The Arts Council needs to take a closer look at how it deals with identity and ethnicity, according to a new report from the theatre sector launched this week. ‘Speaking Truth to Power – a diversity of voices in theatre and the arts in England’, commissioned by Sustained Theatre, and Arts Council England (ACE), seeks to “spark a national debate on identity”. The report, based on research carried out since March 2008, is cast in the form of an exchange of letters between Professor Gus John and Dr. Samina Zahir. Professor John said, “the terms that are currently used – ‘black and white’, ‘minority ethnic’, ‘white majority’, ‘BME’, ‘The Sector’ – can pigeon-hole or sideline our work and create barriers.” He said he hoped that ACE “never uses the term BME again,” but said an alternative had to be found “that we are all happy with”.
w: http://www.sustainedtheatre.org.uk
Published: 28-07-2008