Critically Speaking Podcast

This is Critically Speaking Season 2 - difficult conversations about systemic racism and white privilege in the arts in Wales. In Episode 6, Jafar talks to Aidan Lang, the General Director of Welsh National Opera. Our creative contribution for the episode is called 'Have You Heard of the City' written by Radha Patel. You can follow more of Radha's work by following her on social media. For more information about Welsh National Opera' work, visit the website: www.wno.org.uk. This episode was produced by Jasmine Grace Okai. Sound design by Fez Miah. The original soundtrack was produced by Eädyth. Research by Aki Gurung. This podcast was made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council Wales.

This is Critically Speaking Season 2 - difficult conversations about systemic racism and white privilege in the arts in Wales. In Episode 5, Jafar talks to Lorne Campbell, the Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales. Our creative contribution for the episode is called 'White Privilege', written by Connor Allen. You can follow more of Connor's work by following him on social media. For more information about National Theatre Wales' work, visit the website: www.nationaltheatrewales.org. This episode was produced by Jasmine Grace Okai. Sound design by Fez Miah. The original soundtrack was produced by Eädyth. Research by Aki Gurung. This podcast was made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council Wales.

This is Critically Speaking Season 2 - difficult conversations about systemic racism and white privilege in the arts in Wales. In Episode 4, Jafar talks to Joe Murphy, the Artistic Director of Sherman Theatre. Our creative contribution for the episode is 'People Just Want To Be People', written and performed by the excellent Dr Adéọlá Dewis. You can find and follow more of Adéọlá's work on her social media platforms. For more information about Sherman Theatre's work, visit the website: www.shermantheatre.co.uk This episode was produced by Jasmine Grace Okai. Sound design by Fez Miah. The original soundtrack was produced by Eädyth. Research by Aki Gurung. This podcast was made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council Wales.

This is Critically Speaking Season 2 - difficult conversations about systemic racism and white privilege in the arts in Wales. In Episode 3, produced entirely in the Welsh language. Mali Ann Rees talks to Arwel Gruffydd, the Artistic Director of Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru. Our creative contribution for the episode is called 'Angerdd', produced by bilingual singer-songwriter Eädyth. You can find more of Eädyth's work on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and on social media. For more information about Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru's work, visit the website: www.theatr.cymru This episode was produced and edited by Alice Eklund. Sound design by Fez Miah. The original soundtrack was produced by Eädyth. Research by Aki Gurung. This podcast was made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council Wales.

This is Critically Speaking Season 2 - difficult conversations about systemic racism and white privilege in the arts in Wales. In Episode 2, Jafar talks to Graeme Farrow, the Artistic Director of Wales Millennium Centre. Our creative contribution for the episode is called 'White Knuckles', written and performed by Sadia Pineda Hameed. Learn more about Sadia and Lumin Press at their website: www.lumin-press.com For more information about Wales Millennium Centre's work, visit the website: www.wmc.org.uk This episode was produced by Jasmine Grace Okai. Sound design by Fez Miah. The original soundtrack was produced by Eädyth. Research by Aki Gurung. This podcast was made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council Wales.

This is Critically Speaking Season 2 - difficult conversations about systemic racism and white privilege in the arts in Wales. In Episode 1, English-language host Jafar Iqbal talks to Tamara Harvey, the Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd. Our creative contribution for the episode is called 'Skin, written and performed by Jaffrin Khan. To see more of Jaffrin's work, follow her on Instagram: @_jxffrin For more information about Theatr Clwyd's work, visit the website: www.theatrclwyd.com This episode was produced by Jasmine Grace Okai. Sound design by Fez Miah. The original soundtrack was produced by Eädyth. Research by Aki Gurung. This podcast was made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council Wales.

Transcript: "Why are all the arts leaders white?" "Well…" "Do I think that being a white man makes either getting my job, or some of the parts of my job, easier? Absolutely." (Lorne Campbell, National Theatre Wales) "I think it was simply a lack of awareness, "from my point of view, of the need to connect with those artists and the need to get those artists on to our stages." (Joe Murphy, Sherman Theatre) "I hope - I believe - that that’s not the way that I function; but I am in a moment, of course, where I’m challenging all of those things about myself." (Tamara Harvey, Theatr Clwyd) "Everyone was making the same sort of statement, and it was a conscious decision not to follow the path of everybody else." (Aidan Lang, Welsh National Opera) "Fi’n llawer iawn mwy ymwybodol o’r breintiau rheina sydd gandda i, er bod fi ddim yn falch - dw i ddim yn falch bo’ fi’n ddyn, dw i ddim yn falch bo’ fi’n wyn." (I’m a lot more more aware of the privileges that I have, even though I’m not proud - I’m not proud that I’m a man, I’m not proud that I’m white.)(Arwel Gruffydd, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru) "I don’t think we built enough trust historically anyway - I don’t think we lost it at any stage, I just think that we hadn’t built it enough." (Graeme Farrow, Wales Millennium Centre) Difficult conversations about white privilege and systemic racism in Wales. This is the Critically Speaking podcast, Season Two.

In Episode 7, Jafar talks to young artist and community activist, Mariyah Zaman! What does it mean to be a visible Muslim? Is it possible to not be political? Why is activism so important? How well is Wales dealing with racism and Islamophobia? What's the relationship between faith and creativity? All this, and so much more! Learn more about MEND (Muslim Engagement & Development) here: https://www.mend.org.uk/ Follow Critically Speaking on Twitter: Critic_Speak and Instagram: critically.speaking Recorded, hosted and edited by Jafar Iqbal. Produced (and supported) by Shane Nickels.