Black Arts Alliance Statement of Vision and Aims

Black Arts Alliance is a national members' network committed to the development of arts and artists of Black cultural communities through advocacy, training and events. It aims to:

• Achieve creative equality for Black artists • Enhance the intrinsic value of the work of Black artists • Widen the impact of the work of Black artists • Conserve, understand and interpret the traditional roots of Black artists in order to inform their contemporary practice.

Our vision is for Black artists to be recognised as creatively equal within the arts sector, and for Black Arts Alliance to be recognised as a national authority with international profile which signposts and embraces changing cultural identities.

We have adopted the following artistic objectives and enabling objectives in order to achieve our aims:

Artistic objectives:

• To support and develop our membership through: • Sharing resources and information including quarterly newsletter • Organising regular conferences, seminars, residential training and round table events • Seizing opportunities for innovative Black-led continuing professional development events • Providing profile-raising opportunities • Networking. • To advocate for the sector by attending and presenting papers at conferences • To present and produce a wide range of work originated by artists of Black origin and identity • To document all our work in a range of formats including print, web-based and DVD • To commission and develop artist-led work that responds to, speaks for and addresses the social climate • To commission new work that furthers our aims • To continue the development of the brand of Acts of Achievement (AoA) in order to raise the profile of the Black arts sector in the North West, with an emphasis on work which is challenging and honest and which puts the telling of our stories in safe hands.

BAA subscribes to the following value statements and definitions.

Black is a political expression which refers to all people from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and South America. It acknowledges and respects the diversities that exist and the different historic experiences that have been encountered and survived.

BAA membership is open to Black artists, cultural activists and those who facilitate and enable their work; it includes Black-led organisations as well as individuals.

BAA aims to respond to and initiate work without prejudice and with due regard to geography, origin, gender, age, marital and economic status, sexual orientation, disability, education, cultural heritage and background.

BAA retains it commitment to the North West without limiting itself to a regional identity.

IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE II

Design & Artwork Stephen Hodgkiss Design, Manchester. www.shdx.co.uk