Art Societies – Guidance to ensure fair representation

This guidance is for all societies. Societies are a place for expression and creativity in a fun and inclusive space. This guidance was created about groups wanting guidance at how they can art whilst being as inclusive as possible.

Guiding principles

1. Consider, acknowledge, and challenge unconscious bias in the Arts
2. Create an accessible and diverse environment that promotes inclusivity for all
3. Continuous learning and consider the living experience of underrepresented groups

Due to the nature of the topic of this guidance, there are unlimited potential situations. You can refer back to these guiding principles for any situation around fair representation in the arts.

Recommendation on: Race & Ethnicity

In general, it is important to think carefully about what the themes and the core of the narratives are. Is the character's ethnicity or cultural background essential to the integrity of the story? How can you be authentic it in the way you portray the story?

• When casting you should not cast a white actor in a role that was intended to be portrayed by a person of colour. This is because when a role calls for a non-white actor and a white actor is cast, this contributes to a culture of opportunities being taken away from non-white actors. It’s important to think about what the theme and core of the narrative is.
• If you are in a situation where more than one actor is just as good for a particular role, then we recommend that you prioritise marginalised identities when possible. This is because historically marginalised identities have been discriminated against. By prioritising marginalised identities you are making steps to improve representative in the arts which has historically being white dominated.
• We encourage societies not to avoid generalised casting, stereotyping or the grouping of ethnicities.
• If you don’t have any to fill a person to fill a role that was meant for a POC then please get in contact us with us to discuss this. We could bring this to the Liberation Network to discuss the show. You might also want to reconsider whether it is right for you to do the show without accurate representation.
• If you are looking to portray a specific ethnicity you can reach out to faith & cultural societies who may have students who are able to portray these role authentically.

Recommendation on: Gender

• We encourage the sharing of pronouns as part of the auditioning and the production process, although some individuals may not feel comfortable sharing their pronouns.
• Where gender is not a key part of the writing, we encourage societies to leave characters’ gender identities open.
• Ensure there are appropriate, easy to find and available gender-neutral facilities.
• Give opportunities to ensure students are comfortable playing a role of a gender that they may not identify to.

Recommendations on: Disability

• Where possible, for a disabled character we encourage groups to not cast non-disabled actors.
• We encourage societies to make reasonable adjustments not to hide the person's respective disability when on stage.
• By law, you are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure any disabled students can participate. Please get in touch with SU Staff if you are unsure how to do this.
• Ensure there are always accessible and appropriate facilities for cast, crew and audience.

Guidance on scripts

There is an understanding that scripts cannot always be changed due to purchased rights for shows which could results in heavy fines to the group.

If the script contains some offensive or discriminatory language, we ask societies to consider this when looking at which shows to pick and how that could be offensive to some students, especially under-represented minorities.

If the script contains some offensive language, the Arts team is here to support as to how you can manage that situation and can help you look at how to mitigate its impact.

Content and trigger warnings can be a useful tool to allow for the audience to be prepared for what they will see and allow them to make a decision. How you do trigger warnings will vary on each show. Some information here –

Playing it Safe: How We Use Trigger Warnings in Theatre in Aotearoa

Guidance on non-traditional casting

• For guidance on casting regarding certain groups, please refer to the above recommendations.
• We recommend that groups consult with casting choices and decisions with underrepresented who might be affected. This can be done through the Liberation Network
• Whilst we don’t recommend blind auditions at all, it’s important to recognize that in the very specific case of music blind auditions have enabled more minorities to be seen and heard.
• When advertising the different roles available, it’s good practice to add any trigger warnings in the description of each character. This will allow for people auditioning to have as much information as possible on the character before the casting day.

We strongly encourage diversity in both scripts and auditioning process. Please do consider these characteristics.

What support is available?

• Arts Team & Activities Officer: They are your first point of contact for any issues you may have. They can signpost you to relevant staff, officers, and resources. Contacts: su-arts@bath.ac.uk & suactivities@bath.ac.uk.
• If any student wants to make a complaint about anything, please ensure that you signpost them to the SU Complaints Procedure. Dealing with these situations can be stressful for both parties which is why we strongly recommend that for any complaints they go through the SU Complaints procedure. If you want advice and support on these issues, the SU Advice and Support service is here. You can get in contact with them by emailing suadvice@bath.ac.uk.

There is much learning to do, and this guidance will need updating as we learn more. We do strongly encourage you to learn about this. You will find a list of useful links at the end.

We can’t force you to do this, these are guidelines only. We do however strongly recommend you follow these as we want to give opportunities to every student and ensure fair representation.

For more information and training on inclusivity more generally, we encourage you to go to our Student Leader Hub.

You can also sign up to the Inclusivity Award. The award designs to help student leaders provide an inclusive offer by ensuring that we create lasting, cultural change to our student leader activity.

Links

Glossary

• Disability: You are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities (source). However, many disabled people self-identify as disabled and therefore in the context of coordinating student groups, it would be inappropriate to request medical or legal evidence of disability.
• Cultural appropriation: A term used to describe the taking over of creative or artistic forms, themes, or practices by one cultural group from another. It is in general used to describe Western appropriations of non-Western or non-white forms and carries connotations of exploitation and dominance. (source)
• Blackface: makeup worn to mimic the appearance of a Black person (or other Person of Colour), especially to mock or ridicule Black people (source)
• Erasure: The wide scale ignoring of people’s characteristics, heritage or culture or the generalisation of all people of colour as non-white rather than recognising different cultures. (source)
• BIPOC: BIPOC is an acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour.(source)
• POC: An acronym that stands for Person of Colour. (source)
• Difference between race and ethnicity: Race is defined as “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits.” The term ethnicities is more broadly defined as “large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.” "Race” is usually associated with biology and linked with physical characteristics such as skin colouror hair texture. “Ethnicity” is linked with cultural expression and identification. However, both are social constructs used to categorize and characterize seemingly distinct populations. (source)
• Non-traditional casting: Non-traditional casting, as opposed to traditional casting, means that a person's race, gender, age, or body type, and even their physical or mental disabilities do not go into consideration when casting that person for a specific role. (source)
• Difference between Content and Trigger warning : These give the audience/reader of content that could be potentially illicit and harmful. Trigger warning is a nuance of content warning where it’s considered more triggering.
• Reasonable Adjustments: According to the Equality Act (2010), we all have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students. (source)
• Gender: Gender refers to a social construction relating to behaviours and attributes based on labels of masculinity and femininity; gender identity is a personal, internal perception of oneself and so the gender category someone identifies with may not match the sex they were assigned at birth. Where an individual may see themselves as a man, a woman, as having no gender, or as having a non-binary gender – where people identify as somewhere on a spectrum between man and woman. (source)
• Sex: Sex refers to the biological aspects of an individual as determined by their anatomy, which is produced by their chromosomes, hormones and their interactions. This is something normally assigned at birth and is generally male, female or intersex. (source)

Breaking down the concept of gender