A two-year programme of new commissions and events in North East England supported by Arts Council England through its Creative People and Places Fund.
Forma Arts is proud to be providing artistic direction to East Durham Creates, a programme of high quality contemporary art events, commissioned and presented across the East Durham area between autumn 2014 and spring 2016.
The programme is supported by Arts Council England through its Creative People and Places initiative, which has the objective of increasing the number of people being inspired by the arts in areas where evidence shows that people are much less likely than average to take part in arts activity. Forma is both a member of the consortium managing and delivering East Durham Creates, and is bringing its curatorial and producing expertise to the project.
East Durham Creates features a number of newly commissioned works, varied in scale and form, each developed in response to ideas, themes, interests and priorities expressed during extensive and continuing consultation with local people. These, together with the places, culture and history of the area inform our selection of artists, and our varied approaches to process, participation and producing.
Delivered over seasons of activity each autumn and spring, we hope that the commissions and carefully selected, existing works will take local people and audiences beyond the area on new and unexpected journeys. We aim to transcend the stereotypical views of East Durham as a former coal-mining powerhouse, by setting up new encounters with the place and possibilities for its future. Equally, the programme will challenge preconceived ideas about what art can be, where it belongs and takes place, and who it’s for. In the process, we aim to initiate opportunities for exceptional artists to create ambitious new works that have value and resonance within their own practices.