Colchester Chinese Culture Society (CCCS) is a non-profit Community Interest Company formed in April 2004. The society has been established to work for the benefit of the local Chinese community in Colchester and its integration into local and regional society in Essex. CCCS works to promote Chinese community life and to foster interaction with other community groups working with a range of cultural partners including Essex Book Festival, Essex County Council Cultural Development, Firstsite Gallery, Jaywick Martello Tower, Active Essex, Signals Media Arts, Mercury Theatre, Colchester Arts Centre and Essex Cultural Diversity Project (ECDP). For over 15 years CCCS has developed a range of cultural, education and community engagement activities with the aim to promote Chinese culture and art amongst its members and the public in Colchester and far beyond. For many years it ran a Chinese language & cultural school for children of Chinese heritage and other interested locals.
The society has produced and presented a wide range of arts and cultural activities nationally and internationally. These have included: Chinese New Year Celebrations; Concert of UK Chinese Music Ensemble; Japanese Erhu Orchestra; Appearances at international stage such as X-Factor.
Partnerships have been developed to enable the society to access a wider range of artistic activities. These have included: The Mercury Theatre; Essex County Council Music Hub & Arts Development Team; Colchester Borough Council; Firstsite Gallery and Essex Culture Diversity Project.
Over the years, the Society has received numerous awards and funds received from the Arts Council England; ECC Chairman’s Award; Lottery Awards for All and High Sheriff’s Award.
Key staff
Simone Xue- Project Manager CCCS took responsibility for managing the day-to-day delivery of the project. She has vast experience of managing similar projects, small grants from Essex County Council and Colchester Borough Council and past ACE funding.
Simone has a background in public finance and currently works as an accounting technician for Essex County Council’s Finance Professional Services Department. She is chairperson of Colchester Chinese Culture Society. She has a wide range of experience across strategic planning, project management, fundraising and administration and a great interest in art: in particular Chinese art such as brush painting, Chinese calligraphy and paper cutting.
Challenges or opportunities
The Essex Cultural Diversity Project had highlighted that Tendring was flagged up by Arts Council England Levelling Up for Culture Places and Priority Places. Tendring featured highly on the ACE priority list for low engagement in the arts and cultural sector. Tendring has the lowest cultural engagement with diverse communities taking part in the arts.
CCCS have identified that the Chinese Community in Essex is the least engaged with the arts and heritage sector due to lack of opportunities, language barriers, funding and networks
The Project has engaged with the long-established Chinese communities in Colchester and Tendring. These communities have been very isolated and mostly engaged with local businesses, self-employed and mostly working in the catering sector. Chinese communities in Essex, especially the Tendring area, have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and recently victims of hate crime and racial abuse since the lockdown. Through the project CCCS have showcased the best of Chinese culture and shared our traditions, customs and cultures with diverse and non-diverse audiences. CCCS have been successful in attracting a wide range of audiences who had limited or no knowledge of the Chinese Culture.
Funding
Through the Arts and Culture fund CCCS have supported a 5-month programme to date of activity that has supported diverse communities in Tendring to work in partnership with Essex Cultural Diversity Project (ECDP) to engage with the diverse communities in Tendring who have taken part in a series of events and activities which have supported further engagement and participation in the arts.
Through the project ‘Arts Tendring’ the workshops and masterclasses have encouraged people to participate and engage with Chinese artists through various artforms including dance, music and visual arts. Through the community events, participation and engagement workshops the programme included Tai Chi, calligraphy workshops ,Chinese drumming, dance workshops which engaged with all ages from young to the elderly and supported mental health and well-being through the arts.
Without the Essex County Council Cultural Fund and support from Essex Cultural Diversity Project the Project ‘Arts Tendring’ would not have been delivered.
What happened once you started working with the community. What was addressed first, and why?
Jubilee Celebrations -June 2022 CCCS hosted two events as part of the Jubilee Celebration during the June Bank Holiday weekend
Bhaji on the Beach worked with the Essex Bangladeshi Women’s Association who took part in 2 days of Jubilee celebrations. CCCS held the Beach’ picnic at Jaywick Sands Beach with cultural activities and sharing of food cooked by various diverse community groups The event was open to all communities and featured on local BBC Look East and ITV Anglia News.
The Jubilee Street Party in Jaywick and Harwich involved music and dance celebrating the diverse communities in Tendering with bunting. The event was open to all communities who participated and share cultures and traditions to mark this historic landmark in history.
CCCS also secured additional funding from National Lottery players and administered by UK Community Foundations on behalf of the Arts Council, the Let’s Create Jubilee Fund to support additional actvites as part of the Jubilee celebrations
Festival of Jiangsu and Tendring October 2022
The Festival of Jiangsu and Tendring took place in the UK, China and in the Metaverse 11-26 November 2022, and was organised by Colchester Chinese Cultural Society.
The UK exhibition was hosted by Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre, whist the China exhibition was held at Qingyun Gallery in Changzhou city in Jiangsu province.
The festival follows on from last year’s online festival of Colchester and Jiangsu, working with Essex based Chinese artists and artists in China, collaborating through online platforms due to COVID restrictions to deliver a cultural one-week festival.
This year Colchester Chinese Cultural Society teamed up with Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre showcasing the best Chinese talent from Essex and UK from the Jiangsu province in China.
The launch of the Festival took place on Sunday 6 November at Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre and was attended by Cllr Graham Butland from Essex County Council, along with other delegates and dignitaries from the Harwich and Chinese Community.
Results
Through the project ‘Arts Tendring’ the workshops and masterclasses have encouraged people to participate and engage with Chinese artists through various artforms including dance, music and visual arts. Through community events, participation and engagement workshops programme included Tai Chi, calligraphy workshops ,Chinese drumming, dance workshops have engaged with all ages from young to the elderly and supported mental health and well-being through the arts.
CCCS have showcased the best of Chinese culture and shared our traditions, customs and cultures with diverse and non-diverse audiences. CCCS have been sucessful in making our programme attract a wide range of audiences who had limited or no knowledge of the Chinese Culture.
As part of CCCS’s audience development they collected information and feedback from both the artists/practitioners and audiences. This helped both new partners and CCCS to better understand interest and demand for diverse programming in the Essex and gain audience feedback to assess how they perceive the quality of performances.
Testimonials
Project Delivery Manager for Colchester Chinese Culture Society Simone Xue said, ‘’ the funding from Essex Council Council Cultural Fund has provided us the opportunity to further expand our work in Tendring and reachout to new audiences and deliver diverse programming in new venues including Harwich Arts Centre, outdoors spaces at Jaywick Sands working with a range of partners in Essex’’.
Links –
Jubilee celebrations, Bhaji on the beach (Film by Marley)
Jubilee celebrations, arts at the allotment (Film by Marley)
