Building Artistic Partnerships and Opening the Arts to Younger Audiences

New Work New Audiences brings fresh and stimulating contemporary British art work to new audiences across the Middle East. It promotes joint ventures between artists and arts organisations in the UK and the Middle East

This new regional arts programme builds on the British Council’s long and strong record of making international connections and facilitating collaboration in the creative and performing arts. It shows how the arts can provide a valuable way through which to understand different cultures and societies.

Current plans include: music, dance, theatre, the visual arts, architecture and literature.

2011 Events

• The next performances of our pioneering Shifting Sands music collaboration – Glasgow (26-27 Jan) and Bahrain (31 Jan – 04 February).
• The online launch (31 Jan) of our groundbreaking Gulf Stage digital theatre project. Watch the performances at http://www.digitaltheatre.com/gulfstage .
• A showcase of the Best of British Jazz at the Jazz Gardens as part of the 2011 Dubai International Jazz Festival (08-15 February).
• A brand new dance production, Kathakbox, from the acclaimed UK-based Sonia Sabri Company - UAE (20 – 28 February).
• The first international literature festival ever to be held in Iraq: The Erbil Literature Festival (07-09 May) will bring some of the UK’s best contemporary writers together with Arabic and Kurdish writers from Iraq.

Partnership at Heart of New Work New Audiences

New Work New Audiences creates new opportunities for artists and arts organisations in the Middle East:

• For international collaboration
• To build new networks with arts professionals in the UK
• To strengthen and develop a new generation of Middle Eastern audiences
• To present their work to UK audiences

Its partnerships between artists and arts organisations in both the UK and countries of the Middle East are at the heart – and are the strength - of New Work New Audiences.

Opening the Arts to Younger Audiences

New Work New Audiences draws on the dynamism of the UK’s world-renowned contemporary British arts scene. It uses digital technology to make the arts more accessible to young people - through online social networks.

This provides audiences who may be experiencing the arts for the first time the opportunity to explore different cultures through a country’s creative and performing arts. This helps improve understanding between people of all ages and different cultures.  

British Council's Role

For further information about our regional arts programme in the Middle East contact: Hannah Henderson.