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The Old Police House (TOPH): Treatise

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Mariam Rezaei

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.In the thick of austerity, small arts communities are tested to the brink. The Arts in the North of England had been hit with staggered funding cuts, almost halving resources available from arts funders, arts organisations and the councils. In 2013, the largest DIY space in Newcastle was forced to move, closing for 2 years whilst Morden Tower, a building rich in artistic heritage, fell in to such disrepair it was forced to close. A hole was left. The Old Police House, a small DIY rehearsal space for a DJ project in Gateshead, was just that. An old police house without heating or funding that, in response to community needs, became a make-shift venue and home to several young artists and projects. Seven years on with two venue moves, two changes of Prime Minister, the threat of a super-council looming over ‘Newcastle-Gateshead’ and competing programmers, what impact does DIY art have? How has the local artistic community changed? Do equity and equality still exist in a climate of prescriptive narratives from Arts Funders, tick-box feedback forms and tokenistic funding? This paper proposes to explore the challenges of running an urban experimental community arts venue within this cultural context, drawing on the authors’ personal experiences as an active participant.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Rezaei M, Denton A

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Contemporary Music Review

Year: 2024

Volume: 42

Issue: 4

Pages: 476-487

Online publication date: 29/01/2024

Acceptance date: 21/12/2023

Date deposited: 05/02/2024

ISSN (print): 0749-4467

ISSN (electronic): 1477-2256

Publisher: Routledge

URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/07494467.2023.2300022

DOI: 10.1080/07494467.2023.2300022


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