This autumn, enjoy an amazing programme of film screenings exploring the bredth of talents of African and diaspora filmmakers with Afrika Eye 2024, the South West's biggest celebration of African film and culture.

The festival returns to Trinity in a new format - instead of a full-on festival, the team at Afrika Eye have created a season of enticing films to run throughout the autumn months at Bristol venues including Watershed, The Cube, and The Trinity Centre.

"Our programme reaches across genres and aims to bring in new audiences to the festival with a season of films, rich in stories, drama and cultural themes, celebrating and sharing the vibrancy and importance of African culture with a programme appealing to all ages and interests" - Annie Menter, Afrika Eye Festival Director

At Trinity we pleased to welcome three films celebrating Black female action heroes:

Sat 09 No is Gina Prince-Bythewood's 2022 film The Woman King, starring Viola Davis. There will be delicious West African food for you to enjoy as well as a special Dahomey cocktail - click here to get your tickets.

On Fri 15 Nov, step back into the gritty '70s for a double bill screening of films starring the iconic Pam Grier in classic blaxploitation films Coffy and Foxy Brown. Plus stick around for an informal, post-screening discussion with a selections of black female and non-binary guests speakers.

This year’s Afrika Eye festival promises a diverse programme, spanning contemporary African films, spoken word performances, dance, music, and more, appealing to audiences of all ages. Artists from across Africa and within the diaspora bring insights, creative ideas and extraordinary projects to broaden and enrich our knowledge of a continent that has for centuries been part of a shared history, without ever having an equal voice. Head to Afrika Eye's website to explore the full line up.

'Citizens for Culture' is bringing together citizens - people living, working or staying across the West of England - to explore how creative opportunities can be inclusive and accessible for everyone in the region.

Taking place in 2025 this ambitious project aims to co-create a Cultural Plan for the three areas in the West of England Combined Authority.

As part of the successful delivery of the assembly, we are calling out for freelancers, artists, individuals, cultural workers and organisations to sign up to be ‘Assembly Associates’.

Associates will be advocates for citizens-led culture and will support the campaign by:

• Shaping the design of the assembly and associated activities

• Sharing Citizens for Culture opportunities within their networks and communication channels

• Submitting evidence to be presented to citizens in the assembly

• Publicly advocating for the outcomes of the assembly in their own practice, work or organisation

Why sign up?

Becoming an associate of Citizens for Culture offers an opportunity to actively shape the future of citizen-led culture for the region.

By joining Citizens for Culture, you can connect with audiences and others in the sector from across the region more directly. By signing up as an Associate you will have the opportunity to influence cultural policy, expand your networks and advocate for meaningful change in your own communities and sectors.

Find out more:

If you are interested in becoming an associate of Citizens for Culture and would like out find out more please get in touch with Citizens for Culture Producer Anjali at anjali@trinitybristol.org.uk

Citizens for Culture is ground-breaking initiative bringing together people from across the region to meet with creative practitioners, cultural providers and decision-makers to create a Cultural Plan for the region.

Delivered in with St Pauls Carnival, Citizens In Power and the West of England Combined Authority, the project will host the first region wide Citizens’ Assembly for Culture in 2025.

We caught up with Producer, Anjali Prashar-Savoie and  Project Manager, David Jubb, to ask some key questions about the project - what is it, why we’re running it and what we hope to achieve.

David and Anjali - what is a Citizens Assembly for Culture all about?

A Citizens' Assembly brings people together to learn about and deliberate issues and together, reach conclusions about what they think should happen.

Our project, Citizens for Culture, will invite citizens from areas in the West of England to create a set recommendations for a Cultural Plan for the West of England Combined Authority Region.

Taking place across multiple sessions citizens will explore how creative opportunities can be inclusive, accessible and representative of the many people living across the region. They will immerse themselves in creative and cultural activities, hear from experts who will share their knowledge about creativity and culture and then, working together, develop recommendations for a Cultural Plan to be delivered across three regions in the West of England.

Following the Assembly, citizens will oversee the implementation of the Cultural Plan with support from funders, local authorities, organisations and individuals, all working together to deliver these citizen-led recommendations.

What is the story so far?

"By using this democratic approach we will hope to inform future cultural policies and priorities for the West of England, creating a legacy that will serve as a model for the UK's continually evolving arts and cultural landscape."

The project was created in response to the partners wanting to explore how using a Citizens Assembly model - a deliberative, democratic and people-centred approach - could reimagine what a cultural offer could look like in the South West.

Each partner brings their own skills to the project - St Pauls' Carnival CEO, LaToyah Mcallister-Jones brings her wealth of expertise and experience in leading and facilitating Assemblies.

Using their expertise in citizen-led decision making, Citizens In Power have been securing support for each stage of the project, from the initial research phase in 2022 to the delivery of the final Assembly in 2025 and Trinity's CEO, Emma Harvey, brings over 20yrs of expertise of using arts and culture as a tool for civic participation.

Together, we delivered a research phase for the Assembly, where the principles for the design were shaped by a group of people from across the region, chosen through a random selection process.

Based on these design principles, the Assembly was further developed by people working in the cultural sector. The research phase provided the building blocks for the framework for the planned 2025 Assembly.

Why are you running Citizens for Culture?

The Assembly aims to help shape a regional cultural offer that is relevant, accessible and reflective of diverse voices and perspectives. By co-creating cultural leadership and decision-making with the people who live, work and stay in our region, we hope to build a more democratic approach that will help shape the future direction of culture in the West of England.

What do you mean by “citizens” and “culture”?

When we say citizens, we simply mean the people who live, work or stay in a place.

We feel that the Assembly is best placed to arrive at its practical definition of culture - one that best serves the creation of the regional Cultural Plans.  We want to ensure the people taking part can participate fully and that thoughtful conversations happen that aid in guiding this. By allowing the Assembly process to refine this definition, we hope to ensure that the Cultural Plan has a clear focus and achievable goals, while still acknowledging the richness of cultural diversity across the regions.

"By using this (a Citizens' Assembly model) democratic approach we hope to inform future cultural policies and priorities for the West of England, creating a legacy that will serve as a model for the UK's continually evolving arts and cultural landscape."

How do people get involved?

Citizens will be invited to participate in the Assembly through a sortition process, or democratic lottery, rather than by election or appointment. This ensures that the selection is impartial and includes a wide representation of community voices from across the region.

We're continuing to invite people and organisations working in the cultural sector to help shape plans for the 2025 Assembly.

If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you - feel free to get in touch with the Citizens’ Assembly producer, Anjali Prashar-Savoie, at anjali@trinitybristol.org.uk to arrange a chat.

Find out more about Citizens for Culture:

• Read LaToyah McAllister-Jones opinion piece on her experiences of facilitating democratic decision-making in the second part of this series about civic participation

• Read Edson Burton’s opinion piece of why voting matters in the second part of this series about civic participation

• Email Imogen@trinitybristol.org.uk to join our Citizens For Culture mailing list

Citizens for Culture is an initiative from St Paul Carnival CIC, Trinity Community Arts, Citizens in Power and West of England Combined Authority and is supported through funding by Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch).

St Pauls Carnival Panel Discussion at Glastonbury Festival 2024 - Image Credit: Khali Ackford

Trinity is committed to creating ways in which citizens can take an active role in shaping arts and culture. As part of this commitment we are connecting with leading voices in the cultural sector to ask them to share their thoughts on the different civic and democratic tools that we as citizens can access. In the second in our series of opinion pieces exploring civic participation LaToyah McAllister-Jones, Executive Director of St Pauls Carnival, reflects on her experiences of using various tools to facilitate democratic decision-making.

Opinion: Voices in Decision-Making, LaToyah McAllister-Jones

I have always been attracted to work and play that enables people to have a voice. To be heard. After years of working with marginalised groups, from managing accommodation services for street homeless people to community organising in Hackney, I have developed an interest in the right to influence decisions being made about our lives.

One of the most interesting things about leading a community arts organisation is just how integral the community is to our work. St Pauls Carnival CIC is merely a custodian for the iconic event; we provide a stage and the community fills those spaces. Carnival celebrates African Caribbean talent in St Pauls and beyond as well as our culture and heritage. Our communities continue the traditions of our ancestors using music, dance and storytelling to share lived experiences and connect to our heritage. This is one of the most important things about our event: it allows us to tell our own stories, in our own words, using our voices.

In 2021, I was asked by Involve to facilitate   Bristol City Council's Citizens’ Assembly supporting policy development in housing, health inequalities and transport as the city emerged from Covid. The process was new to me, and I loved the way it cut through many of the challenges that we often come up against when engaging communities:

• Participants are randomly selected, and usually aren’t experts in the central assembly topic. There is a process to ensure that all participants are able to meaningfully contribute to the discussions, and this is critical to the success of an assembly.
• The process seeks to facilitate consensus, rather than debate which tends to have a winner and a loser.
• Participants are encouraged to explore what their real priorities are and what they might be prepared to forego for those priorities.
• Assemblies bring together a diverse range of people who you wouldn’t necessarily find together in a traditional social setting. This creates an opportunity for vastly differing viewpoints to be heard and influence how others participants might think about a topic.

St Pauls Carnival are currently delivering a Citizens’ Assembly for Culture in partnership with Trinity Community Arts, Citizens In Power and West Of England Combined Authority. The idea developed just as we were coming out of the pandemic and thinking about the lessons learnt; particularly the role of community. Together, we were curious about what it would look like to use the assembly process - democratic, person-centred and thinking about strengths of a place, its people and its assets - to reimagine what the cultural offer could look like in the South West region.

Democratic decision-making allows citizens to actively contribute to the discourse that shapes their communities. We also believe culture is experienced by everyone, in many different ways, and everyone should be able to access the culture that represents them. If this is to be the ambition, it is vital that we put people at the centre of that process. This means understanding how people experience culture, what it means to them and, as cultural leaders, asking ‘how can we reflect this in our approach and programming?’

The new Labour Government expressed an interest in the use of Citizens’ Assemblies earlier this year, and the format has been used to unpack challenging issues like abortion in Ireland. The South West region is already embedding this approach into how we speak to our communities, and we are at the forefront of using assemblies to understand how we deliver for everyone, and not just those who can afford it or who have easy access to culture.

Our Citizens’ Assembly for Culture project offers an exciting opportunity to create a new approach to engaging people in the cultural life of a place. The Assembly will take place in Spring 2025 as a central programme within Culture West, funded by the West of England Combined Authority and Arts Council South West. The recommendations coming from this Assembly will become part of the regional approach to delivering a citizen-led cultural offer.

Find out more about the Citizens' Assembly for Culture project:

• Read the first piece in this series about civic participation: Edson Burton’s exploration of why voting matters
• Sign up to an online information session with the Citizens' Assembly team
• Email Imogen@trinitybristol.org.uk to join our Citizens For Culture mailing list
• Read our blogs to find out more about the Citizens' Assembly project

Nature in Newtown - Image Credit: Alastair Brookes

Throughout the summer, we’ve been working with our Community Connectors to programme activities for the local community. Working with Shanti Pant, our Community Connector for Newtown, we devised a programme that encouraged residents local to Newtown to spend time together, enjoying and learning about local green spaces through gentle exercise and nature walks.

“You just don’t know what is on your doorstep” - Feedback, Nature in Newtown Participant

Newtown is one of three local neighbourhoods that Trinity is working closely with over the course of this year, to develop a greater understanding of residents’ interests and experiences, and how we can offer support to share creative activity. As a Newtown resident, and nature-lover, Shanti was keen to share her experience of how spending time in nature can provide a simple way to support wellbeing and connect with others, so we worked with her to create this project.

Nature in Newtown ran for ten weeks from June - August, led by Subitha Baghirathan, and supported by Shanti. With Lawrence Hill Health Centre as the groups’ meeting point, Subitha shared a range of wellbeing exercises and activities for participants to experience including; tai chi, vagus nerve breathing, mindfulness activities and listening walks. Through rain and shine, we welcomed ten local people over the weeks, enthusiastically sharing their knowledge of the area, and learning new things from each other.

We found out that there is plenty of nature surrounding Newtown, and new places to discover too. A walk through some tunnels - shared by one member of the group - contained beautiful tiles documenting ‘The Industries and Crafts of Bristol’s Rich Industrial Heritage’, a walk along the railway path encouraged group members to use Subitha’s tree book to identify different species by their leaves, and a visit to Trinity’s garden enabled the group to meet Fleur, our garden project facilitator, who showed them around the space and talked about our volunteer programme.

Over the weeks, participants reported an increased feeling of connectedness to their local community, confidence to explore the local area, and confidence to engage with others.

For the second part of this project, we’re inviting practitioners Shanti Sherson (Wellbeing at Wellspring Settlement) and Jon Aitken (filmmaker at Watershed) to join us at Lawrence Hill Health Centre’s community garden, for Filmmaking in Newtown.

Over three sessions in September, Shanti and Jon will lead nature-based activities and help participants create simple short films together that document our connection to nature.

Trinity Garden Party. Photo Alastair Brookes

Over the last year, we have developed our Community and Neighbourhoods programme in response to the needs and interests of residents, community groups, and grassroots organisations.

“I’m really looking forward to connecting with the residents of Newtown. The weekly sessions will be a place where people can share their skills and interests and socialise together” Shanti, Community Connector

We have created three 'Community Connector' roles to connect with communities within the Newtown area, families who live on or near Stapleton Road, and people who access services at the Wild Goose Cafe.

Shanti Pant is the Community Connector for Newtown, a neighbourhood directly opposite the Trinity Centre. As with all the Connectors, Shanti has an active presence in Newtown both as a local resident and in organising community events alongside her daughter, Hemlata.

Originally from Nepal, Shanti has lived in Newtown since 2019. Having grown up in the countryside, she is keen to bring activities to Newtown that connect people to nature and organise weekend events for children and families. A keen craftsperson she wants to use these skills to offer activities for people who may be experiencing loneliness and isolation, providing opportunities to connect through creativity and craft.

In the first few months as a Connector, Shanti has been working with Trinity’s Communities and Neighbourhoods team to plan workshops inviting local residents to join artist Benoit Bennett in designing a mural to celebrate Newtown and the communities who live there. She also attended workshops led by the University of Bristol at their Wellspring Micro-campus in Barton Hill. These workshops explored ways in which older adults can use film as a creative medium – something that Shanti is keen to explore with local Newtown residents.

Alongside this, Shanti has been connecting with residents and community organisations, including Lawrence Hill Health Centre, to create two new free-to-access activities for Newtown residents that will start in June 2024.

Nature in Newtown is a series of weekly nature walks where local residents are invited to explore the area and take part in gentle movement activities. Initially led by facilitator Subitha Baghirathan, the sessions will then move on to exploring how to use simple creative film techniques as a way to capture and express participants’ experiences of engaging with this activity.

Shanti will also be hosting drop-in Coffee Morning sessions in Rosevear House every Friday morning from 10am to midday, starting on 4th June until 5th July. These meetups will include creative activities and the opportunity for residents to connect with each other.

If you are a Newtown resident and you have an idea for creative activities in your community you can speak to Shanti by:

• Attending a coffee morning or joining a nature walk
• Calling Trinity on 0117 935 1200
• Sign up to our mailing list

Community Connectors and our Community and Neighbourhoods programme has been developed in response to our pledges, click here to find out more.

As part of the celebrations for this year's International Women’s Day, we caught up with Saláma Kefentse from All Ah Wi Women's group ahead of their Saturday 09 Mar event at Trinity. Click here to find out more about Saturday's International Women's Day Celebrations at Trinity.

Q: Hi! Tell us a little about yourself and the All Ah Wi Women's group:

A: My name is Saláma and I started All Ah Wi Women's group last year under my brand name Just Love Hub.

The All Ah Wi Women's group is a space for all women, especially those from the Caribbean and African diaspora. The group offers a sense of sisterhood and freedom to be just as you are without the added titles of mum, daughter, sister, aunty etc. It's an opportunity to spend time focusing on their needs rather than the needs of others.

Q: Where did the idea of the International Womens Day event come from?

After a joint conversation with staff at Trinity the idea was offered for us host an event to celebrate International Womens Day. They offered this opportunity to us and as the women in our group possess such inspiring skills and talents it seemed a great idea to offer them the space to showcase what they can do and show how amazing they are.

The group was developed because we need to have a space to go to with women who looked like me and could relate to the ups and downs life throws at us, have a laugh, a cry and a moan without judgement. Be free to try new things and talk about topics that aren't typical but create awareness and are thought provoking.

Q: What can we expect from the event?

Expect great music from DJ Kissan and DJ Delicious, Essential oil 101 from spiritual healer Michelle Meridith and a workshop on 5 steps to overcoming childhood trauma with Author Carmen Carrol, hosted by the All Ah Wi Women's group.

Q: Why do you think celebrations like International Women’s Day are important?

Events like these give women the chance to shine a light for each other and be seen for who they are and what they do. It brings women together and shares good energy, healing and connection. We get to congratulate our sister's for their hard work and be inspired by them too.

Q: How can people get involved or help All Ah Wi Womens group?

The All Ah Wi Women's group is looking for volunteer session leaders to help organise and run the sessions and board members / trustees to start as a CIC to help with fundraising to bring the ideas these women have created to life.

The All Ah Wi Womens International Womens Day event is on 09 Mar 2024 from 10am – 3pm and features workshops from Michelle Meridith and Carmen Carol, music by DJs Kissan and Delicious and Podcasting form Keep It Real Podcast, click here to find out more.