Commonwealth Games cultural programme ‘ignores diverse communities’

A major cultural programme attached to this summer's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham has failed to fully involve or represent the city's diverse community, a report has claimed.

A review conducted by community organisation Birmingham Race Impact Group (BRIG) claims organisers have missed opportunities to include Birmingham's diverse communities in the cultural programme, and that they have been "largely shut out of direct involvement, business investment and other opportunities".

As part of the Commonwealth Games, which begin on 28 July, the Birmingham 2022 Festival is a six-month long cultural programme taking place across Birmingham and the West Midlands.

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Games organisers say it will be the biggest celebration of creativity ever seen in the region and one of the largest ever cultural programmes to surround the Commonwealth Games, with more than 200 events scheduled to run until September.

But the report by BRIG states that, while organisers have "without doubt" sought to engage communities with the programme through its engagement team, there have been "several missed steps" leaving communities "feeling ignored".

Urgent action

The report includes the findings of an independent panel of race equality experts who were asked to rate the organising committee via "report cards" across seven categories measuring race equality, community engagement and accountability.

The Games scored red (urgent action required) in three categories and amber (work needed) across a further four, meaning no areas were graded green (on course).

The review conducted by BRIG was prompted by an open letter published in July 2020 in which more than 50 prominent representatives from the city's faith, politics, creative and community sectors voiced concerns that only one out of the 20 board members on the games organising committee was non-white.

BRIG said that following this open letter, the organising committee appointed a Head of Inclusion and Engagement which led to the establishment an Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Forum.

However, the format and logistics of the EDI Forum was "far from conducive in generating the trust, confidence and positive relationship the organising committee stated it wished to engender".

According to the report, the forum failed to share which community representatives were being invited, with those on the forum having to work it out for themselves, "resulting in a feeling of selective inclusivity about it". It added that proceedings were dominated by lengthy presentations and restricted time for debate.

'Slap in the face'

It also asserts that media comments made by Martin Green, the organising committee's Chief Creative Officer, suggesting that there are not enough large ethnically-led creative organisations in the city, and outlining a desire among organisers to nurture young creative talent, were viewed as a "slap in the face" by the city’s Black and Asian creatives.

"Instead of building on the existing talent growth programmes… the organising committee have sidelined them and gone it alone," the report states.

"Black and Asian creatives having witnessed what was unfolding and have reacted by going 'full Banksy' with mural images of established artists popping up in the inner city with the tagline – 'Don’t Forget the Real Ones'.

The report adds that in terms of the cultural programme there is: nothing specific on Windrush; events noted for Bangladeshi and Pakistani Communities in the festival brochure are existing events developed by these communities, with no new original commissioned work; and it excludes settled European communities.

Meanwhile, engagement with schools has focused heavily on "photo opportunities and flag waving experiences" akin to “traditional subjugation style opportunities for minority groups”.

Green was unavailable for comment, but a spokesperson for the Games said his comments from the interview in question had been taken out of context.

“We encourage people to read the full transcript of his interview, in which he sets out the festival’s ambition to play its part in helping to grow the diversity of the cultural sector in this region. The full Festival programme is online for everyone to see,” they said.

CEO of Birmingham 2022 Ian Reid said he was disappointed with the conclusions reached in the report, but added that BRIG’s input is valued.

“We will carefully consider their recommendations, so that we maximise every opportunity to benefit as many people as possible from all the communities across Birmingham and the West Midlands.”

‘Dilatory engagement’

BRIG said it is “disappointed with the dilatory nature of, and obfuscation in, the manner in which Birmingham 2022 engaged" with the report card exercise.

The group invites major civil institutions across Birmingham to complete a race report card, by asking a set of questions which create data that independent experts measure progress against.

The organising committee did not meet the original agreed submission deadline for information and failed to submit details in the format requested. It was then given until the end of April to respond to a draft report card but failed to do so until BRIG indicated its intention to proceed with publication.

BRIG says the committee has “been preoccupied more with its internal delivery structure’s inclusivity than with winning the trust, confidence and support of Birmingham’s ethnically diverse communities”.

“This may well become one of the more undesirable legacies of the Commonwealth Games,” the report reads.

Cultural Programme questions

Question marks around the diversity and inclusivity of Birmingham 2022’s Cultural Programme remain.

BRIG asked the organising committee for details of all culturally commissioned activity with an ethnic breakdown, which was not provided. A Freedom of Information request submitted by ArtsProfessional in April requesting similar information remains ongoing.

The report says the committee's unwillingness to disclose ethnic defined characteristic monitoring data is an “own goal”. The REPRC calls for more explicit and transparent reporting moving forward.

Birmingham 2022 did not confirm to ArtsProfessional whether or not it will publish this data in the future, but said that staging to provide new opportunities for emerging and established artists from across Birmingham and the West Midlands “should be celebrated”.

“Over 100 community based cultural organisations have already benefited from funding received as part of the Creative City Grants programme – there is more to follow," a statement said.

"The Festival’s programme of Live Sites is providing a platform for many more artists to showcase the diversity that is inherent across the region.”