Cultural Diversity - A Brief Statement

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Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues prioritises the need to promote culturally diverse events & festivals. When employing artists and musicians, and engaging audiences at events and festivals we expect to include equal and valued contributions from people who might not otherwise have opportunity to engage fully in jazz as an art form. We want equal participation from women, younger & older people, people from black & minority ethnic communities, people of differing sexual orientation, disabled people, people from various geographical communities, and people experiencing low income. We expect that engaging people from culturally diverse communities will create exciting arts activity that leads to higher levels of engagement with musicians and audiences. Promoting a policy of cultural diversity, arises out of recognising jazz’s black music heritage, a music created out of oppression.

 

Cultural Diversity - Policy Statement

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As an organisation, Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues has the mission of creating higher levels of participation in jazz for musicians and audiences. Central to this mission is a commitment to cultural diversity as a means of giving everybody access to great art and culture through jazz.

Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues recognises jazz music’s strong black roots & heritage. Having evolved through oppression, jazz has good reason to embrace cultural diversity. Cultural diversity means giving opportunities to everyone, everywhere, crossing all social barriers relating to gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, age, geography, and low income.

The ‘Taking Part’ survey by the Department for Culture Media and Sport showed that arts engagement within lower socio-economic groups is substantially less than for those in the highest socio-economic groups. So there is a case for people from lower socio-economic groups to be targeted for inclusion in arts & culture, and jazz in particular.

Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues will prioritise the need for cultural diversity when booking bands, and developing audiences. Embracing cultural diversity means we will take account of characteristics relating to gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, geography, and low income when employing artists, musician & bands, and engaging audiences, in the expectation that this will create exciting arts activity. By promoting cultural diversity, jazz will create opportunities for developing and sustaining life-changing opportunities through participation as musicians or audience members in live music.

Promoting diversity and equality is crucial to the arts, including jazz, because the opportunity for engaging in art and culture has the potential for releasing and sustaining the artistic talent in all of us. If we want excellent art, we have to draw on all our talent, from wherever it emerges.

 

 

 

Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues - Inclusion Policy

We want everyone who visits our website or attends the festival to feel that they can enjoy, contribute and participate exactly as they’d want. Find out more by checking on our access information about booking tickets and travelling to and visiting music venues.  Please let us know how we can improve if your experience is less than satisfactory.

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What are we doing?

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RVJ&B’s main focus is a broad based portfolio of jazz programmes promoting increased participation in jazz as an art form for musicians and audiences, a focus influenced by jazz’s black music heritage, supporting a priority for inclusion and cultural diversity.

 

Our portfolio links 7 jazz activities:

1. a festival;

2. a monthly gig programme;

3. two community big bands;

4. agency bookings for regional bands;

5. rural jazz events;

6. jazz jams;

7. skills workshops (performance & improvisation).

Our commitment to cultural diversity means we aim to:

• headline more women artists

• more young artists

• and more artists from BAME communities

We work with Jazz North’s Northernline programme prioritising new work with young musicians throughout the year. Weekly programmes on Ribble FM, and links on Giants of Jazz radio promote RVJ&B to a wider audience.

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Our Main Aims

We will increase participation by:

• including more women,

• disabled and deaf people,

• young people,

• people from BAME communities,

• and people on low incomes; as musicians and as audiences.

Inclusion of black music genres - mainstream jazz, jazz funk, jazz fusion, soul, hip hop, blues, and contemporary jazz will produce a richer, creative, and varied programme - more attractive to excluded groups.

By working with these groups we aim to attract new audiences from neighbouring communities in Blackburn, Burnley and Preston where arts-engagement is lower. We will explore other options for making the festival more accessible to low income groups, via our wider portfolio. A pre and post festival support programme will link with, promote and celebrate festival events.

In recent years we have increased our rural appeal across Ribble Valley bringing artists to village halls, hospitality venues and street locations.

We aim to attract more participants to an extended & varied workshop programme, working with schools, and communities that can be marginalised from mainstream performance, whether on an amateur basis or as professionals and have committed to a Keychange pledge as well as specific learning session for Women in Jazz.

Please let us know what you think

If you would like to help us in our aims, or if you had trouble with any part of our statement, please get in touch. We’d like to hear from you in any of the following ways:

Email us at marketing@rvjazzandblues.co.uk
Contact us using our general contact form here...

This inclusion statement was updated on 5th March 2022