Cultural Bridge - a visit to Germany

Meet our Culture Volunteers who visited Germany last week on an exchange programme that involved seeing art, sharing ideas, and making new connections.  

Anisha Sahota, Tod Jones  and Ajay Pall were brought together by Cultural Bridge, a programme launched in 2021 by all of the UK Arts Council’s and leading German cultural institutions to encourage creative collaborations between Germany and the UK.  

CBC, and partner organisation Kuturevilla Nellie in Lorrach, have hosted a series of opportunities for local creatives to make connections and exchange practice through community-engaged activity.  

Our volunteers have teamed up with volunteers based at Kutlureville Nellie (KVN) to discuss and share ideas about climate activism, a shared interest amongst the young volunteers in both places. They have visited galleries and experienced work by artists with a focus on climate change.   

On Saturday 16th September at KVN opening festival weekend, Anisha, Tod, and Ajay presented some ideas reflecting conversations from their experience so far to a German audience, and they were met with warm feedback and interest from the local press.  

Ajay (Sandwell) recites some spoken word poetry about eco-anxiety. 

Tod (Sandwell) presenting his idea about Red Studio (pop-up art studio ) 

Anisha (Wolverhampton) reading some of her poetry for the first time about connecting with Mother Earth.  

The night culminated with an outdoor silent disco, with guest Dj’s from the Cultural Bridge Project who dropped a playlist full of artists from the West Midlands, including sounds from Reggae, Bhangra, and Dub music.  

Next, the culture volunteers will look to produce a film that will be screened in Wolverhampton and Lorrach next year  “Both sides of this ‘Cultural Bridge’ have gifted me an unforgettable experience. It’s provided an opportunity to explore themes around climate change with a wonderfully talented group, whilst visiting amazing locations, rich in history, arts and culture.” Culture Volunteer Tod Jones.

Cultural Bridge celebrates bilateral artistic partnerships between the UK and Germany through the collaboration between Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, British Council, Creative Scotland, Fonds Soziokultur, Goethe-Institut London and Wales Arts International / Arts Council of Wales. 

This project is also supported by Creative Black Country and Volunteer Future’s West Midlands Project.