Like all of us working in the vibrant and international outdoor arts sector, XTRAX has been following the unfolding progress of the coronavirus pandemic and considering the impact that it will have on our work and that of the artists, festivals and many others in our community.
We had a busy programme of work planned for spring 2020. This included continued delivery of the Without Walls programme, and a range of activity designed to support the international promotion of UK outdoor artists: showcases, seminars and training events, all focused on supporting artists to tour in the UK and around the world. We had also planned a series of briefings about how artists should prepare for Brexit, which until a few weeks ago seemed like the main practical challenge for our sector – but it seems that nature has given us another more pressing problem to overcome.
We have had to cancel all our planned events and meetings in April and May, as well as a new showcase we had scheduled for June that we had planned to unveil this week. Our planned UK focus programme at the City of Wings Festival in Ypres Belgium in April will now take place in 2021, and we are currently working on whether we can redesign some of our other planned activities as online events. Other planned events for later in the season will be reviewed if necessary. We will share further information about this in the coming days and weeks.
We are acutely aware of the fragility of many of the organisations, small companies and individuals with whom we work, and we recognise that this situation poses a grave threat to their livelihoods. We are consulting with partners, colleagues and funders to explore what we can do to help address the hardship that many people are facing, and we will share more information as soon as we can.
This is clearly an unprecedented crisis and we are all coming to terms with the impact that this will have. XTRAX is proud to stand in solidarity with the outdoor arts sector and will explore all possible ways in which we can support those in our community to come through this crisis safely, so that we can all continue our important work that brings joy to audiences at outdoor events and festivals around the UK and beyond.
The XTRAX team are all currently working from home. The best way to contact XTRAX staff is via email at info@xtrax.org.uk or if you would like to speak to an individual member of our team visit this page for further details.
We will also share the latest information on our social media channels, please follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
We also have began to gather several links to relevant websites and information that may be helpful to those working in the outdoor arts and festival sector in the UK and abroad. Please follow this link to more information.
If you have anything you would like to share with us, please get in touch.