APRIL | THE COLUMNISTS
Access’ regular
columnists talk
new venues, tech
innovations and
disabilities...
Technology as a force for good
Jonathan Emmins, founder,
Amplify Healthy industry?
Josephine Burns, chair, Without
Walls A new page
Simeon Aldred, group creative
director, Vibration Group
Working in events for nearly 20
years, I feel privileged to have
been in the industry through its
progressive times. There’ve been
physical changes: festival speakers
as big as tower blocks now reduced
to tiny almost-floating cubes. And
there’s also less visible but arguably
more important changes: I’m
grateful my first job advising NUS
students’ union entertainment
teams coincided with the early
internet, a resource I can’t imagine
being without.
Yet, ‘technology’ is getting a lot of
flack by a media that conveniently
forgets it’s only as good the person
using it. Technology is a force for
good: it has the ability to disrupt,
democratise and connect, making
things easier and fairer. Case in
point is Dice.FM. Former A&R,
label manager and promoter,
Phil Hutcheon, used his vision
and digital background to give
a much-needed overhaul of the
event ticketing industry. Artists,
promoters, venues and fans alike
can circumvent the ‘tout’ issue,
ensuring tickets go to those
deserving. In Dice’s words: “We’re
killing touting”. With Ticketmaster
closing their secondary sites, it
seems Dice.FM is winning.
More importantly, they’re getting
people going out. Rather than
increasing revenues by increasing
ticket prices. What has changed in the last
decade? I’ll leave to others the
biggies of technology and new
financial models so (deep breath):
What are we doing in our neck of
the woods to make performances/
experiences accessible to a wider
audience let alone opportunities for
artists and other employments? It’s
not easy or simple.
Without Walls set out eleven
years ago with a commitment to
artists and audiences who are deaf
and/or disabled. Not because we’re
publicly funded nor because we’re
goody-two-shoes, but because if
we want to reach these audiences,
many of whom will never engage
in mainstream arts, then we had to
think differently.
Stats from The Audience Agency,
(2019), show that 12% of our
audience were limited by health
problems. We’ve now supported
138 shows of which 17 are by deaf/
disabled-led companies, 12% of the
overall programme. We’ve been
trying to up our game, so since 2013
Without Walls has commissioned
at least one disability-led show a
year. This is no PC-nod – it’s stand-
out performance (small boast)
– we supported Candoco Dance
Company to create You and I Know
(2016), choreographed by Arlene
Phillips, and in 2018, 9.43m saw the
company on BBC’s Strictly... We’re
still on it and we always will be. After announcing Magazine
London earlier this year, I’m now
keen to give a few more details
about the project, one of our most
intensive to date.
Magazine London is purpose-
built, 24,179sqm destination,
the largest of its kind in London,
offering a striking blank canvas
for culture and commerce; it is a
unique opportunity for brands and
businesses to interact with global
and local audiences.
Guests arrive into the Reception,
which features a floor-to-ceiling
glass window that provides
unbroken views of the River
Thames, Canary Wharf skyline
and The Showground. Your guests
can also take in these views of the
landscape by venturing outside
onto The Deck and into The Yard.
The Reception includes an
eight-metre high ceiling, polished
concrete floors and two black steel
stairways that lead to the upper
mezzanine levels, great as a break
out space.
Main Space is the largest internal
space; its vast walls are stained
black, allowing for a striking
backdrop. This area also features
an eight-metre high ceiling, clean,
polished concrete floors and clear
sight lines through the space.
We can’t wait to show it off to Access
readers this summer. Not long now!
11