Change in Leadership and Direction
In July 2022 Kim McAleese took over as Director of Edinburgh Art Festival, so this year will be the first festival with new leadership. Over the past 11 months the organisation has been undergoing a learning and evaluation process, and over the coming 18 months we will be rethinking our approach, vision and mission.
Our festival in 2023 will be the start of a new approach to working with artists, audiences, partners and people. At the heart of what we do is intersectionality. As a result, and in line with a newly developing mission, we are currently writing new milestones in our Equity and Inclusion Policy as part of a commitment and ongoing process to create a diverse and inclusive organisation, which will be published in the autumn of 2023.
What we do
We are a collaborative partner, working with artists as they explore and develop new projects, contexts and ways of working.
Art and artists are at the core of what we do. We work with communities and collaborators in the development of creative work and conversations.
We cultivate connection, with and in-between artists, communities, programming partners and funders with commitment and with empathy.
How we do it
We work on projects that find the right context. Some are artist-led, and some are conceived and led by Edinburgh Art Festival. We work to develop and produce these projects and, with festival partners, bring them to audiences locally and globally.
We value projects that have a position on what we care about: social justice, equity, empowerment. We want the work that we produce to have a social relevance, and be unafraid to address the difficulties with the world in which we live.
Our Programme
We work across these main areas:
Festival Projects — We curate, develop and produce works with artists that connect with audiences locally, nationally and internationally
Engagement — We develop and deliver ongoing series of annual programmes, located in our locale at the intersection of art and communities
Place — Our home is in Edinburgh, and in dialogue with our core partners in the city. We collaborate and co-present projects in this festival city.
Platforms — We make space to uphold Scottish-based practice and expertise. We develop projects with early-career practitioners across many art forms, and recognise the talent in our region, while giving opportunity for national and international relationships.
Fair Work at EAF
We aim to create a culture of respect that requires behaviours, attitudes, policies and practices that support health, safety and wellbeing, and that these are consistently understood and applied. We have updated a Fair Work Policy and Action Plan which covers the period 2024-28, and we will review our Fair Work Policy annually to ensure that it remains fit-for-purpose and in-line with new government legislation and industry standards in relation to working conditions.
This is overseen by the Director of EAF and the Trustees of the Board.
Commitment to Fair Work for our Workforce
EAF is unwavering in its commitment to Fair Work principles, ensuring a respectful and collaborative environment for all staff, artists, and collaborators; an approach that also helps us achieve our Purpose. Our comprehensive Fair Work policy revolves around the 5 pillars of fair work, and all staff and collaborators are provided with our Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures to ensure our commitments and processes are clearly communicated.
The five pillars are:
1. Respect: contracts include expectations for how staff members should treat one another and the actions to be taken in the event of complaints. We acknowledge the importance of respecting work-life boundaries and we actively support staff in articulating their preferred working hours and communication methods, which we adapt as circumstances change.
2. Opportunity: we now advertise in a wider breadth of spaces, eg in rural communities and community spaces. Our employees are offered extensive career development opportunities, including mentorship and observership, which are identified in regular 1-2-1 Director meetings. All staff members, regardless of their level, have the opportunity to undertake training.
3. Effective Voice: Our TIALT-led evaluation has included confidential interviews, providing staff and artists with a platform to express concerns. Weekly staff and programme meetings further encourage transparent dialogue and the opportunity for regular check-ins and requests for additional support. We are cultivating a culture where differences are acknowledged, heard, and processes changed as a result of this.
4. Fulfilment: Career progression discussions and support needs assessments are included in weekly 1-1s, the annual staff away day provides a space for team members to contribute to strategic direction, and Access Riders ensure freelancers are adequately supported.
5. Security: We are an accredited Real Living Wage employer and offer PAYE contracts to all staff, with no zero-hours contracts or unpaid internships. Artists and freelancers receive compensation in line with SAU rates. Flexible working arrangements (including remote) are negotiated with all staff. We have worked 5% annual inflationary increase into wages and payments for freelancers and artists.
We promote respect across our organisation by:
- Having a clear Equal Opportunity Policy and Code of Conduct which is shared with all new members of staff, artists, and partners at the start of their employment or partnership.
- Viewing differing perspectives as productive and creative and designing internal procedures to manage conflicting views in a constructive way. This includes opportunities for open discussion during staff meetings, away days, and one-to-one meetings.
- Treating all personal matters confidentially.
- Encouraging our staff team to use the platforms specified by each team member for communication. This includes telephone/mobile for urgent matters, WhatsApp for informal chat and non-urgent updates, email for external communication and important actions, Zoom for external events, and Google Drive for shared documents.
Our Team
The Festival is managed and delivered by a small, friendly and dedicated core team of four staff, with additional production, technical, learning & engagement and marketing freelancers brought in to assist with delivery in the lead up to and during the Festival. Everyone’s contribution is valued. However, we acknowledge both that Edinburgh Art Festival is currently a majority white organisation and we want to become an organisation that reflects the diversity of the country around us.
We are committed to addressing equality, diversity and inclusion across all our work. Our current staff team is predominantly white, cis-gender and non-disabled. We want to open our organisation up to those people facing intersecting barriers – this includes but is not limited to people from the global majority*, people with disabilities or long-term health conditions, people from low socio-economic backgrounds,.
*In using the term ‘Global Majority’ we refer to people who identify as Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or have been racialised as ‘ethnic minorities’.
If you have access requirements for our programme, or the projects more widely, please let us know and we will accommodate these. Tools available to create access documents include Access Docs for Artists.
This is an on-going process and we will keep listening and welcoming your feedback. Please contact us via email, phone or post:
Kim, Director – [email protected]
Phone: 0131 226 6558