Newham Word Festival 2017
Newham Word Festival 2017
Commission: Performance, art, film, dance, spoken word, poetry, storytelling, arts and crafts, film screening, visual arts, journalism, debating ideas with a connection to the word.
Salary:Mid-scale projects £1,000 (inclusive*)
Small scale projects £500 (inclusive*)
London Borough of Newham and Discover Children’s Story Centre are looking to commission the creation of workshops, events, installations, exhibitions or performances that will be presented at the Newham Word Festival from Monday 6 November to Sunday 19 November. The chosen commissions will be in Newham’s libraries, community centres, cultural venues and outdoor spaces (other locations will be considered).
What we’re looking for:
-Artists, groups or organisations that have experience of working with either/or families, people with disabilities, young adults, ESOL groups, adults, well-being and elders
-Ideas that work around the theme of word
-Projects where people can participate, collaborate and contribute to
-The completed work can be a one-off performance, an exhibition that lasts the duration of the festival or a showcase event for an existing group
-The event must be inclusive of all sections of the community
-For the activity to take place within the period of Monday 6 – Sunday 19 November
-We’re especially keen to hear from Newham based artists and companies.
Proposals should be no more than 2 sides of A4 and be emailed to by Monday 31 July 12pm with the subject line ‘Newham Word Festival Commissions’.
All applicants must be available to attend interviews on this date:
Interviews:Thursday 3 August 2017
Fee: either £1000 or £500 per successful applicant
*The fee is inclusive of planning, materials,performance/workshop/event/exhibition delivery, evaluation, support workers and travel. This list is a guide only –you may need to consider other costs when you are planning your event.
Please note if more or less money is needed for your project please specify and the festival will take it into consideration.
If you wish to work with people under 16 you must have a currentenhanced DBScertificate.In addition, if you would like to lead a workshop please ensure it is with two facilitators.
How to apply
Artists are required to include the following in their proposal:
-Contact details – including main contact’s name, email and telephone number
-A biography saying who you are, background and experience
-A description of what you would like to do and how you would like to do it
-Links or images of previous work
Proposals should be no more than 2 sides of A4 and be emailed to by Monday 31 July 12pmwith the subject line ‘Newham Word Festival Commissions’.
We are committed to ensuring that this opportunity is open and accessible to everyone. If you experience or anticipate any barriers within the application process, please email or phone 020 8536 5563.
We are unable to respond to every application. If you do not hear from us, please assume your application has been unsuccessful.
About Newham Word Festival
This is a brand new two-week festival that will look at the amazing power of words and how they affect everybody’s lives. There will be a sparkling programme of performance, creative writing, fantastic author events, spoken word, film, exhibitions and storytelling all centred around the brilliance of the word.
The festival will take place in libraries, community centres, schools, cultural venues and perhaps some unexpected places too.
Hope you will join us.
This is a partnership project delivered by:
London Borough of Newham
About Discover Children’s Story Centre
Discover is the UK’s first Story Centre for children aged 0-11 and their families. Our aim is to create a love of language, literature and stories.
At the heart of the centre, our purpose-built Story World and Story Garden are creative play spaces designed to inspire children’s curiosity and imagination. Our team of dedicated Story Builders guide children and families through the space and encourage them to create their own stories.
Changing once every six months to a year, our interactive exhibitions immerse families in the world of their favourite authors, from Oliver Jeffers to Michael Rosen and Dr. Seuss. Throughout the year we invite much-loved and up-and-coming authors, illustrators, poets, musicians, artists and storytellers to run exciting workshops and take part in our annual The Big Write Children’s Literature Festival. We want to help improve reading, writing, speaking and listening skills for children in fun and imaginative ways.
Since 1998 we have worked in Newham, with community groups, schools and libraries working with over a million people since we began.