outspokenarts

All articles by: outspokenarts

Website: http://outspokenarts.org

02/04/2020  

Outspoken______a blank space for artists

In light of the mass outbreak of Corona Virus (COVID-19) and its effects on social gatherings, and the closure of museums, galleries, cafes, bars and other places of congregation across the whole of the UK, Outspoken Arts will take their Spring & Summer 2020 programme online.

This major interruption to our normal ways of working, we know, affects all of us.  It affects our lives, our livelihoods and our social connections.  We are reaching out to say that we wish to support our communities, artists and partners to help keep us all creatively engaged and connected in this most vital of times. 

We recognise that many people, especially those with protected characteristics, will be feeling vulnerable, confused, angry and isolated at this time. 

We want to offer a space for you to ENGAGE, CHAT, CREATE & CONNECT. 

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS
We are looking to support, promote and present work by independent artists.  The gig economy on which many of us rely has all but stalled.  We can offer a digital space to show work, chat, share ideas or meet new collaborators.

Whatever you want to share we are open to it.  We’re creating an open platform for sharing art and experiences. If you’d like a detailed brief just ask the team and we’ll send you some guidance. 

You can share content via this link
(Please note we won’t publish any explicit or obscene content and reserve the right to refuse any entry.)

Please note we are unable to offer any fees or payments at this time due to funding constraints.  We do want to be supportive and hope to offer paid engagements later in the Autumn, Winter, and in 2021, should things return to normal.

If you have any tutorials, workshops or masterclasses you’d like us to share please send us links.  These can include any paid links for your promotion.

We will share our content via our social channels (up to 10,000 followers) via E-flyers | Website | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.
REACH OUT TO US 
outspokenteam@outspokenarts.org
Outspoken Arts Scotland Team

** PLEASE NOTE DURING THIS PERIOD OUR OFFICE TELEPHONE NUMBER IS ON ANSWERING MACHINE ONLY.  **  
We are accepting emails only.
02/04/2020  

Submission Guidelines

Guidelines for those wishing to submit content for our new online programme:

Outspoken_______ A blank space for artists  

Outspoken: Discussion  

The main hope is live talks will keep us connected and talking freely about our experiences by inviting established and emergent creatives to talk on a live platform. Scheduled events on Youtube or Facebook live streams, where an audience can tune in to listen to the talks and have a chance to ask questions in the comment section. Ranging from discussions on topical issues facing the arts, artistic practices, a simple Q&A for the host and guests or a topic of discussion voted for by the audience. 

Outspoken:  Content  

The main point of the video uploads is to keep up connected and up to date on what our artistic community is doing. Short videos can be recorded and edited how the artist chooses, ready for upload and will be put onto Outspoken Art’s social media for our audience and other artists to see what the artist is doing. We want to give stage to artists who may be feeling isolated or disconnected as we aren’t able to conjugate in the normal ways through meetings, exhibition openings or even in shared studios. The content of the videos can be of the artists choosing, as simple as talking about their current practice or due to the uncertainty of these times they may want to discuss issues they are facing due to Covid-19 or how they think this will affect the contemporary art scene etc. The health and well-being of our artistic community is our top priority, so this is an open call to all independent artists to talk, communicate and create. 

Outspoken:  Support  

If you have any tutorials, workshops or masterclasses you’d like us to share please send us links. We want to give stage to your art practice and provide free advertisement for your practice and help promote you during this difficult time, this can include any paid links for your promotion, your artist Patreon account for example. 

Guidelines for submission:  

To make it as easy as possible for the team to platform your submission there’s a few simple guidelines to follow for the digital programme: 

  • Send us your basic Info: Name/ Email/ Social Media Tags/ Artist Website. 
  • Send us your artist Bio: Who are you, what do you do. 
  • Send via outspokenteam@outspokenarts.org 

Specific guidelines for- 

Outspoken:  Discussion  

  • If you would like to take part as one of our guests, please get in touch with what you would like to discuss. 
  • Please make sure you have a functioning camera and/or microphone. 
  • If we decide to host you on our livestream event please reframe for swearing or getting into a heated debate as we want this to be a safe space for all our audiences. 

Outspoken:  Content  

  • Please make sure you have a functioning camera and/or microphone. 
  • Please send us the video submission exactly how you wish it to be presented, meaning its fully edited and ready for upload. 
  • We as Outspoken Arts will have a panel at the beginning of each video and at the end, reading- ‘Outspoken Arts presents…’ & ‘Outspoken Credits + Artist Info’. 
  • We have a wide audience and therefore prefer the videos to be ‘family friendly’ meaning a lack explicit content where possible. 
  • However, we are willing to upload a variety of videos; if your video does fall into an explicit category please put a disclaimer in front of the video and we can age restrict videos where appropriate. 
  • Please also put a disclaimer for any upsetting/distressing content or flashing imagery. 
  • Each video must have a short description of content as the artist wishes it to appear in the description section of social media platform- please keep this short and include any relevant tags. 
  • We accept links to WeTransfer.com, Dropbox or Vimeo to then be sent to our email outspokenteam@outspokenarts.org – Please send us a link to the downloadable video, do not send the full file to our email. 
  • We reserve the right to reject submissions. 
  • We cannot guarantee that every submission will be uploaded as we are expecting a high volume of submissions. 

Outspoken:  Support  

  • Please send us what you wish to be posted exactly how you wish it to appear- we may edit some in the interests of clarity or word count. 
  • We will post your content once as we want to avoid reposting the same content. E.g. One post for workshop advert, one post for artist page- Sent to us in preferably one email. 
28/02/2020  

Call Out – National Theatre Scotland

National Theatre of Scotland Associate Director, Stewart Laing, is looking for people to participate in the development of a new piece of theatre exploring the language of Shakespeare. Stewart is interested to find alternative ways of speaking Shakespeare’s language by working with actors who are trained to speak it as well as people who are not.

We are looking for participants of all ages who don’t have experience of acting or performing, or of speaking Shakespeare, to attend a session on one of the following dates:

Tuesday 17th March                                            4pm – 5pm          

Wednesday 18th March                                       4pm – 5pm

Thursday 19th March                                           4pm – 5pm

Friday 20th March                                                 2.30pm – 4pm     

All participants will be contracted and paid a supernumerary fee of £14.66 per hour and must be eligible to work in the UK.

Sessions will be friendly and relaxed, and will involve sitting around a table and reading a few scenes together.

The group will be made up of 8 participants, some professional actors, and the creative team. Sessions will take place at the National Theatre of Scotland’s base in Glasgow.

The sessions will give participants an insight into the process of an acclaimed theatre-maker creating new theatre, as well as how we might explore Shakespeare’s language in new ways. We welcome everyone who would like to join us, whether or not you have experience of watching or reading plays.

If you’re interested in taking part in this opportunity, or if you’d first like to have an informal chat about what it might involve, please contact Callum.Smith@nationaltheatrescotland.com.

When getting in touch about taking part, please let us know what days you would be able to participate in

The National Theatre of Scotland acknowledges the need and right of everyone connected with the organisation to be treated with respect and dignity in an environment in which a diversity of backgrounds and experience is valued. We will, wherever possible, work towards an inclusive and accessible space for all.

31/01/2020  

Derek Jarman: Protest

Peter Tatchell & Karim Rehmani White

Derek Jarman was a rebel, a maverick and radical artist whose unique and distinctive voice was honed protesting against the strictures of life in post-war Britain. He defined bohemian London life in the 1960s, exploded into queerpunk in the 70s and produced timeless, eloquent works of art in the age of AIDS. This book, co-published with Irish Museum of Modern Art , includes excerpts from Jarman’s own writings and newly commissioned texts from a wide range of contributors including John Maybury, Philip Hoare, Olivia Laing and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell who will join editor Karim Rehmani White to discuss Jarman’s life and work with Gabriella Bennett of The Times.

Saturday 28th March

The Mitchell Library

8:00-9:00pm

Click Here for Bookings

31/01/2020  

There Will be No Miracles Here

Casey Gerald

Growing up gay in an ordinary black neighbourhood in Dallas, his parents struggling with mental health problems and addiction, Casey Gerald finds himself on a remarkable path to a prestigious Ivy League college, to the inner sanctums of power on Wall Street and in Washington DC. But even as he attains everything the American Dream promised him, Casey comes to see that salvation stories like his own are part of the plan to keep others from rising. Intense and shot through with sly humour and quiet fury, There Will Be No Miracles Here is his extraordinary memoir.

Friday 27th March

Mitchell Library

6:00-7:00pm

Click Here for Bookings

 

31/01/2020  

Finding Your Way Out of the Woods

Matthew McVarish and Luke Turner

After seeing actor Matthew McVarrish on television, a child who had recently been the victim of abuse contacted him to ask what had helped him recover. Answering that profoundly important question led to the creation of his book The Truth That No One Tells Teenagers. Luke Turner was living with depression, guilt surrounding his identity as a bisexual man and experiences of sexual abuse, but found refuge in the forest near his home, Out of the Woods is a highly original memoir about the potency of the trees, and of learning to find peace in the grey areas of life.

Thursday 26th March

Mitchell Library

6:00-7:00pm

Click Here for Bookings

 

31/01/2020  

From Albert Square to Parliament Square

Michael Cashman 

Michael Cashman has lived many lives, all of them remarkable: as a beloved actor on stage and screen; as a campaigner for gay rights; as an MEP and as a life peer.

He found his most defining role as Colin in Eastenders, making television history as one half of the first gay kiss ever broadcast on a British soap. His autobiography

One of Them contains glorious nostalgia, wicked showbiz gossip, a stirring history of a civil rights movement, a sorrowfully clear-eyed exposition of Britain’s standing in Europe, and an unforgettable love story.

Wednesday 25th March

Mitchell Library

6:30-7:30pm

Click Here for Bookings

31/01/2020  

Imagine a Country

Val McDermid & Jo Sharp with Jackie Kay, Chris Brookmyre, Louise Welsh, and Phil Jupitus 

Join Val McDermid and Jo Sharp, with their special guests as they dream of a future country. Imagine a Country collects essays and artwork from all spectrums of Scottish life – from comedians to economists, writers to musicians, visual artists to academics, and asks them to share their hopes for a future Scotland. Each guest will present their dream for the future of Scotland – be it abandoning capitalism or reforming education, reforesting our land, revolutionising the care system or focusing on philosophy to bring rational level-headed discussion back to the forefront of politics, before discussing the collection as a panel.

Tuesday 24th March

Mitchell Library

6:30-8pm

Click Here for Bookings

31/01/2020  

Roland Gulliver Introduces…

 

Stewart Ennis and Okechukwu Nzelu  

Roland Gulliver, Director, Toronto International Festival of Authors introduces a pair of strikingly original debut novels.

Blessed Assurance by Stewart Ennis is an exploration of family, friendship, faith, loneliness and grief, and the compromises that sometimes have to be made to remain part of our community.

In The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney Okechukwu Nzelu brings us a funny and heart-warming story set in Contemporary Manchester that covers the expanse of race, gender, class, family and redemption, with a fresh and distinctive new voice and a memorable cast of characters.

Saturday 21st March

Mitchell Library

1:15- 2:15pm

Click Here for Bookings 

31/01/2020  

Queer Intentions

Amelia Abraham

Combining intrepid journalism with her own personal experience, Amelia Abraham searches for what it means to be queer in 2019. With curiosity, good humour and disarming openness, Amelia takes the reader on a thought-provoking and entertaining journey. Join her as she cries at the first same-sex marriage in Britain, loses herself in the world’s biggest drag convention in L.A., marches at Pride pa-rades across Europe, visits both a transgender model agency and the Anti-Violence Project in New York to understand the extremes of trans life today, and meets a genderless family in progressive Stockholm. Thursday 19th March Mitchell Library 6:00-7:00pm

Click Here for Bookings