Previous work

IDENTITY, AESTHETICS, ETHNICITY: ‘Speaking Truth to Power – a diversity of voices in theatre and the arts in England'

In March 2008, Hybrid, alongside the Gus John Partnership, was commissioned by Arts Council England to produce a paper sparking a national debate on identity and aesthetics, looking at the terminology we use around ethnicity and the impact that it has.

On the subject, Samina Zahir, the Director of Hybrid, said "The need for this debate recognises our continually changing immigration patterns in Britain, which means that communities can no longer be categorised into a few 'majority' or minority groupings. Art can help us explore how we deal with our shared values and experiences in a climate where identities are constantly fluid, picked up, dropped and shift."

The paper, commissioned by the Sustained Theatre initiative, was one of the outcomes of the Whose Theatre...? report which looked at the long-term needs of the black theatre sector. The report acknowledged the need for a way of talking about black theatre in England with which the artists are happy. The paper takes the form of a written correspondence between Samina Zahir and Gus John and represents a rare epistolary strategic report.

FRAGMENT

In 2007, Hybrid developed Fragment, a project which explored the construction of cultural barriers and questioned why there is often cultural clash in how individuals and groups respond to each other. The aim of the project was to highlight artistic processes through which people might connect with each other from very different backgrounds.

The project brought together twelve artists, six from refugee backgrounds (Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Cameroon, Iran, Togo) and artists from different host communities in the UK (of Irish, English, Caribbean, Nigerian, Malaysian and Pakistani origin).

The aim of the project was to explore, through a process of creative action research, how creative practices might be utilised to communicate and challenge understandings of ‘us’ and ‘them’. The resulting work provides a unique blend of flavours and techniques from the journey and experiences of each artist. The work in progress was shown at the ICA in London. The work produced formed the basis of a series of discussion sessions with different community groupings in Birmingham.

Fragment premiered at Hotel du Vin on Monday January 20th 2008. Featured within the exhibition was a dressing table containing a range of pieces relating to femininity across cultures, a series of short films which questioned how we ‘see’ the world, music composed with international artists, spoken word performances and paintings influenced by corporate logos.

Participatory Arts Development with Wolverhampton Arts & Museums Service and Walsall Creative Development Team

Hybrid developed issue based arts projects throughout Wolverhampton brokering partnerships with Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Wolverhampton Voluntary Service Council, Wolverhampton Adventure Playcentres and a range of voluntary/ community sector groups.

Refugee & Asylum Seeker Arts Agency

Hybrid has been at the forefront in developing work with refugees and asylum seekers in the West Midlands, this has included artists’ development and audience engagement. Hybrid was commissioned by Arts Council England, London the Baring Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to undertake a research study on the subject of arts and refugees in the UK. The report recorded recent history and current environment, and provided an overview of the as well as offering recommendations to the commissioning agents for future development.

For more information on Arts and Refugees and to download a copy of the report Hybrid produced for Baring Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council England London, go to http://www.baringfoundation.org.uk/ArtsandRefugees.pdf 

Cultural Diversity Action Planning Group (CDAPG), ACESW

Hybrid facilitated the CDAPG between April 2005 and June 2007. The group were supported through an intensive period of action research to produce the region’s first audit of diasporic arts and artists. All of those on the group felt that working in this way had had long term benefits. A number of recommendations have come from the report including Hybrid’s highly innovative cultural brokerage.

MLA Cultural Diversity Season

Hybrid worked with MLAWM to produce the first Cultural Diversity Season covering museums, libraries and archives in the West Midlands. The season drew together over 50 events, activities and projects running from October to December 2003. Hybrid worked with event organisers, curators and arts development officers to produce three long-term initiatives covering diverse fields such as Vibes! A History of Urban Music, Stirring Memories an archive/ renaissance project and a rural festivals project drawing in diverse festival forms.