Translating Performance

This research project seeks to understand the process by which refugee and diaspora experience is translated through musical performance, particularly in the context of arts festivals. It has a very practical basis: the project team will work with the organisers of three cultural festivals to programme a range of musical events and these will become the focus of a process of theoretical and ethnographic exploration developed in collaboration with the participants. The performances at the centre of the research will be drawn from non-European, refugee, diaspora cultures in the North of England and programmed in a series of events hosted by the network of three HEIs and two arts organisations established by this funding proposal. We seek to answer the following questions: How can arts festivals frame audience and performer within these performance events? In what way do these framings relate to wider conceptions of exile, group membership and festival? How are performances best mediated, archived and made accessible beyond the festival timeline? How do these mediations manifest the tension between festivals and the commodification of experience? And finally, what elements of good practice can be learnt and transmitted to future festivals and other refugee groups and contexts?

The proposed network will focus on seven musical performances held within the context of three festivals with national profiles. Two (Sensoria and Tramlines) are situated in Sheffield, while the third also takes place in Sheffield, but under the umbrella of a multi-agency national festival, Refugee Week. Beyond the proximity of the researchers and project participants, Sheffield makes a suitable host city as it became the first City of Sanctuary for refugees and asylum-seekers in 2007. With the support of the City Council it remains such and hosts high profile events during Refugee Week. The research is thus designed to understand an urban and civic context attuned to cultural festivals, performance and the experience of refugees. To achieve this the network will draw on the expertise of its two Project Participants, Sensoria and Arts on the Run. Sensoria is the UK's festival of music, film and digital art. Held in April, it is entering its fifth year of operation. Sensoria also has a hosting arrangement with Tramlines, a large multi-venue free access music festival held in July. Arts on the Run is the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Hub for Platforma, the national refugee arts network, with extensive experience in refugee arts management. This is, however, the first time either of the Project Participants have collaborated with each other or the HEIs involved, and the first time the three festivals (Sensoria, Refugee Week and Tramlines) have been linked.

The project thus responds to the second Translating Culture research question in that it seeks to explore both the translation of diaspora and refugee experience through artistic collaboration, and the process by which such translations are subsequently mediated, archived and interpreted. In terms of reception, it is concerned with local, academic and non-academic, intergenerational audiences, in addition to the mediations produced through the digital, national and local media. The purpose of distributing performances amongst the festivals is to add depth to the research, not only in terms of academic framing and analysis, but also in the relationship of the performances/cultural events to each other. The aim is that networks, correspondences and an internal sense of coherence should emerge among the events themselves. This is intended to build on and maximise public engagement in the performances, the research network and the research outcomes. A website will ensure the research retains an overall structure, acting as both portal and locus for representation and discussion for all participants in the project, academic and non-academic, student, resident and refugee.

The research outputs will benefit academia, the public sector, the third sector and the general public. As a multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary project, English, Music, Modern Languages, Journalism, Diaspora Studies, Intercultural Communication and Leisure Studies will all be addressed through a research paper interrogating roles of audience and performer in the context of refugee performance events held within UK arts festivals. The paper will possess multi-disciplinary relevancy, contributing to the mutual health of any discipline that engages with the lens of performance. Thus, by drawing on the cross-cutting theoretical orientation of the Research Team, the paper has the potential to be of general relevance and be widely circulated. The paper will also demonstrate the relevance of ethnography as an inter-disciplinary methodology, specifically its engagement with disciplinary-based practices from Journalism, Music, English and Intercultural Communication. Its academic impact will be heightened by the wide international relevance of refugees, asylum seekers and the arts sector. As a consequence and in order to maximise its effective dissemination the research paper will be submitted to a UK journal that possesses an international readership. It is anticipated that the paper will be ready for publication by the completion of the research period. It will contain suggestions future research and will direct readers to the project website where performances and participation will be archived. Furthermore, it is intended that the research network established by the bid will collaborate on future projects and be the source of future outputs. The research paper will also outline guidelines for best practice in relation to the management of refugee arts performances, especially the manner in which they are structured and programmed to engage a public audience.

The same research output will thus be of interest and relevance to the UK Public Sector, particularly at local governance level, where it will directly contribute to evidence based policy making decisions concerning arts festival provision and planning, and refugee arts funding and execution. These guidelines will also be of direct use and relevance to the Third Sector, namely arts festivals, refugee organisations and any organisation that hosts arts performances that seek to engage the public with the wider project of cultural translation, especially museums and galleries. In terms of outputs, both the Public Sector and the Third Sector will be further engaged by the Report Digest, a key document which will target these audiences specifically in an attempt to circulate the research's findings as widely and as deeply as possible. To this end, Sensoria (directly networked in the bid) and Tramlines (indirectly) are both founding members of the 'As If' network of independent festivals: a useful mechanisms to disseminate guidelines, results and learning experiences. The outputs will thus enhancing the research capacity, knowledge and skills of businesses and organisations.

There are broad social welfare benefits from the project which the outputs will seek to qualify. The public will thus benefit by being engaged in refugee issues, made accessible through the project website, which will be referred to within the research's national and local media outputs, targeted by the expertise of the RA. Members of the refugee community will be directly engaged, as will the audience of Sensoria and Tramlines, both in the timeframe of the project and in the future, as the research output will influence their programming. Since Tramlines has an emphasis on young people, the project will have a firm intergenerational impact. As the project is generalisable beyond Sheffield, the wider UK public will benefit, as the outputs will enrich national culture and enhance the potential for social cohesion through the shaping of future arts events, over the duration of the project and beyond.