A few years ago, I was involved in the launch of Words First - a project set up by the 主播大秀, Arts Council England and Roundhouse - that showcased young, spoken word poets on Radio 1 and 1Xtra.
The scheme caught the attention of Shirley May: a wonderful Manchester-based poet who has spent the last twenty years finding and mentoring talent through her organisation Young Identity. I don't really know how she does it, but the poets who emerge from her workshops are without exception articulate, emotionally intelligent and capable of verbal flights of immense beauty. Shirley pushed one of her students, Isaiah Hull, to apply and within a few months he was warming up for Skepta at Radio 1's Big Weekend.
Like the other Words First finalists, there is a restlessness to Isaiah's practice. Yes, he has published his first book, but I have seen him in other contexts too: mixing poetry with stand-up comedy, with live music, collaborating with photographers, even interacting with a giant puppet of his own creation in a Manchester art gallery.
He is typical of his generation in that he doesn't see art as limited to one form or consigned to a particular genre - everything can be a canvas with equal merit. The new generation seem to be influenced by the impact of the internet - the first medium in human history where all forms of artistic expression sit in inseparable equilibrium - but so too is the surge in cultural agency away from the academies and into the streets of the UK's myriad communities. The emphasis is less on the lone genius and more on those able to collaborate for a market that is increasingly multi-disciplinary and multi-media.
Isaiah Hull reading at his Nosebleeds book launch, at Kardomah 94.
Leaving behind the traditional structures
These younger creatives often have an uneasy relationship with the traditional structures and platforms of artistic practice in this country. The challenge for broadcast is well documented, although over the last year, we've already seen an impressive shift in the way the 主播大秀 creates and markets content, re-engaging audiences who were beginning to drift: most obviously through programmes like 主播大秀 Three's Killing Eve and new platforms like 主播大秀 Sounds.
There are other ways too. It is my belief that by supporting talent like Isaiah Hull we not only knit the 主播大秀 into their developing practice (an important addition to the support they often find in global brands which often have no public service remit in this country at all), but we also connect with their networks as well as delighting existing audiences with an appetite for the new and indefinable. The trick is to ensure we don't just do this occasionally, but day in, day out.
The next wave of talent development
This is why I am delighted to be launching the next wave of the 主播大秀 Arts talent development programme in New Creatives: a major new partnership with Arts Council England that will commission a staggering 500 new works in short film, audio and interactive media from young artists over the next couple of years for the full breadth of 主播大秀 platforms.
While the 主播大秀 is involved in many schemes which target creative practitioners of all backgrounds and disciplines, New Creatives is specifically designed to address some of the well documented challenges in social mobility, diversity and career development for new generations in the creative industries. Our approach is regional, working with organisations across England who know better than anyone how to connect with talent in their area: Tyneside Cinema covering the North, Rural Media Company covering the Midlands, the ICA in London, Screen South covering the South East, and Calling the Shots for the South West.
Cultural devolution
The New Creatives scheme joins two others we have recently announced: Now and Next in Scotland (working with 主播大秀 Scotland, Creative Scotland and Lux) and Two Minute Masterpiece in Northern Ireland (working with 主播大秀 Northern Ireland and Screen NI). We aim to announce something similar with Wales in due course.
Collectively, these schemes - which share an ethos of cultural devolution - will be packaged in a way all 主播大秀 audiences can enjoy as 主播大秀 Introducing Arts which will appear from late spring across television, radio and online. In this, we build upon the extraordinary work of 主播大秀 Introducing which has transformed the lives of emerging musicians and enriched those of music lovers everywhere. Expect to be surprised, expect to be challenged, expect to be entertained. 主播大秀 Arts Introducing will be a mirror of the UK as experienced by its youth.
Want to know more about the New Creatives scheme? Find out more here.