Almost 30 theatres, venues and other arts organisations in the West Midlands of England have signed the More Than a Moment: Action with and for Black Creatives pledge to make ‘radical and permanent change’ to help people of Black heritage erase iniquities in the creative industries.
Published on 29 October, the pledge includes calls to action over areas of recruitment, pay, organisation and leadership to break down and rebuild a system which, they say, has, ‘for too long kept black artists and creatives from achieving their potential.’
Since June, a task force of black creatives have been working with the leaders of these organisations to design the pledge and the attached ‘programme of radical listening, reflecting and revision.’
A significant array of the West Midlands’ most prominent arts organisations have signed up, including the Birmingham Opera Company, the Warwick Arts Centre and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The regional arts body, Culture Central’s board member and theatre producer Elizabeth Lawal instigated and coordinated the project.
Lawal commented, ‘More Than A Moment began with a vision to make tangible change with and for the Black creative workforce. This process has been led with so much care and attention and passion from the More than a Moment working group, Black artists, creatives and professionals, we know that this is only the starting point, but what a great way to begin. This model can now be used to create co-designed solutions, for everyone and anyone. A huge thank you to all the contributors to this process.’
It is hoped that the work done will become a blueprint to eradicate systemic inequality across the West Midlands arts sector.
The full list of signatories can be found here.
