08/10/2020
Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art
Plans for the future.
We promised our audiences an update about our future plans for anti-racist action alongside the opening of the new season of exhibitions. Our commitment to making changes continues to be a priority, and is key to how we think about the future of the CCA.
Changing and developing the structure of Goldsmiths CCA and instigating ideas around how we can be a better organisation for people of colour has resulted in a number of concrete plans, as well as the realisation that for change to be sustained and ongoing, the commitment must be both immediate, and requires a sustainable plan for the future. Much of the work for change is slow, involved, and requires decision-making with a lot of people – many of whom have struggled through this difficult time. However, we are very aware that issues pertaining to the inequality suffered by people of colour (and other marginalised groups) are urgent.
We have decided to continue to keep this post, and future ones, on our ‘Channel’. Channel has always been a space for updates and information, and records of past activity. Because our work on this is ongoing we will continue to update what we are doing here, and then highlight significant changes across social media. We can therefore be more open and accountable with a view to our ongoing work, yet still draw attention to new ventures and programming.
This is what we have been doing:
Firstly, all office staff took part in unconscious bias training that addressed race specifically. This type of training is now mandatory and ongoing.
Secondly, we have drafted a working ‘roadmap’ of objectives and strategies for becoming an actively anti-racist organisation. These plans are both immediate, local and urgent, and long-term and far-reaching. Areas of focus include governance, decision-making, recruitment, support for staff, structures of communication across the organisation, ongoing commitments to diverse programming, and nuanced audience engagement.
Thirdly, as our senior team is currently formed of white, British people, we invited a group of non-white people whose work we admire and who work as art/community academics/practitioners, to give their feedback on our roadmap, ideas for the future, working methods and recruitment. We are grateful for their input at a time where the efforts and ideas of people of colour are very much in demand, and we thank them for their very valuable and supportive advice*. We will continue to reflect upon this work with people from different backgrounds from outside of the CCA and Goldsmiths. To help with this, we will regularly work with a number of ‘Associates’. Invited guests drawn from our audience, from Goldsmiths’ wider faculty, artists, and peers will become informal advisory members. They will meet to reflect on Goldsmiths CCA’s work, to offer input and advice, and will be part of a conversation the CCA has with its audiences.*
Fourthly, we have started developing plans for a project that ties together the present work of our Engagement Curator, the wider programming team and input from the aforementioned Associates. Over Spring and Summer 2021 (Covid-19 regulations permitting) we will develop how our engagement work can be hosted in an exhibition space in the CCA. This designated flexible space will allow for the CCA to be responsive to pressing issues and conversations, and to test various methods for creating open and accessible points of contact for communities within Lewisham, local schools, and students of the university.
Finally, our programming has always considered a multitude of voices and positions, and we are committed to it continuing to do so.
Ultimately – we are very excited about the future of the CCA. We will endeavour to be an organisation that listens well to its audiences, and opens up communication channels further to all members of staff, Goldsmiths communities, and local residents.
We look forward to continuing our work towards being an organisation for all.
* All advocacy and consultancy for the CCA is paid work.
** Working title to be assessed by the group once it is formed.
https://goldsmithscca.art/channel/goldsmiths-cca-plans-for-the-future/
Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art builds upon the university’s world-renowned reputation for art practice, providing an inspiring source of creativity and debate for artists, students and the public.
