As you know Surtal Arts have faced 100% cuts from Derby City Council and Arts Council from April 2012, leaving our small organisation in huge turmoil and uncertainty. All the crucial work we do with the community and young people are in jeopardy. Immediate impact of the cuts has been the closure of the regular arts activities for young people. It feels like we are going backwards rather than forward. It took us 17 years to build the organisation to this level.
Please read on to learn what the impact will be if the organisation does not exist anymore. If you think you want to raise your concern about the cuts, we urge you to complete the City Council’s online consultation forms.
Feedback from user group: If you use our services on daily basis i.e community workshops, educational workshops or attended our festival or concerts or training or any other events please click on the following link. It will only take a few minute.
https://remote.derby.gov.uk/dccsurveys/funding_users/funding_users.htm
Feedback from stakeholders: If you are an agency that we worked with ie arts organisation/groups/forum/festivals in the private, voluntary or statutory sector or schools, colleges, University, Health or businesses please click on the following link and complete the form. It will only take a few minute.
https://remote.derby.gov.uk/dccsurveys/funding_public/funding_public.htm
Arts Council and City Council’s funding were crucial as it gave us a base line core funding which we used to leverage other pots of funding from various sources to provide culturally appropriate arts activities to the disadvantage communities of Derby and widen access to Asian arts for the wider community.
Surtal is the only BME arts organisation that works at the strategic level in the City and the County. It introduced quality Asian arts activities to Derby which it did not exist before; it took arts to people who perhaps would never have participated in an arts activity. It raised the profile of area like Normanton which is associated with a lot of negativity. Surtal’s festivals and project like ‘Aspiration Normanton’ (a creative writing and photograph project which brought out the positive aspects of the place and diverse people who live and work in Normanton).
60% of Surtal’s work is with young people in the community and in education, women, families and in health (particularly dealing with people with mental health issues, heart disease and diabetes – culturally specific arts activities are used as a medium to address health and well being). Surtal plays a significant role in maintaining social cohesion of the city and engaging hard to reach and disadvantage communities in positive activities.
The organisation works in five main areas (i) Youth & Community (ii) Arts in Education (iii) Arts in Health (iv) Festivals - South Asian arts Festival & Festival of Light (v) Events/concerts. All of our activities are open to everybody and often very cross cultural which break down barriers, sharing + encouraging and actively promoting social cohesion and health and well being.
Many young British Asians have become successful professional artists as a result of Surtal's 'artist's development' programme. We continue to raise aspirations of young people and make them feel proud of their cultural heritage and let them use their talents and their heritage to contribute to the wider agenda of integration and put something back into the community.
Surtal is very fortunate to be part of a city where all the arts and cultural organisations work in partnership. It’s incredibly friendly place and full of creative people who genuinely support one another to ensure Derby and its people come first. We have made excellent partnerships with local educational institutions, NHS PCT, Neighbourhood boards, voluntary groups, arts venues, organisations and artists. We have many wonderful
We are a small organisation which is ambitious and full of aspirations! We ‘make it happen’ for ourselves and we have the ability to bring people together and create ‘Great Arts for Every one’. We bring positive changes to people’s lives by using the arts as a medium to improve their health and social well being and develop interpersonal skills.
If Surtal does not exit then none of these will happen...there will be no regular offering of quality Asian arts activities in Derby.
In 2010, 5498 people participated in our arts activities (majority of them were children and young people), attracted 90479 audiences and 227 artists were employed by Surtal as freelance artists on various projects.
A part from the above the impact of the cuts will be:
We do understand that savings have to be made but it’s the way the cuts have been made!
If you feel Surtal have made (or makes) a difference to Derby or to your organisation then please complete the on-line form below to let the City Council know how you feel. Unless you voice your opinion they will never know or you can simply email us and we will forward it onto the City Council.
Thank you very much for your support and understanding. If you need any information to help you to complete the form please do not hesitate to contact me.
Gopa Nath, Artistic Director 01332 294333/07861703508 or info@surtalarts.co.uk or send a message on facebook.
Feedback from user group: If you use our services on daily basis i.e community workshops, educational workshops or attended our festival or concerts or training or any other events please click on the following link. It will only take a few minute.
https://remote.derby.gov.uk/dccsurveys/funding_users/funding_users.htm
Feedback from stakeholders: If you are an agency that we worked with ie arts organisation/groups/forum/festivals in the private, voluntary or statutory sector or schools, colleges, University, Health or businesses please click on the following link and complete the form. It will only take a few minute.
https://remote.derby.gov.uk/dccsurveys/funding_public/funding_public.htm
Position: CONSULTANT
Salary £1000 (all inclusive)
Surtal is seeking to work alongside an inspirational and experienced consultant, with a background in arts and business, who can provide support and strategic guidance needed for the organisation to ‘vision’ and achieve the next stages of its development.
We are looking for applicants who have a proven track record of successfully supporting organisations with their strategic development, who also have the practical fundraising skills to develop and write a successful GFA application to a specific deadline.
Further details are available in the JOB DESCRIPTION available to download below:
If you would like to apply please supply us with your CV and a (brief) covering letter that highlights your relevant skills and experiences for the role.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS is Monday 21st November; Interviews will be held on Thursday 1st December.
Please email your applications to application@surtalarts.co.uk . For more information about the background to the research and the organisation, please contact Surtal Arts on 01332 294333/07861703508.
THOUSANDS of people broke into dances from hit Bollywood films as a Derby park hosted the city's fourth South Asian Arts Festival. Saturday's event – this year dubbed Popcorn in the Park – is thought to have attracted about 11,000 people to Normanton's Arboretum.
And many of them excitedly joined in as groups put together by organiser Surtal Arts performed dances from Bollywood, a form of Indian musical cinema. The groups included youngsters from workshops held at Derby schools, including Littleover Community School and Murray Park School.
Surtal Arts choreographer Nisha Nath, 24, said a crowd of 3,000 watched the performance and that most of the younger audience members joined in when they heard songs they knew. She said: "The songs were all recognisable and popular. The crowd went berserk."
Nisha, of Sinfin, said the crowd for the dancing came from all different cultures, which showed how popular Bollywood and other forms of Indian dance had become. Her own dance group, Jawani, performed Indian classical dancing and bhangra. She said: "There were Asian people, white people, black people in the crowd.
Most of our marketing was actually done outside Derby, in places like Ilkeston, Duffield and Swadlincote. You don't need to understand Hindi to enjoy Bollywood dancing. Music is a universal language!"
Dances came from the films Pyar Ke Geet, Dabaang, and Om Shanti Om – a smash-hit musical which has taken $40 million worldwide and was later shown in the park on a big screen. About 11,000 people came to the festival in total, with about 5,000 there at any one time. This would make it the most popular South Asian Arts Festival held so far.
The event opened w
ith a show from talented teenage drummers using dhols – Punjabi folk drums. There was also story-telling, free workshops and food and craft stalls, including face-painting and bracelet making.
Sarita Madara volunteered to help run the stalls and said the festival was bigger than the previous South Asian Arts Festival, which took place in the city centre in 2010. The 24-year-old, of Almond Street, Normanton, said: "There was more for kids to do – interactive workshops for drumming and dancing.
"The choreography for the dancing was also brilliant.
"I think it was a good family day out and I'd volunteer again."
Surtal Arts is an organisation based at Derby's Quad arts centre.
It promotes South Asian Arts through educational projects, school clubs and community theatre productions.
See the Photos from POPCORN IN THE PARK here.
If you'd have peeped into our old office recently you will have seen the addition of another desk and two more computers, files and folders overloading new trays, and instruments, costumes and ornaments taking up the meeting area! So having expanded our team and outgrown our cosy space at Guru Ravidass Centre, Surtal Arts have relocated its office space to Quad in the City Centre!
It's an exciting move as we are now much more accessible to everyone from in and around Derby. We are also much closer to our mainstream partners including Derby Live, Quad and Deda. This will allow us to embark on more collaborative and creative ventures between their specialist activities and our colourful South Asian art forms!
This is a wonderful opportunity for Surtal to take its work further, but we will never forget that we were born within the community. And a large part of our work will remain in Normanton. This currently includes all of our regular classes, where so many supportive individuals and communities have come together to share in Bollywood, Bhangra and Classical dance culture, Dhol and Tabla drumming, and where we have discovered and nurtured young talent into professional artists!
We will be hosting a re-launch event for Surtal Arts with invited supporters and guests in June to celebrate the move, and to introduce the newly expanded team. With performances from artists and upcoming young talent. Keep up-to-date with these via the Surtal Arts website or email us.
This year Surtal’s rangoli artists will be joining their creative heads with local well-dressers to create a unique cross-cultural piece of art.
Using techniques of both art forms, rangoli’s various materials combined with the flower petals and clay of well-dressing, artists will work together on a large single canvas. Come and see the finished piece at the 2011 Etwall Well Dressing Festival, 21-22 May.
Also during the festival, there will be another chance to catch excerpts from the touring exhibition, Aspiration Normanton, as well as a free dance workshop, and see young dancers who have been working with Surtal perform a new Bollywood number!
The glitz, the glamour, the music, the scandal... Bollywood has it all! No wonder why the world is going crazy about the booming Indian film industry.
Surtal is celebrating the success of Bollywood by opening Derby’s first Bollywood Film Club. The club will meet once a month to watch a new/popular Indian movie and gossip about the stars!
So if you’re a obsessed with Abhishek, or have a crush on Kareena contact us to find out when and where we’re meeting next!
   
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