Royal Court joins Black Atlantic, a new decolonial arts partnership

The Royal Court Theatre joins leading UK cultural institutions to launch Black Atlantic, a new decolonial arts partnership that aims to strengthen the role of arts and culture in advancing social and climate justice. Black Atlantic is a cultural partnership at the intersection of race, art, ecology and climate justice.

Black Atlantic starts with Sensing the Planet, a 3-day interdisciplinary gathering to discuss how art and culture can confront some of the most important challenges of our time.

Timed to take place just before the intergovernmental climate conference COP26, Sensing the Planet will highlight issues of race and environmental harm as well as the role played by the UK, and of the south-west of England in particular, in histories of slavery, empire and climate breakdown. It will also champion the role of interdisciplinary culture in imagining new futures built on principles of sustainability and justice, bringing together leading decolonial thinkers, artists and activists.

A group of 4 writers brought together by the Royal Court Theatre will also attend Sensing the Planet.

Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director and Lucy Davis, Executive Producer of the Royal Court Theatre, says: “We are so grateful to Black Atlantic to be able to offer 4 writers the opportunity to participate in this vital gathering. The intersection of the climate crisis and the legacy of empire is territory that so many of our writers are thinking deeply about. The opportunity to think spaciously alongside other artists is the imaginative work that can make transformative change happen. We are ready to respond to the conversations and provocations that emerge and look forward to taking action together.”

Sensing the Planet
29 – 31 October 2021
Dartington,Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EG
Tickets available online at Dartington.org

Read the full press release here.