OpenMind is the name of the event/performing arts/promotion/production company that's Manchester, UK based but globally minded. The premise OpenMind is an OpenMind for creative possibilities, and an OpenSpace to share them. OpenMind project goals:
Live Events:
At each event we have a performance artist(s)/poet(s)/band/musician(s)/comedian(s)/theatre practitioner(s)/dancer(s) etc sharing a new work with an informal Q+A online beforehand making familiarising them with our audience. What was initially a theatre specific event has been transformed by the community it serves into a united artistic community. As well as the main OpenMind artist slot we derive our name from, we also book roughly 3 or 4 artists each month in 15 - 30 minute guest performance slots in the second half, often styles outside of traditional theatre. For instance poets, bands, comedians, musicians, MCs, and dancers have and shall continue to work with us. We are also known for our OpenSpace, a one hour Open Mic with a difference - some pieces don't even need a mic. If you're a dancer you dance, if you're a contortionist you contort... basically whatever your performance skill or talent is, if you want to share it you're given 5 minutes to do so. Many of our guest and headline acts wowed us with their skill at the OpenSpace before going on to perform in longer guest and headline slots, and our supportive circle of artists often appear on the OpenSpace even when they're not listed on the bill as part of our wider performance community within Manchester. If you're a performer, writer, theatre practitioner, band, dancer, musician, singer, comedian, ventriloquist, breakdancer, beatboxer, MC, rapper, poet, circus performer or anything anywhere in between we're happy to give you a platform to perform. Workshops:
OpenMind provide workshops in a variety of performing arts, multimedia, and creative writing disciplines including theatre, STEAM, poetry, song writing, and script development. We also run a monthly poetry project Buzzin Bards as part of Local Gems Press Bards Initiative on the first Monday of each month 6pm - 8pm at Droylsden Library. This is currently suspended due to Covid but will resume. We work with a versatile client base that includes educational settings, corporate facilitation, local government, and community groups. Grim Ushiku Media:
Grim Ushiku Media (GUM) is our commitment to creating a diverse multimedia platform for artists, musicians, actors, and project participants through the providing of free to use high quality video footage to enrich their portfolios, regular video and audio podcasts of OpenMind's plans and developments including announcements and video recorded project meetings, digital radio, promotional videos, audio and video recordings of new work, live audio and video streaming of events, album releases, high quality HD video streaming and digital downloads of events, competitions, and exclusive online content. This will enrich artists, musicians, actors, and project participants in the local Manchester area whilst also providing a global reach for our work and theirs via the internet. Furthermore, we also will be debuting new formats Bards Against Humanity and The OpenTable once live events are resumed. Community Outreach:
OpenMind are trained and experienced in working in creative community partnerships with children, those with disabilities, homelessness services, LGBT organisations and their wider communities locally, nationally, and internationally.
