Anti-Racism Statement
BasementArtsProject has always been and will always be an organisation that is committed to being anti-racist.
BasementArtsProject recognises that it not good enough to be ‘not racist’ and that it is imperative that we must be Anti-Racist in our desire to achieve an enlightened position in relation to issues surrounding race and civil rights.
We acknowledge that to be ‘not racist’ is a denial of the history of inequity with regards to race, whereas to be Anti-Racist is to acknowledge and understand the complicity of all in a system of subjugation, and the need for willingness and collective action to dismantle this apparatus of injustice.
BasementArtsProject seeks to
Create a programme of events reflective of the diverse cultural make-up of society
Create a program that acknowledges the vast contributions of other cultures to that which we now consider our own
Represent everyone equally
Educate its visitors and participants responsibly around the issue of race, actively calling out instances that we believe to be racist in nature and contributing to debates surrounding racism specifically in the context of, but not limited to, the arts
BasementArtsProject will not
Tolerate, indulge or give voice, on any platform, to those who would seek to be divisive and uphold the structures of systematic racism
Tolerate, indulge, endorse or give voice to the views of those who would seek to bully, abuse, threaten or intimidate others when seeking support for their own opinions
Engage in, organise events that discuss the subject of race without the advice, involvement and/or explicit consent of people from those communities addressed by the project
BasementArtsProject’s use of Social Media, Print and Digital Media will be governed by the principles as laid out above.
Artists, groups, volunteers, members of the Management Committee will be expected to abide by the principles of this statement. Contravention of any of the standards laid out will be cause for instant dismissal, exclusion from the programme forthwith and/or removal from the Management Committee