We are a UK-based not-for-profit Arts organisation for professionals who work in Live & Recorded Arts and are connected to the Middle East, North Africa or the surrounding area.  

We seek:

 

VISION

• For MENA+ professionals to shape, and thrive in, the UK Live & Recorded Arts.

 

MISSION

• Increasing access to opportunities of employment.

• Celebrate the talent of the membership.

• Be at the heart of conversations around our identity.

• Be our own support network. 

• Lobby for the appropriate representation.  

• Advocate for change.

 

ACTIONS (live and evolving)

Increasing access to opportunities of employment 

1. Have an easy to use website that showcases the members and their skills. 

2. Proactively connect employers to our members.

3. Seek out and share job opportunities for MENA+ talent.

 

Celebrate the talent of the membership 

1. Have a vibrant online presence through social media platforms and our website.

2. Organise events to showcase the collective power of the membership.

 

Be at the heart of conversations around our identity

1. Share members’ achievements. 

2. Cultivate partnerships with print and online media to get MENA+ stories commissioned.

3. Cultivate relationships with funders, academics and policymakers to increase visibility.

4. To lead on education and learning around our collective and individual histories.

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Be our own support network  

1. Have regular events that facilitate connections and collaboration between members. 

2. Organise bespoke training events.

3. Distribute information on external events, training or articles that may be of interest.

 

Lobby for the appropriate representation.

1. Use social media to amplify the work of MENA Arts UK.

2. Organise events where we can help shape public opinion about the membership.

3. Audit the current landscape and expose the barriers.

 

Advocate for change.

1. Populate as many platforms as we can to get our voice heard.

2. Build alliances with our industry Unions and other trade associations. 

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VALUES

• Be inclusive and welcoming.

• Focus on our creativity and the positives that link us together. 

• Acknowledge our diverse, and sometimes conflicting opinions.

• Not shy away from lobbying on issues the membership wants to address.

• Defend our members’ right to activism outside of this group. 

• Be mindful not to put ourselves in competition with other marginalised groups. 

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THE SMALL PRINT

• MENA+ stands for Middle East, North Africa and the surrounding area.  We acknowledge this acronym may be problematic to some.  We are using it for now and have an open approach to developing the term in the future.

• We are a membership organisation.  A member is anyone who identifies as belonging to this group through, but not limited to, receiving emails, participating in events and making use of our services.

• We are a not-for-profit organisation with ambitions to be a registered charity.

• We are governed by an elected steering group that includes a company secretary, treasurer, chairperson and two vice-chairs.

• We will hold onto all member data in full compliance with GDPR guidelines.

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• Our position on endorsement 

One of our main areas of work is to help connect the creative industries with UK MENA+ talent, so we will always share castings, job opportunities, or marketing information.   We will track these projects in the hope that they are a great example of how MENA+ talent is used.   But by sharing this information, it should not be seen as an endorsement of the project.  We will call out work that is appropriating a MENA+ narrative and does not have MENA+ talent at the heart of the creative process; and we will always champion, front and centre, work that is made for and by MENA+ talent.

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