Sound Connections Social Justice Conference

Thursday 30 November 2017, 9.30-4.30pm
Cecil Sharp House

NB conference information will be updated as speakers are confirmed over the coming weeks.

At our 2016 conference we reflected on the words of Matt Griffiths from the National Foundation for Youth Music, who said that ‘inclusion is not something we do on a Wednesday afternoon’. This year, we are taking this idea one step further and looking at the link between the work we do with music and young people, and social justice.

We are strengthening our commitment to building a more equitable world, with more meaningful opportunities to engage with music and the arts. Through conversations with our Challenging Circumstances Music Network over the past year, and seeing the continued injustices of the world, we have created a conference that tackles some big questions head on.

The day aims to go beyond the rhetoric of diversity and look at the systemic issues that allow and uphold inequalities. We will unpack equity and look at the challenges social justice poses to our organisations, structures and practice – social justice is about the way we see the world, our place with it and our connections to others; it constantly demands that we reconfigure ourselves, bring to the centre the most marginalised, and improve society for everyone.

On Thursday 30 November 2017 at Cecil Sharp House, we will explore fundamental oppressions that shape our society – oppressions related to class, race, gender and disability – and how they manifest in the work that we do. We will collectively explore language, practice and ways to build equitable approaches to our work that can challenge social injustice and help to make our work in challenging circumstances even more effective. Alongside this, we’ll look at impact measurement, and the challenge of sustainability for music and arts organisations, particularly those run by small teams or individuals working in isolation.

Who is the conference for?

The conference is for anyone working with children and young people through music, including music facilitators and teachers, Music Education Hubs, managers and administrators, students, funders, policy makers and researchers.  This year’s event is also aimed at the wider youth and arts sectors too such as youth workers, artist educators, and anyone interested in the role the arts can play in tackling systemic injustice. If you are interested in impact measurement, diversifying funding and making the arts more sustainable, then this day is for you too.

The day aims to:

• Look at how we go beyond the rhetoric of diversity, and move towards building equitable practices
• Look at how we build social justice into our work and organisations
• Explore language to help us better navigate our work and understand where language perpetuates social injustices
• Share practical ways to make your work and events more accessible
• Look at how neoliberalism shapes our work within the arts, and how we can work to centre the most marginalised in society
• Explore sustainable and diverse methods of funding and measure impact effectively

Conference overview

9.30am – Welcome from Sound Connections

9.40am – Keynote: Anthony Anaxagorou

10am – Provocations and table discussions: Dylema, Sisters Uncut, James Rose

11.15am – Break

11.30am – Panel: ‘There’s no justice, just us; embedding social justice in our day-to-day’

12.15pm – Workshops. Choose one from:

• How to make your programming more accessible – Jacob Adams, Attitude is Everything
• Neoliberalism, language and engagement – Stephen Pritchard
• Beyond Diversity – Cassie Kinoshi and Pete Yielding

1.15pm – Lunch

2pm – Scene setting for the afternoon: Sound Connections

2.30pm – Workshops. Choose one from:

• Sustainability and diversifying funding – Remi Harris
• Meaning, measurement and evaluation – Chrissie Tiller
• Creative evaluation – Dr Victoria Kinsella

3.30pm – Funders Question Time – hosted by Nancy Hitzig, with the National Foundation for Youth Music, Arts Council England and Foyle Foundation

4.15pm – Closing remarks

4.30pm – End of day

Full day tickets are £85, half day tickets at £50 – if you can’t attend the whole day you can select if you would prefer to attend the morning or the afternoon session when booking online.

This is a fully accessible event, free tickets are available for personal assistants, carers and Wired4Music members. Email admin@sound-connections.org.uk for more details.

We don’t want cost to be an obstacle to attending Sound Connections events, if cost is a barrier then please get in touch.

For more info, click here