I am grateful that there are closed spaces for Black and Brown communities for us to support each other and know what's happening with different creatives... It's nice to go to an exhibition where the artist looks like me. It's good to support each other.

A monthly peer support group for artists in the BIPOC* community to share stories and ideas 

*BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour

Led by Phoenix Archer, this Creative Network provides a safe and supportive space for BIPOC creatives. Each meeting has a theme to help the discussion. Sessions are held online via Zoom, usually on the last Friday of each month. Join the conversation!    

We would like to emphasise that these sessions are for BIPOC Creatives only. We encourage anyone who isn’t a BIPOC creative but supports BIPOC creatives to please get in touch at [email protected].

Find upcoming sessions listed on our Creative Network page or on Eventbrite.

Archive

Date	Theme	Discussion questions
September 2023	Creative Purpose	What does having a creative purpose look like to you? How do you express your creative purpose? Do you already or wish to incorporate any beliefs, customs or traditions in your creative practice?
August 2023	Creative Economy and Sustainability	What does a creative economy look like to you? Do you contribute to creative projects made by other individuals and organisations? Have you incorporated sustainable practices in your creative work?
July 2023	Collective Work and Creative Responsibility	How do you creatively work with other creatives and communities? Are there any responsibilities or pressures to working in the creative sector? Have there been any times when you worked together with someone else to solve a creative dilemma?
June 2023	Creative Confidence	Who inspires you to be more confident in your creative practice? How do you inspire others to speak up about what is important to them in their creative practice? What advice would you give to young creatives or your younger self?
June 2023	Increasing Unity	In what ways do you strive for unity in your creative practice and communities? Have you encountered any barriers to building unity? How important is intersectionality when working to increase creative unity?
March 2023	Stereotypes and Biases in Creativity	What are the stereotypes you have faced while undertaking your creative practice Have you used any strategies to cope with or combat stereotypes and biases in the creative sector? Is there such a thing as a positive stereotype or bias?
February 2023	Celebrating International Women’s Day and Month Creatively	Is there still a need for International Women’s Day and Month? Do you celebrate International Women’s Day and Month? Why or why not? If money, time and other resources were limitless, how would you celebrate International Women’s Day and Month?
January 2023	Embracing Intersectionality in the Creative Sector	What are the pros and cons of embracing intersectionality in the creative sector? What can adding age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion etc; do for your creative practice? Are there any helpful tips that can help others bring their whole selves to their creative practice and the creative sector?
December 2022	Self-care practices in the Creative Sector	Why is self-care important in the creative sector? Do you already practice self-care practices in your creative work? What types of self-care practices would you like to learn more about?
November 2022	Preparing Your Career	What are the challenges of having a career in the creative sectors? When have you been successful in your creative career? What advice would you give to someone working in or would want to start working in your creative sector?
October 2022	Collaborative Creativity	Why is it important to collaborate creatively? Can it be defined and what does it look like?
September 2022	Black History Month and Remembering Those Before Us	Is there still a need for Black History Month? Should we change how we celebrate and respect those who have done amazing work in BIPOC communities?
August 2022	Community Spirit	What does it look like? How can we define it? What does it mean to us?

 

Reflections from Phoenix

"Something to share would be that, it was lovely to provide sessions such as this that for many who came, thought of it as a safe space BIPOC for attendees to share their frustrations when comes to Black History Month (BHM), but also the different ways on how BHM has been utilised to showcase history and creative projects that are not widely know about or tokenised. Just like the pros and cons of BHM, these sessions have room to grow and evolve to explore different opinions, building community spirit and highlighting ways of interacting with BIPOC creatives in Scotland.

I wouldn't have been able to provide this type of session if it wasn't for my own lived experience, working in heritage and creative sectors for years and the qualifications I studied. In addition to this, the work that Creative Lives has done.

The organisation launched a 2015 initiative to reach out effectively to create cultural activity in Black, Asian and minority ethnic cultures and communities, embarking on an initial series of 50 open conversations with volunteers organisers in communities across the UK and Ireland. This process was documented in the 2016 report Open Conversations: Developing strong, effective connections to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and led to a dramatic increase in the diversity of the Creative Lives Board of Trustees. The network of contacts developed through those open conversations formed the basis for an ongoing process of improving Creative Lives' connections with minority ethnic communities in the UK which has continued over the past few years. My role as the Scotland Community Engagement Officer has helped me to steer the direction of this type of work and provide tailored sessions such as these."

Read more about Phoenix's background and motivation to lead this network