PALAVER! Festival
PALAVER! is a pioneering artistic development programme supporting the creation of new queer-positive performance work for children and family audiences (QPWFC).
As the first programme of its kind in the world, PALAVER! brings together three strands of activity:
ARTIST DEVELOPMENT: supporting LGBTQ+ artists to create work for young audiences exploring queer themes and identities.
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT: working with venues to bring LGBTQ+ families into existing family programming.
SECTOR DEVELOPMENT: upskilling organisations and indepdendent practioners with the tools, resources, and knowledge to support the development of QPWFC)
In its first iteration of PALAVER! took place in Autumn 2021, in partnership with Cambridge Juntion.
Check out the film!
This film outlines the PALAVER project, the work undertaken with artists, and highlights from the final work created by the PALAVER artists.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS WORK?
We know that whilst many things have changed for LGBTQ+ people over the last decades there is still a long way to go for LGBTQ+ people to be safe, respected, and to achieve equality. Our understanding of what constitutes a family has changed. In today’s society we know that families come in all shapes and sizes including single-parents, same sex parents, adoptive parents, foster families, multiple family homes etc.
We want to ensure that the stories we tell to children actually reflect the world they live in, and celebrate the different kinds of families and people there are in the world - so that young people who do belong to families outside of the traditional ‘nuclear’ model do not feel different and are not treated differently by others.
We believe that in creating space for all children and families to learn about different kinds of people, relationships, and families we can create new levels of respect, care, and understanding for each other.
Whilst there have been many legal advances for LGBTQ+ people in recent history, we recognise that the world we live in is often unwelcoming and dangerous for LGBTQ+ people.
In 2019 incidents of homophobic and transphobic hate crime doubled in the UK.
A YouGov survey in 2012* found that two thirds of LGBTQ+ people were afraid to hold hands in public.
Data collected by stonewall discovered that almost half (48%) of transgender people in the UK have attempted suicide, and their 2017 Schools Report indicated that 45% of young LGBTQ+ people experience bullying in schools.
We want to be a part of changing these shocking statistics.
We want to help create a world where LGBTQ+ are safe, celebrated, and supported.
PALAVER is a step towards this.
WHAT WE DELIVERED:
-
ARTIST DEVELOPMENT
We hosted three bespoke week-long artist residencies supporting five leading LGBTQ+ artists (Katy Baird, Yshee Black, Harry Clayton-Wright, Vijay Patel & Emma Frankland) to create new queer positive performance work for children and families. Each residency culminated in a public PALAVER Party including scratch performances of work developed on the residency.
Further development time was given to the artists before presenting fully realised extracts of their new shows at the PALAVER Festival.
-
PUBLIC PROGRAMME
We presented a joyous public season of inclusive performance programming for children aged 3-8 and family audiences, including:
- three PALAVER Parties working with 15 LGBTQ+ artists from drag, cabaret, and theatre backgrounds.
- the first PALAVER! Festival, welcoming over 100 people to performances, workshops, story-telling sessions, and discos over a day of family programming.
-
SECTOR DEVELOPMENT
Over the project we worked with Cambridge Junction building a model for support, care, and communications (inlcuding working with PR specialists Abstrakt Publicity).
50 representatives from arts organisations all over the UK joined us for the PALAVER Symposium sharing best practice, undertaking training, and empowering organisations to develop QPWFC themselves.
Bespoke training and consultancy is available.
WHAT NEXT FOR PALAVER?
Plans are underway to bring the PALAVER Festival back annually from 2023, including a series of new residencies and artistic commissions.
Our fabulous PALAVER Party is now available for touring, with a number of upcoming dates in 2022.
Fatt Projects offers dedicated for arts organisations on how to manage backlash, criticism, and online trolling, as well as bespoke consultancy for organisations and individuals interested in programming and developing queer positive performance for family audiences.
We are currently developing a guidance publication for artists, individuals, and organisations on approaching QPWFC, methodologies for care, and strategies for comms.
Keep up with PALAVER news by joining our mailing list below.
PALAVER was supported by Cambridge Junction (through their Vision Mixers development programme), Marlborough Productions, and Arts Council England.
