Transforming the Narrative supports over 500 creative practitioners in 4 years

Transforming Narratives commissioned new art and forged new connections bringing artists, curators, and organisations together to promote new ways of thinking and working.

Artists were supported to develop new work in an artist-led, trust-based approach, while research and development visits brought artists to Birmingham, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, according to a statement.

In Birmingham, a series of community facilitator research reports were commissioned to understand the context of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Kashmiri people living or working in Birmingham.

This helped develop the team's understanding of contemporary culture, people's engagement with the city, and experience of the city's cultural life.

Established in 2018, Transforming Narratives was managed by Culture Central, and supported by Arts Council England and the British Council.

It was delivered in association with the British Council and 10 Birmingham-based partners - Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG), Birmingham Museums Trust (BMT), Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Ikon Gallery, Kalaboration Arts, Legacy West Midlands, Midlands Arts Centre, South Asian Diaspora Arts Archive (SADAA), Sampad, and Sonia Sabri Company. In addition, transforming Narratives have created a new digital Timeline feature, which tells the story of Transforming Narratives, whilst a new short film, produced by Amrit Singh, features the work and voices of artists who the programme has supported.

Sophina Jagot, project director, Transforming Narratives, said, “It’s been a real moment of reflection, putting together the short film and timeline of Transforming Narratives, we have been able to really think about the ways in which Transforming Narratives has supported new work, challenged the norm and created genuine cultural exchanges across Birmingham, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.”

When Covid hit, a new programme of Digital Collaborative Grants led to 17 new artistic commissions, linking the three spaces, and a series of critical dialogue events encouraged debate.

The Transforming Narratives Mela and Symposium brought together artists and audiences in Birmingham, Pakistan, and Bangladesh for a ground-breaking three-day online festival, with 14 new commissioned projects.