Rough
Trade always hosts great events and last Wednesday I attended the Taking the
lead: Do arts and culture need a digital
suffragette movement? talk set up by Collider. The talk was made up of a panel of 4, the first
woman was Tobi Ofedein (who may I add looked very stylish!!) she is known for
her UK based lifestyle website ‘Black
Ballad’ that explores the conversations that Black British women have and she has
worked for companies such as Buzzfeed, Elle
and Vice Magazine. The other panellists were Rachel Anderson who is the
co-founder of Idle Woman, Kaylea Mitchem who created the Fan Club Nottingham
and Kajal Nisha Patel, the artist who looks at cultural conflict and the
formation of new identity.
The first
question that Tobi asked was ‘What techniques did you use in order to gain
ownership in an industry like Arts and Culture?’
What were
the challenges that you faced?
How has the
digital age helped with your project/s?
Kajal – It helps with brand identity,
gives an impression that your organised = able to see how much work goes into
it. Also it makes your company structured, people have confidence when there is
structure.’
How do we
change power structures?
Rachel – ‘For
me there is a trickle down structure. I used to work for the youth and then I
realised that the Arts were getting all of the money so I transferred and
hijacked resources to give to the people that needed them the most. We have to
rescue ourselves! There are the power holders who will not give up their
positions. But you have to lose something in order for others to have more. The
struggle is what other people think, we need to diversify the gate keepers who
determine art.’
The next
question was ‘Do you think the digital age is positive or negative?’ and this
went out to the panel and the audience. Here are some of the comments that came
out of that conversation:
Tobi
Ofedein - ‘I got shut down in journalism when wanting to talk about race. The digital
age has given me power in a positive way, my own platform to discuss what I
want and when I want’
Kaylea – ‘I
would agree, I think the digital age is a positive because it keeps you in the
loop with the community and it is important to lift each other up. The internet
is also a great tool for the anonymous, voices are heard.’
Comments
from audience members:
‘Good or
not, it’s here and not going anywhere!! We need to take the opportunities that
we have’
‘In the digital
world voices are amplified, this is worse because there is more access for
trolls’
‘It’s hard
to create one strong message to everyone e.g. trans women, disabled women,
straight women, race, religion etc. A holistic solution is too much to think
about = almost impossible.’
‘We share one common thread – abuse, how do we
keep safe? Misogyny is a hate crime.’
‘We need to
address the history of inequality to get equality.'
The definition
of intersectionality, this is when feminists wear more than one hat for example
a feminist who focuses on race and class. This is important to know because
the word came up a lot in the discussion.
Positives:
- It’s easy
to network, interact and create a fan base
- Quick way
of promoting to a large audience
- Freedom
to speak about what you like
- Allows
everyone to have a voice
Negatives:
- Everyone
is doing this now, how can you stand out?
- Trolls/abuse
- Things can come across differently online
- Hard to
be exclusive/private = other companies could copy your strategies
But
outweighing the positives and negatives, as an Fashion Communication and
Promotion student, I believe that the digital age provides us with many benefits
and we should take advantage of this while we can!
Photo credit - Chloe Ferdinand
