North East Culture Social
North East Culture Social makes space for artists, producers and makers in the region to share learning with one another.
In spring 2022, together with Curious Monkey, we brought people together in Newcastle-upon-Tyne to talk about co-creation in our first ever North East Culture Social Pop-Up Retreat.
Unfolding Theatre and Curious Monkey – like many of you – are always finding fabulous and innovative new ways to co-create with communities. During the pandemic, Unfolding Theatre built a pop-up theatre from reclaimed wood, cooked food and made-up stories on doorsteps. Curious Monkey hit the road in a newly painted caravan to share and collect stories over cups of tea and cake with people in their communities.
We shared our experiences at this event and explored how artists and communities can come together to make theatre, music, art or new writing.
Since then Unfolding Theatre has gone on to host North East Culture Socials at Old Coal Yard, Alphabetti Theatre, ARC Stockton and Gosforth Civic Theatre. With each social our community and network grows, as we welcome new and old faces alike.
We have branched out our thoughts and ideas since that first social too, tackling a wide range of different questions and problems that concern funders and creative organisations, in order to try and find collective solutions that benefit everybody. Questions such as; What are the ingredients for a good creative project in the community? What matters to your communities right now? How might this inspire or shape cultural projects we might want to develop together?
Bringing people together to discuss issues that remain pertinent to our communities is why the North East Culture Social exists. We welcome new faces at every social and would love to see you at our next one.
To find out when the next one is and how you can get involved, sign up to our monthly newsletter below.
This event was co-produced by Unfolding Theatre and Curious Monkey.
This event was supported by Newcastle Cultural Investment Fund managed by Community Foundation and Arts Council England.