FUNDED EVENTS +
CULTURAL PROJECTS
Cosmopolitan Arts specialise in taking arts to people who don't usually have the opportunity to access the arts or culture, creating arts projects and events that focus on celebrating cultural diversity to help break down barriers.
Here is a selection of the hugely successful projects and events, which we have delivered through the support of our fantastic funders.
Cosmopolitan Arts Festival
We have delivered the Cosmopolitan Arts Festival in Leicester city centre since 2011, to celebrate cultural diversity through the arts and break down cultural barriers. It usually spans the city centre with multiple stage areas and cultural arts activities, however during lockdown we moved online to keep the festival going. We create large-scale spectacular performances using combined arts and digital technology, and have developed this to also include immersive digital arts exhibition experiences.
Funded by Arts Council England, Awards for All, Leicester City Council, The National Lottery Community Fund
From East to East
From East to East is an ambitious new research project on Chinese migration to the East Midlands. Working closely with Chinese communities in Leicester, Nottingham, and Derby, we have researched migration to the region from the 1950s to the present day. We have explored why people moved to the East Midlands, how they made their lives in their new homes, and how the communities of each city have changed over the years.
Working with professional artists and historians, we have created a series of documentary shorts focusing on each decade from the 1950s to the 2010s. We promoted this project with events in Leicester, Derby and Nottingham including an immersive, interactive digital arts exhibition, New Year processions, workshops and performances, and created a website which will serve as a permanent and accessible record of our findings.
Funded by Arts Council England & Heritage Lottery Fund
Chinese New Year
Since 2017 we have worked with the Chinese community and university students in both Leicester and Leicestershire, to create multifaceted Chinese New Year celebrations in the city centre, including musical performances, dance, traditional skills workshops and displays of martial arts.
Funded by Arts Council England & Leicester City Council
For the Love of Jazz
In 2022, we put tpgether Leicester's first ever Jazz festival, to celebrate the vibrant jazz scene in Leicester, the Midlands and beyond. This one day event featured a diverse line-up of performances including a Grammy award-winning headliner, along with DJs, workshops and a digital arts exhibition on the history of UK Jazz.
Funded by Arts Council England & Leicester City Council
Cosmopolitan Unity Project
Since 2019 we have delivered a research based project working with 15 different cultural groups, to explore why they settled in Leicester, if they felt part of the city and if they had experienced racism. We delivered workshops to create artefacts and performances for the Cosmopolitan Arts Festival, Professor Momodou Sallah created an academic report and Keith Allott created a series of documentaries from interviews conducted over the 3 year period.
Funded by the The National Lottery Community Fund
Cosmopolitan Voices
An immersive digital arts exhibition experience using ambisonic sound and 3D image. We focused on 4 cultures to explore racism and the experiences of these cultures within society. We commissioned artists to create content using a combined arts approach.
Funded by Arts Council England, Leicester City Council
