About this project
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My name is Eldon Somers and I am a musician and artist. I am in the beginning stages of creating an event and exhibition programme named 'People of Colour, Colouring' (POCC*), for artists of colour to exhibit their work to a wide and diverse audience.
POCC will be a platform for artists who fall under the banner 'person of colour' to showcase their art, whether they are Black, Brown, Arab, Eastern Asian or anything in between. While only artists of colour shall be exhibiting, the intention here is not exclusion. All are welcome and encouraged to be a part of this experience and I work hard to promote inclusion and cohesion between people. The art on show will include fine art, photography, music, literature, poetry, theatre, fashion and anything else. The emphasis here is diversity. Diversity of perspective and diversity of medium. Moreover I believe that offering platforms such as these allows people from many different backgrounds to benefit from and enjoy an array of intimate perspectives they may not have obvious access to.
This is a step in promoting unity, a celebration of different cultures, ideas, experiences and approaches. POCC is an attempt at levelling the playing field in the creative domain. This is beneficial to those within the sphere and indeed outside of it, as art often reflects and can influence people and the world.
I plan on organising these shows every few months and this fund will go towards the very first ‘People of Colour, Colouring’ show. For the first event I will be curating an opening view/launch event, consisting of live acts and plenty fraternising. This is a chance for people to engage in conversation, network, listen, contemplate and indeed dance while enjoying the exciting work of artists both established and up and coming. This will be followed by a week long exhibition in the space, showcasing predominantly visual art forms. This will also be the formula for the following shows.
I have found a brilliant space in Camberwell, South London. The gallery is owned by a young guy who is also an artist himself and has experience running and operating successful galleries. He has now established his own space and is excited about the idea. I am also very much looking forward to working with him in promoting the arts in South London - an area that is home to a multitude of young artists from the UK and around the world but doesn’t often receive the encouragement or recognition as an artists hub that it should.
My goal is £1200. This will go towards renting the space, producing and printing promotional material such as posters and flyers, bar costs, rental of a sound system, hiring a sound engineer for music on the night, exhibition supplies and any other costs that may crop up (including your rewards!) As mentioned, I plan on this being the first POCC event of many and any money that is made after the pledge goal has been reached will roll right over to the fund for the next event so, of course, the more the merrier.
By donating to this fund you will be giving me a great chance at getting my inaugural exhibition off the ground and by doing so you will be giving a diverse group of very talented artists, who are all too often overlooked, an opportunity to exhibit their work and share their ideas.
You will also be contributing to the start of what I know can become a consistent and artistically/culturally significant project.
Thank you for taking time out to look at my page and grab the rewards while you can!
Risks and challenges
The risks with curating and organising any art show are similar and time management is key.
First of all I will need artists! I have a number of artists interested in showing work and two are already confirmed for the first show.
The space must be secured and as mentioned I have confirmed a great location.
Sound system rental should not be a problem as there are a multitude of sound systems that can be rented and with the help of this fund I will be able to secure one in good time.
And last but certainly not least I must make sure there are people wanting to come through the doors when they open. A dedication to producing promotional material and spreading awareness of the event are essential and I have already spoken to a number of people about the event and look forward to taking my idea to many more. I will be producing flyers and posters, speaking with more people about the event and utilising social media to invite people to the show.
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