Brent for London Borough of Culture
Throughout 2017 Associates worked with Brent Council, residents of the borough and an inspirational team of young people to develop and write Brent’s bid for London Borough of Culture 2020. On Tuesday 27 February 2018 it was announced that it was a winning bid, with Brent being awarded £1.35million of funding.
Our winning London Borough of Culture bid was made up of the following pledges from Brent:
Thoroughfare
A huge summertime street party for 200,000 people with 16 pop-up visual arts, dance, theatre and music commissions. Brent will open up a stretch of the A5 to pedestrians for the party, and celebrate the comings and goings of everyday London.
Brent Lives
A large-scale not for profit media pilot project that will see local young people supported in developing their skills across film, radio and writing, and then broadcast to millions young people round the world.
The Museum of All Brent Life
For 2020 the whole of Brent will be turned into an open-air museum for local people, Londoners generally and tourists from further afield. Building on Brent’s own rich history, this will be supplemented by the commissioning of ten new art works, and using Brent’s network of libraries as the visitor centres to help people explore the interesting nooks and crannies all around the borough.
Seen and Heard
A research project, learning how best to put young people in charge of their cultural future. This will deliver not only benefits for Brent for decades to come, but will also provide learning and a template for the rest of London, the UK and the world.
The Anthem
A community music commission, led by major artists exploring identity in Brent. This new piece of music created and performed with local people will explore what Brent means, and then introduce it to an international audience of 600 million people through the Euros matches being hosted at Wembley Stadium in 2020.
Lost and Found
A schools and outreach programme that will, amongst other things, result in a Brent Curriculum of place-based learning opportunities.
No Bass Like Home
Working with local producers to see a major Reggae music festival in April 2020 for 12,500 people and an exhibition in the May for 82,000 people celebrating Brent as the home of Reggae in the UK and Europe.