University heritage project announces new cohort of creatives
Wed 15 November, 2023![Article Header Image](/media/0ddlqych/cohort-header-image.png?width=1036&height=583)
A new cohort of creatives has been announced for the University of Bedfordshire’s latest local heritage project - Heritage Futures Elevator – which aims to support budding leaders in the sector.
Led by Bedfordshire’s Arts & Culture Projects team, working alongside the University of Northampton and supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, this project looks to promote the visibility of heritage practitioners and the heritage of Luton to broader audiences, whilst supporting the development of the existing Heritage Skills Hub across the region.
Heritage Futures Elevator is the latest strand of the wider Heritage Partnerships Project and will provide the new cohort with mentoring and business support, as well as opportunities to lead training for fellow practitioners and local educators.
Jitty Marwaha, Cultural Programmes Officer at the University of Bedfordshire, will lead on this project and said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome our first Heritage Futures Elevator cohort. With such a dynamic trio, I am looking forward to them leading the way in their own practices to form stimulating interest in the unique heritage of Luton. We would also like to extend a big thank you to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for enabling such exciting projects to take place.”
Heritage Futures Elevator will then unite with Northampton's Heritage Impact Accelerator programme to mentor Northampton’s practitioners and run shared events for audience engagement.
To learn more about the programme and the next round of applications in spring 2024, you can get in touch by emailing: culture@beds.ac.uk
Click on the names below to discover more about the Heritage Futures Elevator cohort
Taher Adel, a British-Bahraini poet and spoken word artist, holds an MA in Creative Writing and Poetry from the University of East Anglia. He has served as a judge for the Stephen Spender Poetry Prize and was appointed the Poet in Residence for Wells-next-the-Sea in 2019. His literary contributions include titles such as 'I Don't Know What Language I Dream In’, 'The Names', and 'The Divine Names'. Beyond his books, Taher’s works have been showcased in various esteemed publications and platforms, including BBC Radio 4, SMOKE Magazine, The New European, Glassworks Magazine, Poetry London Magazine, and Poetry Salzburg Review.
Sophie Gresswell is a multi-disciplinary artist exploring identity and belonging, with particular interest in interconnected ‘living’ heritage. Sophie aims to visualise a connection between us which transcends our individual lifespan, and amplifies the way our human stories intersect through generations, cultures and history to bring us to the current moment in time, and inform the very people we are today. Sophie has had work featured on BBC Arts, Radio 6 Music, and exhibited in the UK, China and St Helena Island.
Jakub Rokita is a multimedia artist, photographer and musician specialising in sound installations, projections and video. A postgraduate alumni of the University of Bedfordshire, Jakub creates short films, photographic series and spatial arrangements which play with time, place and scale using field recordings, everyday objects and obsolete technologies such as VHS. As a cultural activist, he produces collaborative workshops, multimedia broadcasts and pop-up art shows which bring together visual and sound disciplines. He has delivered workshops for the Brighton Digital Festival and supports projects like AVXLuton and Skronktronic. He exhibits in the UK, Europe and internationally.
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