NF01 November/December 2023

Bristol Beacon 41
Left A revamped
Beacon Hall prepares
for a fresh start
Below Illustrator Mel
Northover working on
the Lantern Hall's frieze
running movement,” Cathy explains.
“From the Bowie brothers, a Black
banjo duo from the 1880s who would
sing anti-slavery songs, to Akua Naru's
performance in 2015, talking about the
need to do more than talk about racism.”
“The final panel shows these
shockwaves, the vibration of the
activism, the explosion knocking Colston
off his plinth, bringing us up to now. We
have Vanessa Kisuule’s poem, Lady Nade,
Big Jeff, the Bristol Reggae Orchestra…
The idea is every time you walk past, you
notice something new. I’ve learned it’s
crucial to keep reinvestigating history.”
As a Deaf creator, Cathy’s approach
to accessibility, in collaboration with
neurodivergent artists, has brought this
history alive in a multi-sensory, almost
synaesthetic way: “The intention is that
it feels like a piece of visual music,” she
tells me. The frieze is accompanied by
an audio description guide for low-vision
and Blind people, and a sign language
film by Deaf hip-hop dancer Raffaella.
Cathy is hopeful that this focus on
accessibility will expand: “The mistake
"I wanted to highlight
the resistance and
activism, without
shying away from more
uncomfortable episodes"
people make is thinking access is
fixed, that you bring in the expert and
tick the boxes. To be inclusive is to be
receptive to new ideas, new people, new
disabilities, new ways of seeing.”
HOMEGROWN TALENT
New ideas are at the heart of artistic
director Todd Wills's vision, too.
Bristol Beacon is unusual as a concert
hall. Instead of acting as a receiving
house it programmes half of the content
itself, allowing for a more curatorial and
inclusive approach. “It’s a tough balance,
hitting targets,” Todd says, “but we don’t
want to be a stationary monolith in the
centre of town.”
“We want to nurture emerging talents,”
Todd continues. Crucial to this are the
education spaces, rehearsal rooms,
recording equipment, and performance
space in the renovated Cellars. “The
ideal is to work with them in the Cellars,
take them into the Lantern, which is our
500-capacity space, then eventually into
the main hall,” Todd says.
Photo: Northover&Brown
Bristol Beacon already has outreach
projects in Filwood and Southmead, and
has partnered with local radio station
Ujima and youth-led creative collective,
Rising Arts Agency. And from these
grassroots, the stories of the venue’s
next 150 years will doubtless emerge.
thenearfield.com
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