Creative Times

WITHOUT WALLS is a consortium of 7 of the UK's most significant street arts festivals: x.trax Manchester; Winchester Hat Fair; The Bristol Do; Brighton Festival; Norfolk and Norwich Festival; Greenwich + Docklands International Festival; Stockton International Riverside Festival.

A pioneering and compelling organisation, Without Walls is a new model for the strategic presentation and development of outdoor performance in the UK, successfully helping to strengthen both the landscape and profile of the festival arts sector.

With Arts Council England support, the consortium has created a touring platform to provide an unparalleled opportunity for new and emerging British Street Arts. A total of 9 dynamic companies and artists (details below) have been commissioned and supported by Without Walls to perform across the 7 member festivals in 2008.

This multiple platform opportunity is helping to build career paths for British artists, launching some of the best work from the UK onto the world stage and raising the bar in the sector through innovative collaboration and investment in new talent and ideas.

Working together, the Without Walls festivals, including x.trax Manchester, are increasing cohesion for the street arts sector, helping to develop the British arts economy and to promote the best of British culture overseas. By creating a more secure environment in which new work can flourish and be developed the partnership is strengthening the street arts sector towards 2012.

Manchester?s x.trax hosted 8 of the carefully selected Without Walls commissioned companies this summer. Considered to be the UK?s most important international showcase festival, x.trax has welcomed over 2000 delegates from 36 countries since 1997, with 76% of performing artists going on to receive further national and international bookings

Outdoor arts are now being recognized for their ability to encourage change, to engage and bring together communities and to shape a sense of place and identity. Outdoor arts are uniquely democratic: free, accessible and suited equally to both distinct and shared cultural expression.

Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. www.withoutwallsuk.com