Dear Friends, Colleagues and Partners,
I still can’t quite believe how much the world around us has changed over the past couple of months. It is a deeply unsettling time and our thoughts are with our communities and beyond, hoping that you are safe and well. At Rich Mix we are adapting to the realities of home working and keeping in contact with our artists, audiences, residents and staff, whose generosity of spirit is a constant reminder of the power of creativity and culture to bring people together, even if not physically at the moment.
I joined Rich Mix last summer and was immediately struck by the commitment and passion of this team. Rich Mix is more than a building for many of us – it is a collection of unforgettable memories, radical art, a place for unlikely communities to collide and create, a space for healing, an unrelenting buzz of ambitious ideas and experiments… a Rich Mix. Our name fits us well.
Rich Mix is an arts centre rooted in its community with a diversity I’ve rarely experienced in terms of artists, audiences, artforms, partnerships and our team. This is not a given. It’s a culmination of years of inclusive programming, opening our doors to all, long-term strong collaborations, incubating creative businesses, a non-judgemental attitude to culture and everything that word encompasses, and a commitment to reflecting the needs of our neighbourhood.
There is a special feeling when you walk into Rich Mix – powerful poetry set to live music spills out from The Stage, the smell of Indian street food mixes with popcorn as people rush along the red line for the next blockbuster or British indie, parents and children congregate for our free family play sessions, and our screens reverberate with the excited chatter of 100s of young voices as they watch their own films surrounded by teachers and peers. It is a home to a vibrant mix of communities and we must fight to keep our home.
Rich Mix is an important element in what will be needed after this is all over. We will need shared experiences, culture for cohesion and spaces to create in. We want to support and rebuild our community from our home at the heart of Tower Hamlets and East London.
We would like to hear from you about how we can best support you over the coming months. Please send us ideas for how we can be a neighbour and a friend in these challenging times and what conversations we can help to facilitate.
If you are able to give to us and help us get through this unpredictable time, please visit our Support Us page. Thanks to everyone who has already supported us so far – whether through donations, memberships or heartfelt messages – it is deeply appreciated. All financial donations go toward keeping us afloat while our revenue through cinema, private hires and bars is drastically affected, and ensuring that we can come back to deliver Culture for a Changing City. I am hopeful.
I hope that you, your friends and family are staying safe.
Judith Kilvington, CEO
Since the Coronavirus outbreak we have closed our doors and temporarily suspended our live events, cinema and learning and participation programmes. With your generous support, we will be here to help rebuild our community afterwards. There will never be a greater need to come back together and have shared experiences in our East London home.
We are Rich Mix. Support Culture for a Changed City.
Let us know your ideas on what Rich Mix can do to support our communities on feedback@richmix.org.uk.
You’re also invited to Talkaoke on Tues 5 May – an online discussion hosted by The People Speak on how the arts and cultural sector can respond to the needs of their communities.
If you are not in a position to support financially, we would still love you to share your Rich Mix memories with us so we can keep connected with our audiences and communities online. Please send photos and messages to marketing@richmix.org.uk, or tag #richmixlondon on Instagram.
