Digital Diaspora: The Midlands Covid-19 project
We are working with Black Country Visual Arts and Arts Council England to document the lives of Black, Asian and other minority ethnic communities across the Midlands during the COVID-19 pandemic until October 2020.
There is much-documented local racial disparity in terms of wealth, opportunity, social isolation and mental health, yet local communities are underrepresented in the arts. For example, many of the established mass observation projects have very little representation of our experiences. This project will attempt to redress these issues.
Our wider aspirations are to inspire and train our communities to engage with photography, as well as spoken and written narratives, that are able to capture and present much more diversity in the local culture from across the Midlands.
As part of the project, we will be running online art classes to enable local people to tell their own stories, showcase local narratives on this website and award bursaries to enable two local artists to produce work. The awards will be £500 each and will be accompanied by support and mentoring.
All work from the project will result in a publication. We are aiming to produce this by November 2020.
Naomi Chhabra & dog Poppy during Lockdown May 2020.
From the Series Picturing Lockdown & Commissioned by Historic England
© Anand Chhabra
We will collaborate to document and promote the work of local Black, Asian and other minority ethnic charities and community groups
The COVID 19 pandemic has shown how important individual acts of kindness, and local initiatives of mutual support, have been to keep our communities alive. Much of this work has been done by people and groups within our communities, often with little recognition or funding. We can help by using our skills with data collation, case studies and making visual images for your website or publication.
How we can work together
Help to create visual images about your work
Amongst our team are experienced documentary and editorial photographers who are able to create striking visual images about you and your work. Our team are experienced in working with national publications, galleries and social media.
Help with research
In our team is also comprised of experienced writers and researchers who are able help you collate data and research materials in the promotion your work. For example, our current COVID 19 project is creating opportunities for us to sendFreedom of Information (FOI) requests on a number of different issues across the Midlands. These findings may assist you to develop your work.
Help to build case studies
Case studies are important for charities, community groups and campaigns. A simple human story about a real-life lived experience, which is sensitively told, can highlight so much. We are experienced in collating case studies, in photographic and moving image, which you can use on social media or websites.
The project is produced with Black Country Visual Arts and funded by Arts Council England