Individual Practice

Creative Producers International had a positive impact on the individual practices, skills and confidence of our participants.

Leticia Lozano (Mexico City) and Malaika Toyo (Lagos) each founded their own social enterprise in their home cities, through which to continue the research and development they began through the programme. MACIA Estudio, in Mexico City, specialises in the development of integral processes that give an answer to urban communities’ real needs and are manifested as public spaces, placemaking strategies, participation methodologies, temporary interventions or urban public policy recommendations. Made Culture, in Lagos, has developed a human-centred methodology to co-design tailor-made solutions that simplify complex systemic issues in the city to make them more solvable.

Louisa Davies (Stratford-upon-Avon) has seen a transformation in both her practice and her professional role and began a new job as Senior Producer of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Cultural Programme at the start of 2020.

“My experience on Creative Producers International has helped me rediscover my personal ethos as a producer, and has given me the tools, resilience and supportive network to be an agent for change working inside significant and large-scale cultural institutions. It has done this through the shared experiences and values of the cohort, the thinking and reflection on the role, transferable skills and aptitude of producers, the first-hand experience of other city-change contexts, and the space and resources to reflect on the place in which I work and act on its particular set of challenges.”

Michelle Browne (Dublin) used her development grant for skills development – training in stakeholder dialogue, creative facilitation and life coaching – to better enable her to engage with city authorities and citizens and support vital cross sector collaborations.

“As an artist and curator and initiator of projects in the city communication is key. Asking the right questions and focusing on what answers are given seems like an obvious and easy task, but when you get down to it can often lead to misunderstanding and conflict. The development grant has allowed me to really focus on this core aspect of my work and the work of any producer working with multiple stakeholders, participants and collaborators to effect city change.”

Luke Emery (Bristol) began his Creative Producers International journey with a clear idea of his process for effecting change by delivering socially engaged projects that had immediate impact. Throughout the programme Luke has gained a broadened perspective on change-making and the potential of working alongside partners to rethink policy for longer term and more sustainable impact.

“It’s made me ask difficult questions of myself and given me valuable context, which has shifted my own perspectives on what I want to be a part of. It’s changed my thinking enough that it’s played a big part in my decision to make a significant career change, moving from independent producing and into a full-time position at the Pervasive Media Studio. The ‘3 years ago’ me would very likely not have put themselves forward for the role, nor been able to talk with the level of informed perspective that this residency gave me.” 

Bruce Ikeda (Tokyo) dedicated his Creative Producers International research to exploring creative use of public space in the city, which is usually restricted to traditional festivals. Earlier this year Bruce’s design studio JKD Collective, won a commission to deliver a major public installation as part of a new theatre park in Ikebukuro. His project Global Ring is a digital art-linked audio-visual installation which floats above the park. The installation is linked to a time signal, which analyses information like weather, temperature and humidity in real time and changes the production of sound and visual in response. It is a landmark project for Bruce and his studio and a revolutionary project for public space in this context:

“This is the key moment of impact I have experienced in the past few years, and it never would have happened without my involvement in Creative Producers International.”