Without Walls grows its network for the outdoor arts
Without Walls, a network of over 30 festivals that brings outdoor art to audiences across the UK, are starting 2021 by welcoming three new partners, with Timber Festival, Certain Blacks and The Culture House joining the network and aiming to raise the artistic bar for outdoor arts.
Collaboration is more vital than ever in these Covid times for the survival of the arts and Without Walls includes the UK’s most highly regarded outdoor arts and performance specialists, who will invest £650k to support artists to develop and tour ambitious outdoor projects in 2021.
Certain Blacks, an arts development organisation which was formed to support diverse artists, present performance, live art, music and theatre, challenging the norms of performance and what is seen as diverse. Their work this year will explore ideas around our post-pandemic nation and the idea of being British following Brexit and Black Lives Matter. Timber Festival, also joining this Artistic Directorate, is an immersive festival that takes place in the National Forest celebrating our relationship with the forest through music, art and ideas.
Without Walls also works with companies who create an appetite for outdoor arts in communities without regular arts activity. The Culture House, based in Grimsby, aims to positively impact on everyday life by presenting work in a wide range of indoor and outdoor local spaces.
Outdoor work is currently very important as the arts industry works to rebuild confidence in audiences wanting to attend events. Chair of Without Walls, Josephine Burns, said: ‘Without Walls is an undeniable success story for the UK Outdoor Arts Sector; our collective decision-making model has led to pioneering outdoor work being presented across the country for free. We are delighted to welcome our new partners to Without Walls – these appointments continue to broaden our collective voice and expertise to ensure our work can be even more transformative on a local, regional and national level’.
The Without Walls 2021 programme is due to be announced in March and will be their biggest season to date showing the innovation and resilience of those working in the outdoor arts sector.
