Minority ethnic artists awarded Arts Council National Lottery investment to support career development
15th November, 2023
Thirteen ethnic minority artists have been awarded grants worth £49,995 to help them develop their creative practice and support their professional careers in Northern Ireland. The investment announced today has been made by the Arts Council of Northern through the National Lottery Minority Ethnic Artists Mentoring and Residency Scheme and will support artists working across a range of disciplines including music, visual art, community arts and literature.
The creation of the programme has been informed by the Arts Council’s Intercultural Arts Strategy and framed within its current business plan. Gilly Campbell, Joint Director of Arts Development, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented: “Thanks to National Lottery Players and the money raised for Good Causes, this important funding programme will directly support our growing community of minority ethnic artists, living and working in Northern Ireland. It will provide the vital support they need to develop their practice, create new creative connections and build future career opportunities.
“Through this programme, we are seeking to create the conditions for the widest variety of art and creativity for both artists and audiences, addressing the numerous and complex barriers to access, progression and representation in the arts encountered by minority ethnic artists.”
CASESTUDIES
Siobhan Brown, awarded £2,990
Siobhan Brown is a singer and songwriter. Her band Manukahunney are well established on the NI music scene, she also leads the Cairde community choir and is the presenter of Radio Ulster’s first dedicated soul music show. Siobhan has been releasing material since 2018 and is a vocal coach, facilitator and mentor to community groups.
With investment from the Arts Council Siobhan will develop her vocal abilities, mentored by acclaimed British jazz vocalist and composer Randolph Matthews. This project will see Siobhan develop her artistic practice, elevate her vocal skills and collaborate with other artists to create a new material to be performed for audiences in 2024.
Anna Ramzy, awarded £4,675
Anna Ramzy is a composer, singer, multi-instrumentalist and sound designer. Anna studied Classical/Opera, Musical Theatre and Folk singing and plays piano, guitar, ukulele and kalimba. She has achieved multiple qualifications for her performance ability, including a Diploma in Music Performance from London College of Music. As an emerging artist, her drive to learn and build experience has seen her work with community music groups, as well as acting and film.
Thanks to her award from the Arts Council, Anna will work as Composer in Residence with Ulster Touring Opera, under the mentorship of Dafydd Hall Williams, Greg Caffrey and Giselle Allen. Her plans include the composition of a an original 5 - 10 minute opera scene, including finding appropriate text, scoring music and collaborative iteration. She will also attend a composition short course at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in August 2024.
Min Kim, awarded £5,000
Min Kim is an artist working with sounds, stories and sensations, in perpetual pursuit of ways for alternative storytelling. She seeks innovation in the contemporary marriage between performance and poetry through her ever-evolving eclectic practice blending music, performance art, theatre practice, creative writing and digital technology. She is a member of experimental group 'HIVE Choir' and sonic act 'OULAN'.
This is her third award through the Arts Council’s Minority Ethnic Artists and Residency Scheme.
‘Orchid Speaks’ is the last project in her trilogy of works integrating Korean poetry elements as musical material (after FERVĒRE and po(e)sies). It will encompass five instalments, centred around the Korean poet ‘Heo Nanseolheon’. Funding from the Arts Council will support research, development and public presentation of the first instalment.
The Minority Ethnic Artists Mentoring and Residency Programme is part of the Arts Council’s Support for Individual Artists Programme. It was established in 2022 to give targeted support to minority ethnic artists and creative practitioners. The programme aims to create opportunities for specialized training, research, cultural exchange, networking and learning for individual artists, creative practitioners and arts administrators, with artist receiving grants of up to £5,000 each.
The Minority Ethnic Artists Mentoring and Residency Programme aims to help individuals at every stage of their career; supporting skills development and career pathways, inspiring excellence and increasing opportunities for young and emerging minority ethnic artists and creatives. The awards announced today will support a range of artists, at various stages of their career.
Ends.
Notes to Editors
About the Arts Council of Northern Ireland
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the lead funding and development agency for the Arts providing support to arts projects throughout the region, through its Treasury and The National Lottery funds. Our funding enables artists and arts organisations to increase access to the arts across society and deliver great art that is within everyone’s reach.
Every week National Lottery players raise more than £30M for good causes.
More than £47 billion has now been raised by National Lottery players to support good causes since 1994.
More than 670,000 projects have been supported with National Lottery funding, the equivalent of around 240 lottery grants in every UK postcode district.