The RESET European network of independent cultural and media organisations has just released a new study exploring the question: How can the cultural sector become more welcoming and representative for BIPoC communities? It also examines the role that Creative Europe networks – which unite cultural actors across Europe and advocate for their interests within EU institutions – can play in this effort.
The study seeks to highlight the disparity between the cultural sector’s increasingly diverse self-perception and the present-day reality, which reveals a stark underrepresentation of BIPoC communities, both on stage and behind the scenes.
Two versions of the publication are available:
- Creative Europe Networks and BIPoC Representation: Bridging Gaps and Breaking Barriers is a comprehensive report that explores how Creative Europe networks might develop effective strategies to enhance BIPoC representation across the European cultural landscape. It draws on research conducted with networks, independent advocates for BIPoC representation, and European institutions.
- A shorter companion piece, titled BIPoC Representation in Cultural Spaces: A Guide to Action, offers a historical overview of the lack of BIPoC representation in European culture. It also examines core concepts such as diversity and representation, and outlines how cultural professionals can apply these ideas to foster more inclusive environments.
About the Author
Miriam Amina Fofana (b. 1999, Düsseldorf) is a cultural practitioner with roots in both Germany and the Ivory Coast. She studied political science and cultural studies in the Netherlands and France, and has built a career in the cultural sector, gaining experience across visual arts, music, and literature. Her work focuses on the representation of ‘otherness’, particularly from a Sub-Saharan African, post-colonial perspective within the contemporary European cultural context. She currently lives and works in Brussels.
You can find both versions here.
