A new cultural strategy for Lewisham
Culture means different things to different people. It’s one of the things that struck me when going through the responses to the survey that helped informed our Cultural Strategy 2023 - 2028. For some it’s about creativity – art, music, film, fashion, design and even gaming. For others it’s a sense of belonging, how we live our lives and express our identities. Interestingly, the majority said it’s about improved health and wellbeing. There’s not a right or wrong answer. It’s all these things and more. Culture is the beating heart of everything we are and everything we stand for.
We had a phenomenal year as London Borough of Culture 2022. It was a celebration of togetherness, drawing people – of all ages and backgrounds – from across the borough, the capital and beyond – to share in everything that makes Lewisham special. It was inspired by our borough’s collective history of activism, which highlighted the power of culture to promote cohesion and to effect social change – however it was only ever the beginning.
While being firmly rooted in our heritage, London Borough of Culture 2022 also provided the foundations for a brighter and more positive future. We were always clear that creating an enduring legacy was at the heart of our plans.
Our people are our biggest strength. We developed the cultural strategy, with our partners, as a roadmap for our plans to ensure everyone in the borough feels like they own, or can be part of, the cultural offer in Lewisham. These are our four priorities for the next five years.
1. Communities
- Ensure talent, not background, is the determining factor of creative success in Lewisham. We want to empower our children and young people to shape our cultural landscape, particularly our music scene, by giving them access to opportunities to drive change. This is about inspiring the borough’s next generation of artists and creative entrepreneurs.
- Make sure our cultural offer is fair, accessible and inclusive – as the UK’s first Borough of Culture this is especially important. Our shared values help to define us. It’s the glue that brings and keeps our communities together and makes Lewisham such a unique and culturally rich place. We want to empower communities to tell their stories, as these are also the stories of our borough.
- Explore culture’s potential to promote health and wellbeing. Creativity and culture can improve the quality of life for individuals and communities. We want to do all we can to support activities that make people feel better physically, mentally and emotionally – that could be anything from participating in crafts to enjoying one of our green spaces.
2. Places
- Secure, safeguard and deliver a range of cultural spaces, offering offer a wide range of creative settings for creativity to flourish across the borough. Whether that’s for workshops or studios or classrooms.
3. Enterprise
- Support the local economy. We want our cultural sector to attract and retain the very best talent. Providing access to skills and employment opportunities will in turn drive the creative and visitor economy – cultural and creative organisations attract visitors who spend money with local businesses. It can also contribute toward a fairer and more inclusive economy, where talent from all sorts of backgrounds is able to participate.
4. Connections
- Work with partners to secure the inward investment needed for our joint vision to be delivered. Creativity and culture thrive through collaboration and partnership working. We have a huge wealth of knowledge and expertise right here in the borough, through our local arts and culture practitioners and organisations who we will continue to work with to create the best possible outcomes for our borough.
- Drive the dialogue about the key issues facing our borough. For example, during our year as London Borough of Culture, we saw that culture could be an effective tool for engaging people in conversations about climate change – through activities such as Climate Home and Lewisham Speaks.
We are all ambitious for Lewisham’s future. In sharing this strategy, we are setting out our vision and commitment to making sure our borough takes its rightful place among the most important cultural hubs in the capital.
Cllr James-J Walsh – Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Communication