Coventry is famous for its pioneering international links which were strengthened through a Coventry City of Culture Trust project aimed at connecting the city with even more people around the world.
Coventry City of Culture Trust, in partnership with the British Council, chose a group of changemakers who each received a bursary to bring global communities together for a shared international goal.
Throughout 2021/2022 Seyedeh worked with international partners in Georgia to explore the meaning of the word sanctuary through connecting with diverse communities in both places. Individuals shared their thoughts, sharing personal perspectives that feature in a short film.
Ludic Rooms worked with international digital artist Babak Fakhamzadeh to research and create a series of digitally-augmented publicly accessible art-walks.
Building on the Twin Studios Project’s goal to ignite creative connections between Coventry’s Twin Cities, Kingston Link was a music collaboration between artists and young people in both Coventry and Kingston, Jamaica.
Jennifer Verson worked with Manashe Khaimov on a digital collaboration: Under the Same Stars that connected Bukharian Jewish Artists and Shashmaqam musicians in Uzbekistan With Coventry’s Jewish Cultural Heritage.
Unregulated Black intimacy is a film-based conversation created by Black/afro-feminist artists across borders.
Exploring Malaysian and Coventrian identities and the stories of Malaysians who have lived in Coventry, through intergenerational conversations and creativity. Listen to the song The Rose and Hibiscus created by musician Amy Kakoura.
Sharing Practices of Storytelling Between Casablanca and Coventry. This four month digital residency was led by Lou Sarabadzic in collaboration with Kenza Sefrioui, with Laura Nyahuye, Mounir Neddi, Soufiane Hennani, and melissandre varin.
In early 2020 Colin travelled to South Africa forging creative links between Cape Town and Coventry.
In April 2022, Afiniki Akanet and her team at Forte Charity travelled to the Ivory Coast to connect with Ivorian Youth and deliver a series of talks.
Through the International Changemakers Programme Chaitrali has connected with an orphanage in Maharashtra- Pune, India. She has helped the children learn and perform Indian classical dancing, finding joy in working with professional dancers, learning new skills, and expressing themselves.
In April 2022, Cherelle Harding and Colin Bell travelled to Jamaica to explore how music brings communities together and allows them to express themselves socially and artistically.
Through the glass was an online collaboration between two contemporary artists, visual artist Tarla Patel, based in Coventry and Saba Zahid, based in Lahore, Pakistan.
In 2020, Coventry-based filmmaker Ben Cook partnered with Argentinian artist, Mariana Bollati, and South African producer Pierre Heistein to make a documentary on the Atuel River to build awareness of the impact of human consumption and climate change on the river and open a discussion on possible solutions.
Protected Existence is a short documentary film by Sherrie Edgar created in collaboration with the Organisation of Ukrainian Women and the Coventry Ukrainian Social Club.
Writing and Translating The City explores connections between Coventry and Mexico city through language and the process of translation.
Through the International Changemakers Bursary, as part of the wider project Hand Earth Gesture Return, Lucy Tomlins, of the Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre connected internationally with curator Nandita Palchoudhuri and artist Dolon Kundu, both based in Kolkata, India. Collaboratively, they designed an ambitious site responsive artwork, working with the community and local partners.
Julia O’Connell travelled to Marrakech in May 2022. Her trip built on her work growing from seed, harvesting and producing her own indigo dye here in Coventry.
The project was carried out online, bringing young people from Uganda and Coventry together, through this collaboration they were able to gain a much greater understanding of the impacts of climate change.
Rescoped as a virtual exchange in the wake of Covid and ongoing challenges in Lebanon, Caroline, along with collaborators Amerah Saleh and Saliah Bryan, connected with Lebanese and Yemeni artists including a performance artist, movement director and grassroots activists.
Through the visit to Turkey, Reem met with communities both online to connect and support workshops with children and single mothers including music and songwriting, creative writing, cooking and recipe sharing.
In response to the pandemic, Sujana rescoped initial plans to travel to instead connect digitally with women in Cuba or with Cuban roots to understand and explore issues and cultural practices that centred around the female body in the form of research interviews
Rescoped as a response to the pandemic away from travel, Carolyn used the funds for her International Changemakers bursary to continue to develop and strengthen a dialogue with Brazilian contacts that formed part of the research for the City of Culture piece “becoming fungi, becoming forest”.
Artist Christabell Amoakoh was funded by Coventry City of Culture's International Changemakers programme to visit Ghana and develop relationships for the Highlife Centre and Wava Hall Coventry. The project developed understanding of social enterprise, environmental sustainability and fashion; and it created connections for artistic programming in Coventry.
