China calling

As innovation manager of Cheltenham Festivals, Andrew Lansley is always looking for ways to expand and improve the experiences of his local audiences. So the latest national census revelation that the local Southeast Asian and Chinese community had doubled sent him and his plans for audience engagement in an exciting new direction.

“Last year I was given the responsibility of managing a transition of our festivals’ free programme to a new model, and I was keen this new approach would place our local communities and audiences at the centre,” he says. “When I was exploring co-production opportunities with local community leaders their resounding response was to go and connect with the Chinese cultural world directly.”

These conversations and a desire to explore the jazz and classical music market in China lead Lansley to a collaboration with the British Council, which provided him with a grant to fund a short exploratory visit to China. The goal of the tour was to attend a series of Asian jazz festivals and see how these events connect music with communities through their free programmes.

“I went looking for a way to connect our jazz and music programmes with our local Chinese community, and what I found was a cultural scene bursting with potential,” he says. “It’s a talented, creative community keen to build on their domestic successes and realise new opportunities around the world.”

Ripe with talent

Lansley’s packed trip included visits to Guangzhou Jazz Festival, OCT-LOFT Jazz Festival (where he experienced a memorable late night improvisation session), the Chinese University of Hong Kong, SZ Fringe Festival, the Shenzhen Concert Hall (which he describes as “breathtaking”), and Xinghai Concert Hall, as well as meetings with local promoters, agents and labels.

“My impression was that of an ecosystem ripe with talent, blending traditional and contemporary approaches to creativity,” he says. “The desire of artists and programmers to grow their international connections was evident, as well as promoting the wider bay area as a destination for international touring and event programming.”

Building bridges with some of the companies and venues he visited was a key focus, and he believes opening the door to innovative partnerships is vital for providing audiences with experiences beyond what they have seen and heard before.

“Cross-cultural collaborations allow us to explore and share each other’s experiences, and we believe these connections are critical in building understanding both artistically and with our audiences,” he says.

Continues…

The closing night performance of the OCT-LOFT Jazz Festival in Shenzhen, China

Welcomed with open arms

Cheltenham Festivals have always been recognised for their commitment to working with artists and creatives across the world in a bid to connect communities. On this trip, Lansley’s goal was to expand on this process and to pursue deeper, more inclusive programming that will continue to surprise and delight audiences.

“The drive to create a greater depth within our programming is always a priority at Cheltenham Festivals and this is reflected in our mission to create inclusive festivals that allow everyone to experience the benefits of cultural engagement,” he says. “It is a priority for our audiences, and it is a priority for us as an organisation.”

In pursuing this mission, Lansley went to China to seek inspiration and found he was welcomed with open arms by a cultural community equally open and eager to foster new and fruitful international relationships. But what he didn’t expect to find was that their similarities were just as profound as their differences.

“Many had spoken about the warmth and kindness of Chinese hospitality, but I wasn’t prepared for quite how warm or kind that could be,” he says. “What shook me was the realisation of being 6,000 miles from my home yet being at an event where everything felt so much like a show back in the UK. Everything was different, but also the same.”

The greatest leveller

Ultimately, he discovered that the desire to create and grow the connections between artists and audiences is universal, transcending cultural and geographical boundaries.

“I believe culture is one place where all humans can find a place to connect and build understanding between one another,” he says. “That’s my favourite ongoing discovery with experiencing culture around the planet: it’s the most efficient interpreter and greatest leveller we have as a species.”

Lansley views his trip to China to have been an “exceptional experience” and “one of the most exciting, eye-opening, informative and enjoyable trips of my life”, that achieved all his original objectives and more, including developing co-production links, sector mapping, talent development pathways and touring routes.

For any artists or administrators thinking about following in his footsteps to explore opportunities for collaboration in China, his message is unambiguous.

“Don’t think about it just do it,” he says. “Clear your head of preconceptions of what China is like and get out there as soon as you can.”