a shared slack group managed by our friends at Bricks.

In this section

The Inclusion Project

In 2017 Artspace Lifespace and sister company Invisible Circus received funding from Bristol City Council Imagination Fund to develop a strategy to make our spaces more inclusive and we embarked on The Art Of Inclusion. Two years later Ngaio Aniya with the support of a volunteer Inclusion Team launched the halt harassment campaign – a campaign emphasising that harassment is a societal problem that needs a citywide framework in place to tackle exclusionary behaviour. 

In Feb 2020 The Inclusion Team shared the draft of the Halt Harassment framework to standardise how incidents are dealt with, so that the process when a complaint is made is clear, consistent across venues, and ensures that everyone is heard and safe.  To be effective, a shared framework such as this will need to be implemented through promoters, venues and artists (as well as other spaces such as universities and workplaces). It also needs to take into account what happens when alcohol/drugs are involved and inhibitions are lowered as a result. 

If you’d like to get involved in the Art of Inclusion and / or the Halt Harassment campaign you can email Caroline on inclusion@artspacelifespace.com