Bristol African Caribbean Culture Space Ltd (BACCS)– is a non profit enterprise focussed on purchasing a new, large scale venue boat to be located in the Bristol Harbour – dedicated to creating, showcasing and sharing the work of black artists and creatives, a new space to share our history, and celebrate our collective future, for everyone to enjoy and experience.
We have identified an ideal vessel called Ellen, a 57 metre dutch barge which we hope to purchase and fully refurbish.
For the past 6 months we have been in discussion with the city councils Harbour team discussing mooring, vessels and gaining support. To our knowledge, there is not a single black owned business in the Bristol Harbour yet history will tell us that once Bristol’s harbour was the leading port city in the world for the transatlantic slave trade – the commodifying of black bodies. The legacy of the slave trade is still prominent in Bristol today - we are asking you to support the redistribution of property and business ownership in Bristol.
None of the major arts national portfolio organisations nor the major partner museums in the city have prominent black leadership nor black owned nor dedicated with a permanent focus on exploring Black Britishness, African or Caribbean arts, music, history or culture.
When we look to other cities for inspiration with some of their signature spaces such as London with Brixton’s Black Cultural Archives and Liverpool’s International Slavery Museum, we felt it was long overdue for Bristol to also have a space centrally located, focussed on the strengths of our city – an African and Caribbean space embedded in arts, creativity, digital innovation and new technology – some of the core areas that Bristol excels in.
We want to create a space that welcomes the nurturing of young creative minds, but also supports opportunities for the elders and all those in between to create and experience. A space that is a beacon for tourism to the West, to learn more about our city’s history, whilst experiencing the brilliant art and culture curated by black British artists alongside visiting artists (virtual or in person) from the African Caribbean diaspora across the world. A space that is purpose designed to be accessible, and one of the few venue boats on the water where wheel chair users have access. A space that embraces new technology and streams art, whilst also maintaining a commitment to the environment.
We are calling on institutions, business and individuals to vision with us to create the world we want to live in beyond Covid 19. We are calling on you to bring this new and much needed venue to central Bristol, and invest in changing the narrative for our city, not just in names of buildings but in representation, ownership, diversity and accessibility of physical spaces.
Creative Director
An ambitious self-shooting director/producer. He is the co founder of Blak Wave Productions, one of the South West’s only Black owned TV production companies and he was recently commissioned to direct ‘We Are Not The Virus’ for the BBC. Michael was recently voted among the 100 most influential people in Bristol in the BME power list 2018.
Creative Director
Dr Mena Fombo is a the co founder of Blak Wave Productions and the founder of Black Girl Convention supporting large events for womxn and girls of African and Caribbean heritage. She is the International ambassador for the city of Bristol, holds an honorary doctorate for work in equalities from UWE Bristol and in 2019 she was Bristol247’s woman of the year!
Financial Director
Floyd Fombo is a Director of Rathmore Financial Ltd with over 18 years experience as an Independent Financial Adviser, Floyd is at the forefront of developments across the industry. Floyd is passionate about the development of sustainable and diverse cultural spaces in Bristol.