Our Barnet Canvas
Barnet Council is today launching a campaign to become London’s 2027 Borough of Culture – and we need your help to make it happen.
Despite being a fantastic place to live and work and with hidden gems generally known only to local people, Barnet is not recognised as a hotbed of culture.
We want to change all that by turning Barnet into a Borough of Culture – so much so, that we’ve put this in writing in the council’s business plan. We want Barnet to be known for its culture and all the fun, wellbeing, social and economic value that goes with this creativity.
We want to create a big canvas of cultural activities – from art, literature, film and theatre through to sport, music, spoken word, events and food festivals – where people can express themselves creatively.
We’re asking everyone – including residents, students, artists, community groups, businesses and anyone with a current or past interest and connection with Barnet – to share their ideas and help celebrate our cultural identity. While we’re not starting from a completely blank canvas, there is plenty of opportunity for local people to help us develop and complete the picture.
You can help by joining our Cultural Canvas Movement and telling us how you’d like to see Barnet transform into a Borough of Culture.
We will be submitting a bid to the GLA at the end of November and to help us design our approach, we are "canvassing" for your ideas. Only by working together, can we make Barnet a vibrant and inclusive place for art and culture.
Leader of Barnet Council, Cllr Barry Rawlings, said: “We have hidden gems that we’re rightly proud of. Now we want to capture your ideas and complete the picture of Barnet’s cultural landscape.
“Let’s celebrate our diverse voices and cultures and create something amazing together. Join our Cultural Canvas Movement and back our bid. We can’t wait to show London and the world what we have to offer.”
The winning submission to the GLA’s London Borough of Culture will be awarded £1.35m to deliver a year-long programme of cultural activities. This is supported by match funding from the council and potential partnerships and sponsorship from businesses and brands too, creating a large pot for us to help put Barnet on the cultural map.
Join the Cultural Canvas Movement
We encourage you to fill in our survey at Borough of Culture #OurBarnetCanvas | Engage Barnet
This will inform our Borough of Culture bid, and will play a pivitol role in shaping the development of our new Culture Strategy.
We also want you to tell us how you would like to see our cultural canvas develop. We will be asking you to use the hashtag #OurBarnetCanvas to share your ideas and show your backing for our bid.
Alongside our hidden gems, Barnet Council has made great strides over the last year to turn the Borough of Culture vision into a reality, including:
- Joining the London Festival of Architecture and running over 80 events, from arts and architecture installations to talks and walks
- Establishing a ‘creative communities’ programme, with over 40 events running in Colindale over the last year, drawing in over 1,500 people. It was so successful, it’s now been extended across the whole borough
- Setting up grant funding to help community groups run over 70 cultural and festive events to date, ranging from Black History Month events last October to our first ever Pride in the Park this August and our first ever South Asian Heritage Month cricket match on 30 July
- Hosting our second-ever Barnet Literary Festival last May with another planned for next year.
As well as encouraging grassroots creativity to shine, a successful bid for London Borough of Culture will boost the local economy by attracting visitors, creative practitioners, businesses and create opportunities for local people to establish successful creative careers and to retain talent.