somewhere to talk
Somewhere To Talk are one on one advisory sessions for artists to receive focused, tailored advice for an artistic project or consider the next steps in their practise. The sessions are free to attend and confidential.
Who are the sessions for?
The sessions are intended for artists based in Scotland who work in, or have an interest to work in, experimental performance & Live Art.
Sessions with the TMS team are open to artists at any level of experience, who are not currently in full time education.
Sessions with guest facilitators have different focuses.
Who are we?
The sessions will predominantly be led by Festival Manager Karl Taylor, with some limited sessions available guest facilitators.
Karl Taylor; Take Me Somewhere Festival Manager
These sessions are open to artists at all levels of experience.
Hi, my name’s Karl. I’ve worked with Take Me Somewhere since 2017 and I also run BUZZCUT, an organisation making space for Scotland based artists to try out new, unpredictable ideas in performance and Live Art. I’ve worked professionally in the arts for 12 years, in addition to lots of arts organisations I’ve also worked for independent artists such as Lucy McCormick, Scottee & Tania El Khoury, helping them develop projects from an early seed of an idea to full production and international tours, as well as help design a long-term strategy for their practises.
Whilst I’ve performed in things here and there I am not a practising artist, so my skills are much more in producing; including career strategy, funding, project development and partnerships. I’d be really happy to help you get unstuck with what the next steps are for your project, and demystify some of the behind the scenes processes to get a project on its feet. I’d also be very happy to offer another pair of eyes on a project, contract, funding application, or whatever you might need.
Guest Facilitators: Nadja Dias (Executive Producer) & Vicky Wilson (Projects and Access Producer) / Claire Cunningham Projects
These sessions are open to artists with 3+ years experience who are looking to develop their international networks and touring practice. Sessions will take place on 22nd July 2024.
Nadja is a freelance producer and consultant with 20 years of international professional experience. She has worked as a producer with Candoco Dance Company, Sadlers Wells, Liverpool Biennale and Scottish Dance Theatre. She also mentors and teaches about inclusive practice across Europe.
Vicky began her career in Marketing before becoming a freelance Producer; organising national and international tours and events for Artists such as Caroline Bowditch, Joan Clevillé, Scottish Dance Theatre and The Work Room.
In 2014, they began working with Scottish disabled artist Claire Cunningham whose works have been co-produced with and toured to leading international partners including Manchester International Festival; Perth Festival (Australia); Mousonturm, Frankfurt and Tanzhaus nrw amongst others.
Together, they have extensive experience of strategic and practical international tour booking, touring and accessible and care informed practice for Artists and audiences.
How will they work?
The sessions last 45 minutes and can take place in person at Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, Glasgow, or online via Zoom. (Sessions with guest facilitators are always via Zoom)
We will ask you to let us know what you want to talk about in advance. We will then let you know whether or not we feel that we have the skills or knowledge to be able to support you. We may not have all the answers off the top of our head, but we normally know who to ask - so if you let us know what you want to talk about we can do a bit of research.
The sessions are free and allocated on a first come, first served basis, however if we don’t feel we are the right people to offer you the right support we may come back to you via email with alternative suggestions.
We are able to provide BSL Interpretation and/or captioning on request. If you have any other access requirements please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate.
We will send you an evaluation form & equalities monitoring form after the session which are required to fill out.
What can we discuss in the sessions?
The sessions will be led by your particular needs and questions. Things we can discuss include;
How to get your artistic idea ‘off the ground’ - planning a timeline, helping you articulate what you would like to do and identifying what partners, funding & support do you need in place to realise your vision?
Producing milestones to consider when planning your project, including contracting, risk assessments, PRS forms etc.
If you are feeling a bit lost professionally we can act as a sounding board and help you lay out a route forward. We can also discuss long-term strategy for practise sustainability, including what organisational or access support structures may work for you.
We can advise on available funding routes, or spend time helping you bullet-point key points in a funding application, or read a draft of an existing application & offering feedback. As the session is only 45 minutes we would need to be specific, i.e. looking at one key question you are stuck on, or skim reading the whole application and offering general thoughts.
We can advise on possible networks, contexts or partners for the development or ongoing touring of your project, both within Scotland, the UK & internationally.
The sessions are a chance to draw on the expertise of the TMS team to support your project in the wider world. Therefore, they are not a process to pitch work to present in Take Me Somewhere’s Festival but you can contact us on producing@takemesomewhere.co.uk if there is a projct you’d like to share wth us.