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Socially Engaged Artist - River Cultures Festival Kingston, Kingston Council

  •  London
  •  Â£40k-50k
  •  Part time
  •  Closes May 28, 2025
  •  Milan Govedarica
  •  milan.govedarica@kingston.gov.uk
  • #Visual arts

Description

Job Summary

Freelance artist with experience in socially engaged practice, to work with communities on the Royal Borough of Kingston’s River Cultures Festival in September 2025 as part of a major cultural programme.

Job Description

This is a part-time 3 month freelance role.

Total fee £6500 inclusive of expenses, equivalent to 26 days work at £250 per seven hour day. An additional budget of up to £1500 for materials will be provided. Hours of work are flexible according to the project's aims and the freelancer's other commitments.

Kingston 2025 is a flagship cultural and heritage programme which celebrates the 1100 anniversary of the crowning of King Athelstan in Kingston, the first King of a united England, as a springboard to reflect on the past and to tell a new, diverse story of the borough.

The six month public programme of events has been shaped with community and cultural partners to showcase new voices and provide more opportunities for people to engage with Kingston's heritage in different ways.

A key event in the programme will be the River Cultures Festival on Saturday 6th September 2025. The River Cultures Festival will focus on different aspects of our riverine heritage with land and river based activities representing different cultures and periods in history.

We are looking to engage a freelance artist, with a background in socially engaged practice, to widen participation by connecting with different communities. The artist will work with different groups to celebrate their diverse stories, river rituals, cultures and traditions as part of the event.

Funded by the National Lottery Heritage fund, the artist will facilitate community responses with creative heritage outputs featuring in the River Cultures Festival. The outputs can range from pop up exhibitions, installations and creative interpretations to immersive activities and/or visual materials.

Job Requirements

Experience in co-creating with communities

  • Experience in producing high quality creative outcomes and outputs responding to or developing creative briefs in collaboration with diverse communities
  • Experience in facilitating creative workshops and mentoring people of all ages and abilities within a community setting
  • Understanding of how to interpret, curate and respond to the heritage of different ethnicities, beliefs and cultures both sensitively and creatively
  • Friendly and adaptable and a confident communicator
  • Ability to create inspiring and engaging work for participants and audiences
  • As this project is rooted deeply in its location the artist must be able to travel easily to Kingston and to different locations within the borough, as required.

Job Responsibilities

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  • Develop a plan to explore the ideas and responses of diverse groups relating to the River Cultures Festival themes and ambitions, working alongside the Creative Producer
  • Lead and facilitate community workshops that explore the themes, rituals or traditions associated with different aspects of the river's importance, environmentally, culturally and socially
  • Develop creative outputs that contribute to the River Cultures festival as an activity, installation, exhibition or visual interpretation that will enhance the appreciation of the river's heritage through an exploration of crafts, skills, industry, natural environment etc
  • Develop engaging work that can be shared imaginatively with participants and audiences
  • Oversee the project's creative conclusion on the 6th September
  • Participate and support the evaluation of the event, as required by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
  • Work closely with the team and the Creative Producer in line with the project's aims

Useful Links

How to Apply

To apply please send your CV to the Kingston 2025 Programme Producer, Milan Govedarica along with a short one page proposal outlining:
What interests you about the project?
How you would approach the project?
What you would like to achieve?
An example of a relevant project you have completed in the last 3 to 5 years.
Application deadline Wed 28th May. Interviews will be held on Tues 3rd and Wed 4th June. For an informal discussion about the role please contact Milan.

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