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In Focus

Part of Panic! It’s an arts emergency

,Cinema 1
Four posters pasted to an orange wall

An afternoon of panel discussions and conversation to reflect on a new report investigating social class inequalities in the creative industries culminating in an evening talk with Reni Eddo-Lodge.

In partnership with Create London, In Focus will be a platform for discussing social class within the creative and cultural sector. Using a new report, Panic! Social Class, Tastes and Inequalities in the Creative Industries as a springboard for conversation; the afternoon will host panel discussions on topics such as meritocracy and leadership, the taste and attitudes of the workforce, and the reality of working class representation in the arts today, as well as a look at the role young people play in this debate.

The event will examine how we work with one another and new initiatives could emerge that go on to support learning around these issues. With this in mind there will be time for questions and answers throughout and the choice to participate in breakout sessions instead of watching the panel discussions.

Download the report here.

Part of our 2018 Season, The Art of Change, which explores how artists respond to, reflect and can potentially effect change in the social and political landscape.

Panic! It’s an arts emergency is a continuation of a Create London project initiated in 2015 which collected over 2000 responses to a survey hosted on the Guardian website. Find out more here. 

The report

This event is part of Panic! It’s an arts emergency, an Arts and Humanities Research Council project, led by Create London and sociologists from the Universities of Edinburgh and Sheffield. It is the first time large-scale national data sets on social mobility have been compared alongside industry-specific information; offering new insights into the tastes, values and engagement of cultural workers.

A summarised research document has come out of this project, titled Panic! Social Class, Tastes and Inequalities in the Creative Industries and sheds light on the nuanced challenges of entering and succeeding in the sector. It has been written to aid discussion around this subject. The report has a focus on social class inequalities, acknowledging and taking an intersectional approach with ethnicity and gender where possible.

We encourage creative workers irrespective of seniority or specialism to join this conversation, and strongly advise reading the report before the event.

Download the report

Schedule for the day

Please note: 
This talk’s event is in relation to a new report. You can read the report here (and download if you would like a hard copy) before the event. Please note there will not be hard copies available on the day for attendees.

There will not be a full length lunch break integrated into the event. 

The panellists

Jo Littler is a Reader in the Department of Sociology at City, University of London. Her book Against Meritocracy: Culture, power and myths of mobility was recently published by Routledge. Her research ranges a number of different themes connected to cultural politics, including writing on meritocracy, consumer culture, heritage, care and celebrity.

Breakout sessions

Breakout sessions will take place throughout the day in the foyers of the Cinema 1 at the same time as panel sessions. There are 25 spaces for each activity and we will be taking sign-ups at the beginning of the day in the cinema foyers from 1pm. 

These sessions are only available to those who hold afternoon and afternoon & evening tickets. Not to those who have tickets for Reni Eddo-Lodge's talk in the evening. 

Reni Eddo-Lodge

Reni Eddo-Lodge is a London-based, award-winning journalist. She has written for the New York Times, the Voice, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Stylist, Inside Housing, the Pool, Dazed and Confused, and the New Humanist. She is the winner of a Women of the World Bold Moves Award, an MHP 30 to Watch Award and was chosen as one of the Top 30 Young People in Digital Media by the Guardian in 2014. She has also been listed in Elle's 100 Inspirational Women list, and The Root's 30 Black Viral Voices Under 30. She contributed to The Good Immigrant. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race is her first book. It won the 2018 Jhalak Prize, was chosen as Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year and Blackwell's Non-Fiction Book of the Year, was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Orwell Prize and shortlisted for the British Book Awards Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year and the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Non-Fiction.

Reni Eddo-Lodge will be in conversation with Sara Wajid. 

Sara Wajid is the Head of Engagement at Museum of London, where she is working on the plans for the museums’ reincarnation in West Smithfields. She is a trustee of the Pitt Rivers Museum and the founder of Museum Detox network of BAME heritage workers, and was previously a cultural commentator and journalist.

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Cinema 1

Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.   

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.