ANNOUNCEMENT MARCH 2023
Venue purchase no longer an option. Commitment to artists ongoing.
Statement from the Directors:
Over three and a half years we have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring to life this amazing project. Initially called the Bristol African Caribbean Culture Space following developments with our artist collective we rebranded to Beyond We back in 2022.
We were so inspired to receive the support from our advisory board, the Mayor's office, Arts Council England, the people of Bristol and beyond, however this is a great case study to show how with all the good intentions - there has clearly been no genuine will from the Harbour team to support this venture.
We have done everything that has been requested of us from sharing business development plans back in 2019 to attending numerous meetings and even joining the harbourside forum.
Unfortunately since the inception of this project we have not been able to get any concrete answer from the harbour team regarding a clear process or procedure for us to realise the aim - a new venue-boat on the harbour.
Poor communication, changes in staffing and lack of transparency around procedures, mooring and planning permissions has left us exhausting all the channels we have available to us. We feel we have been left with no choice but to cease pursuing the venue purchase any further.
We have however engaged with 40 + black artists from across the South West during this time and stayed committed to delivering the artist network including the Beyond We artist retreat last year.
Over the next 12 months we will pivot the focus of Beyond We to give space to the artist network and deliver a final artist wellbeing retreat before dissolving the business.
We would like to thank everyone for their continued support!
The directors will be hosting a Q&A session and all the behind the scenes tea so that others can learn from our experience. This will be hosted at the Pervasive Media Studios, Watershed, Bristol on Friday 12th May 2023, 1-2pm. More information will be shared in dues course on how you can join in person or virtually.
Mike and Mena