Arts and culture organisations working towards race equality
LARC (Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium) and COoL (Creative Organisations of Liverpool) together represent 38 cultural organisations in the City Region. Both groups are committed to racial justice and to making meaningful change within their member organisations and in the work they do. Reflecting on the past year, we are now issuing the following shared statement.
Over a year ago, the cry for racial justice was amplified. Many came together to demand change following the murder of George Floyd. The words Black Lives Matter were echoed globally, and people of Liverpool were galvanised to commit to the work of ensuring that Black lives/communities, and the experiences of all those within our diverse communities, were fully valued and included. The urgency of this global human right had never been greater, and has been a catalyst for cultural organisations to go through a necessary process of self-assessment and change.
Black Lives Matter called for action that would bring about real structural change, not just words or performative social media posts. We are therefore reflecting on our own practices and policies of equality, diversity and inclusion. We acknowledge that harm has been done by our previous failings and inaction, and are working towards a more inclusive and representative future.
Change is continuous and there is still much to do if we truly want to achieve equity in a society that is impacted by institutional racism. Please click on the links below to see what Liverpool’s cultural organisations have been working on as part of their commitment to change – and what is planned for the future.
At The Atkinson:
We will implement a programme of self-assessment and monitor the diversity of artists engaged in our programming.
We are committed to changing our ways of working to support and celebrate diversity throughout our programming, and in our creative and cultural engagement.
All Atkinson staff will commit to Equalities and Diversity training.
The Atkinson will continue our commitment to support diversity in the acquisition of works for the permanent collection.
We will continue to undertake training to support the decolonialisation of our collections.