News / Bristol creatives
Bristol’s collective creating a space for BIPoC Creatives
Born out of a desire to create more spaces for Black Indigenous People of Colour (BIPoC) creatives, Kiota is the collective in Bristol that is redefining the arts.
Founded by Aisha Ali and Shagufta Iqbal back in 2018, the collective was created in response to them often being the only Person of Colour in the room or always catering to a white audience.
“I would feel that I would need to explain myself a lot and be self-conscious in some way. The art that I was making was apologetic for who I was,” explains Aisha.
is needed now More than ever
“I was constantly in these predominantly white spaces and it makes it difficult for me to fully be myself and explore what I wanted to. I really wanted to create a place for myself where I was worrying my work was different.”
If you are a BPOC performer in Bristol or the surrounding areas looking to showcase your work, please get in touch! We’d love to hear from you! Xxx
— Kiota POC Creative Collective (@KiotaPoc) January 13, 2022
And not only is the collective an opportunity for creatives in Bristol to showcase their work, but it is also a space to connect.
“We wanted this to be a space where people could meet. We asked our creatives what it was like to be a person of colour as a creative and all five of them said it was lonely. That really struck a chord with me because that’s exactly how I felt. Shagufta and I decided that we would facilitate collaboration between artists of colour in cross-artistic form.”
Kiota is working with the Wardrobe Theatre, where quarterly events will showcase work from the community’s creatives with theatre, dance and spoken word poetry.
The next performance is on March 30 with three different artists, hosted by Aisha and Shagufta.
To hear more from Aisha about Kiota, you can listen to her on the Bristol24/7 podcast, Behind The Headlines.
Main photo: Kiota
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
