New partnership opens library doors to independent artists from Chisenhale Dance Space
Dancers from Chisenhale Dance Space arrive at QM Mile End Library
Based just around the corner in Mile End, Chisenhale Dance Space recently welcomed 200 new independent artists to be part of their reimagined community, focused towards collectivity and peer-to-peer learning.
Through a pilot scheme led by the QM Centre for Creative Collaboration, access to the Mile End Library has been offered free of charge to the group. The first library induction workshop took place in November 2023, with another group coming to campus in February 2024. So far over 40 independent artists from the Chisenhale Dance Space group have expressed an interest in making use of the facilities and collections available at QM.
Alex Brown, Manager of the QM Centre for Creative Collaboration said:
‘The original mission of the People’s Palace was to make knowledge accessible to people in the East End, and we are proud to be continuing in that spirit today by opening up our library to dancers and independent artists based at Chisenhale Dance Space, our neighbours in Mile End. Big thanks to the library team who have been so welcoming and made this partnership possible.’
Frances Morgan, Artist Community Producer at Chisenhale Dance Space said:
‘At the heart of CDS' work is a desire to promote autonomy and create opportunities for artists to connect, share knowledge, and self-organise. It's such an inspiring group, bursting with artistic enquiry and a deep desire to make positive change in the arts.We are thrilled that this new partnership with Queen Mary will open up their library's vast resources to our community and look forward to seeing how this enriches their artistic practices. CDS artists have so much in common with Queen Mary's students - we hope this will start to sow more seeds of connection between us as neighbours and collaborators, with similar values of inclusivity, anti-oppression, and experimentation.'