Let’s talk about live arts in York... 

It’s not you, it’s not me, it’s us, and it’s about time we took some time out to discuss the state of the creative industries in this city.What are we getting absolutely right, what’s happening under the radar, what could we be doing better and how can we do more to promote this city and its kaleidoscopic cohort of brilliant native creative people?

Whether you’re a performer, a promoter, a journalist, a gallerist, curator, arts lover, production worker or just about anything else, we’d like to invite you along to SLAPchat, a live arts and creative industries forum event that’s taking place at the fantastic Skeldergate offices of locally based digital agency The Distance on the evening on January 28th.

We hope that the event will provide creative people from York and the surrounding areas with an opportunity to meet and discuss pressing issues within the current artistic scene, and to offer advice to those freshly embarking upon or considering a career in the arts.

We’re not here to create a manifesto, a clique or even a network. This is about freely exchanging ideas in the hope that we can learn something valuable to the future of our own endeavours and to the culture of York as a whole. 

And let’s have a drink or two while we’re at it.

About SLAP

Formed in 2013, SLAP are invested in promoting, supporting and programming experimental dance, theatre, live art, music and film. An artist led initiative, SLAP has identified the need for a platform designed for risky and small scale work, a creative hub of dialogue and experimentation for emerging, local, regional, national and international artists. Bringing progressive work to York, SLAP’s drive is to embed itself in the North of England, promoting alternative regional work whilst also binging work from further afield for a continuous creative exchange.