Light Night - New Work from Leeds

This year on Light Night we are excited to be introducing Participatory Budgeting to our Expression of Interest process.

The Expression of Interest form can be downloaded from http://www.lightnightleeds.co.uk/8_GettingInvolved.html

We've expanded the form slightly, asking people to detail how their project will meet each of our funding criteria, which are,
Site Specific
Durational
Immersive
New work from Leeds

Once we've got all the EOIs in (deadline 30th April) we'll be calling meetings for everyone who wants to be involved in Light Night whereby you will be expected to score each other's proposals according to these criteria. The amount that each project recieves will be dictated by these scores.

With this in mind, we'd like to use this forum to explain each of the criteria, for you to ask us questions about the criteria, and to discuss with each other how your projects might fit into the criteria. Also we'd like you to use the forum to discuss if you think the criteria are right, whether or not this is what you want from Light Night... All this discussion will serve to help us plan events better in future, more according to what you as artists and audience want and need.

Our definition of 'New Work from Leeds' is...

We try to avoid including work that has been designed and completed before the artist thought about Light Night. Work that has simply been packed, stored, and brought out again for another event is also not likely to be responsive to its new space so is likely to score zero on 'Site Specific' too. We want Light Night to reflect what is happening now in Leeds.

It might not make sense for you to produce a piece only for one night. If your work is in development, and taking part in Light Night forms part of that development then that is OK. Performances of classical music, for example, are not new, but the 'new' element could be its performance in a new or unusual space (for example opera in a library).

In terms of 'from Leeds' it is important that Light Night is a celebration of creative activity in the city... However if you are, for instance, an artist living in Holmfirth who wants to a piece specific to a city centre, then we would rather you chose Leeds than Manchester to do it in! Also, it is good for us to bring some examples of 'good practice' into the city, so that it is shared with artists living here.

What do you think?

I think it's totally amazing that the council are trying some Participatory Budgeting techniques; it's a brave move and should be appreciated and commended as such. If Leeds wants to build on it's already very active and (at times) empowered 'grassroots' creative scene then this is exactly the sort of thing that should be happening. Transparency is key!

The guidelines seem very clear to me also. I can imagine it's a difficult balance because whilst the 'ethos' of Participatory Budgeting is to put the power in people's hands and widen decision making that can only happen if there are some fairly clear definitions which have to come from somewhere (even from 'above' - I don't mean that in a religious sense!).

As for a focus on work 'from Leeds'.I guess it would be nice for Leeds to have people from outside the area involved in Light Night (either as performers or audience); closedness or territorialism aren't very attractive traits- but maybe this could happen through collaborations with Leeds artists and groups or with a stress on site-responsiveness. Anyway, it's good to see Light Night developing and challenging itself, I best get my thinking cap on.

It would theoretically be possible (with Light Night and with Art In Unusual Spaces) to name quite an arbitrary figure - say 10% - of the space given over to artists outside Leeds. And, in fact, it has probably been something like that anyway. I have never done the kind of post code analysis that I probably should be doing.

What we don't do is actively recruit artists from outside Leeds just because... I don't know very many of them! There would be no harm in us approaching groups direct, so if anyone out there knows anyone or any groups who might do a good job, & be willing to work within the No-Artists-Fees model, then let me know & I will make an approach to them.