Words of Colour has mobilised its team members and associates to provide a range of virtual 1-2-1 and group sessions, from smartphone filmmaking and structural thinking to conscious isolation and finance for self employed creatives, in response to Covid-19.
[View the full programme here: Words of Colour Presents: Creative Response to Covid-19]
Joy Francis, Executive Director of Words of Colour, said: ‘This is a time of great uncertainty. Covid-19 is having a disproportionate impact on people of colour, which is disquieting on an emotional and spiritual level. Many artists of colour have seen the exacerbation of existing inequalities during the Coronavirus pandemic and, despite the welcomed emergency funding being made available by Arts Council England and other bodies, others have had their R&D money inexplicably pulled, leaving them in limbo.”
Francis continued: “Amid all the challenges and loss, it is also a time of transformation, connection, reflection and reassessment. We want to extend our commitment to writers and creatives of colour by offering a variety of sessions, run by our team and some of our associates that, we hope, will enable ideas and aspirations to take flight and mobilise people, in their often isolated spaces, to know they are seen, heard and valued.”
Suzanne Lyn-Cook, Words of Colour’s Director of Creative Wellbeing and People, said: “We hope this Creative Response to Covid-19 programme supports people’s wellbeing and growth. It will provide an opportunity to experience a sense of being part of a wider creative community, one that has resilience, and is able to positively meet the challenges and opportunities this pandemic is presenting to us all.’
Francis will speak about the programme, and the wider issues impacting on creatives of colour, on BBC Radio London, 5 June 2020, as part of The Scene with Salma El-Wardany and LionHeart.
Help us spread the word on social media by using the hashtag #CreativeResponseC19.