Unearthing Creativity

Unearthing Creativity is a new collaborative project which aims to make a substantial and lasting contribution to the arts in Wales.

The project is being delivered by artists Marion Cheung, Naz Syed, Creative Lives, and Age Cymru.

The project runs from September 2021 until March 2023, and is supported by the Arts Council of Wales, as part of the Connect & Flourish programme.

Through engaging people who are currently creatively inactive, and by surfacing and celebrating the diverse but under-recognised creative activities that take place in communities across Wales, our intention is that more people from under-represented groups will be engaging in the arts; and that there is a greater recognition of the diversity of existing creative activities in communities across Wales.

There are two strands to the project:

1. Gateways into creative activity

We will work with community groups to develop a range of creative projects (‘gateways’) in a range of different artforms, that people can easily try from home. These methods will be shared widely, and we will support signposting for participants to extend their creative journey.

2. Surfacing creative activity

We will source and share existing creative models from communities and groups that may not feel part of the arts sector or define their work as ‘art’.

Initially, the project will be working in Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Torfaen.

Project Principles

Throughout the project, we will be guided by our shared principles:

Creative activity and cultural engagement is truly for everyone;
We focus on the process;
We emphasise the physicality of making and creating;
Sharing and social contact is vital to the creative process;
We emphasise experimentation, play, making mistakes and having fun.

How to get involved

We will soon be issuing calls for creative groups and practitioners to take part in the project as paid commissions. We will be updating this webpage with further information as the project develops.

If you have any questions, please contact Gareth Coles on [email protected].

We are extremely grateful to the Arts Council of Wales for their support for this project.