Bristol + Bath Creative R+D: The Beginning of The End

It’s been a busy last year of delivery here at Bristol + Bath Creative R+D. We’ve had our last pathfinder Here + There, where we commissioned four prototypes to work internationally, ran a series of research labs focusing on international working methods and two talent development labs connecting young creatives across the world. Our last Trailblazers have been exploring new innovative ideas and turning them into working models to take forward. Very recently we held the Hopeful Futures event across both cities and welcomed hundreds of you to question the future of creative tech with us.

As we enter the last three months of the project, we wanted to share what’s to come.

From January we will no longer have any producers remaining on the programme. Emma and Tony will both be staying on at Watershed, based in Pervasive Media Studio and working on new programmes like MyWorld run by the University of Bristol and Connecting Through Culture as We Age. Caroline will continue at Bath Spa working with the Knowledge Exchange team, and starts as The Studio's creative producer next year.

Artist in Residence, Abigail Hunt, is working on the final phase of her residency and we’ll be sharing her final work in February. Watch out for news and updates on the B+B R+D website.

If you would like to join the spaces we have been based at for the last 5 years please visit The Studio in Bath and Pervasive Media Studio directly where you can find out how to apply. Both Studios have plenty of opportunities which they promote via their social media channels.

Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol also run regular events that you can just drop into:

Producer Wednesdays - a space for Producers or individuals working in a producing role to work from the studio for the day.
Makeshift - a space for 18-30-year-old creatives to come together on the first Tuesday evening of every month.
Open Studio Friday - A weekly offer for anyone to get to know the space, and the community and attend a free weekly talk.

In Bath, Tech Spark runs Third Thursday which brings together members of the creative tech community to discuss a chosen topic. Third Thursday is hosted in different locations each month. To keep up to date follow them on socials.

There are also Meet-Ups with events across both cities; eg Women’s tech hub and Bath Girl Geek Dinners, follow their socials for more information.

Importantly, please remember the networks you may have created through the events you’ve attended with us or the cohorts you’ve been a part of.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the learnings and explorations from this programme and you’ll stick with us for the next three months as we publish our inclusion action research series, the very last Trailblazers and our final report.

Thank you,

Bristol + Bath Creative R+D Team

Image credit: Jon Aitken