Visiting Arts' purpose is to strengthen intercultural understanding through the arts.

What do we do?

• Provide information and intelligence to help people engage in intercultural activity
• Create opportunities for artists and cultural professionals to explore new connections
• Expand the skills and knowledge of artists and cultural players

What people say about us?

"Visiting Arts through my career has picked me up and given me wonderful insights to artists and cultures round the world, most recently in an unforgettable trip to Iran. They have changed my world and I am very excited by their plans to change their role which I know will provide more inspiration in the years to come." Ruth Mackenzie, Director, Cultural Olympiad for London 2010

"In my experience Visiting Arts plays a key role in promoting and supporting cultural understanding and collaboration in increasingly innovative ways. Its small team is skilled and knowledgeable and the organisation is “light on its feet”, enabling it to get things done with the minimum of fuss" Jodi Myers, independent arts consultant

"VA has been crucial to us at Hay and to many of my colleagues in nurturing global perspectives. It should be called taste-crazing, ideas-mashing, thrill-blending, stranger-mating, mind-opening arts..." - Peter Florence, Director, Hay Festivals

"I have over many years found Visiting Arts to be a really constructive and productive organisation to work with. I have done so in many different contexts, ranging from support for research and development of incoming exhibitions, through being able to capitalise on incoming touring work, to benefitting from the attention brought by visiting curators and critics. It seems to me that Visiting Arts has really done a lot in nurturing and promoting international contact, often from ‘hard to reach’ communities around the world, and often in a really positive relationship to work with British diaspora communities. This has enabled real bridges to be built between organisations, international perspectives and local communities. 

I also think that Visiting Arts has done a terrific amount to ensure that incoming international cultural projects and personalities move beyond London and the obvious centres. This has been really beneficial in affirming the goals of organisations and communities in having local roots reinforced and challenged, as appropriate, by international perspectives. There is great potential for this to continue into the future, and I hope to be able to develop the work with visiting Arts in our plans. " - Michael Tooby, Cyfarwyddwr, Dysgu, Rhaglennau a Datblygu, Amgueddfa Cymru/ Director, Learning, Programmes and Development, National Museum Wales

 

How we do this

Among other things we:

• Produce and distribute our free monthly e-newsletter, help-sheets, targeted briefings and the latest advice through print, web and face to face meetings
• Establish and foster opportunities for ground-breaking artist exchanges, and contribute to some of the world’s biggest and most innovative festivals
• Organise and run training programmes, in-country workshops, overseas country-visits, networking events, work placements, residencies and collaborations

We work with the most exciting next generation of artists and cultural players, inviting them to the UK, linking them with UK artists and organisations expanding knowledge and horizons and championing intercultural working.

In our 35 years we've learnt that arts professionals and artists need: international intelligence, particularly on funding sources and visa information, opportunities for travel and research, and networking opportunities in order to enable their international working. These are areas of development core to our work.

We work with our partners to avoid duplication and maximise the value and impact of our activity across the UK arts sectors, and we strive to capture the inspiration, the learning and the good practice of our programmes to share widely.

We are constantly devising new ways of delivering high quality, effective programmes, and to challenge traditional models of international working.

Who we are

Visiting Arts is an independent registered charity set up in 1977, which is funded, by Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, the Arts Council of Wales, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and works with a range of partners including the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, British Council, Gulbenkian Foundation and Ministries of Culture across the globe. The Board is chaired by Robert Palmer. Other Board Members include Ajay Chhabra, Romesh Gunesekera, Sue Cambridge, Ann Harrison, Guto Hari and Nero Ughwujabo. We have a wide and growing group of associates with whom we work on one-off contracts. These associates represent some of the most experienced and diverse cultural operators in the UK (and beyond).

© Visiting Arts 2011

Registered in England No. 4162404 Charity No. 1085506. Auditors : Sayer Vincent 

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