A NEW CONFERENCE FROM THE BORDERS OF PERFORMANCE, ABOUT THE STATE OF THE WORLD 
August 21 2011, 11am – 7pm 
Hosted by Forest Fringe, Bristo Place, Edinburgh

Four main questions have been devised to guide the discussion by the curators Andy Field and Hannah Nicklin of Forest Fringe:

• What is digital innovation in the arts and why is it important?
  
• How can we stop making Capitalism?
  
• Artists. Audiences. How can we do this better?
  
• Why have we failed to convince people the arts are important? Are the arts still important?
  

A "Pay-what-you-can" conference. The limited tickets are now sold out but there is the opportunity of following the ambient conversation surrounding this event by following the twitter tag #edgelands. If you aren't yet on twitter or unsure how to filter conversation there is a widget at the very bottom of this post to read the activity on.

For more information on speakers, installations and performances, please visit http://bit.ly/edgelands 

Background
In January 2011 as part of the State of the Arts Conference in London we created what we called a Flash Conference – a thrilling, temporary space amidst the busyness of the conference for artists and producers to come together to ask challenging questions and a virtual space online for everyone who couldn’t be present to offer their thoughts and their words and play a meaningful part in the day’s conversations.

The event was unpredictable, exciting and galvanising. Since the success of that first event we have wanted to take this project further. Whilst retaining the same adventurous energy and inclusivity, we want to see if we can create a richer and more expansive flash conference; a real opportunity for people right across the art world to meet at its edge to think about the world we inhabit and how we might help change it.

There seemed to be no better place to do this than at the Edinburgh Fringe. We felt it was important that the flash conference happen in a place where conventional modes of doing things are malleable and in flux; a place where we can think about the structures within which we operate and ask how they might work better.

This day is not about railing against authority or the great institutions of the arts. It is a day for everybody to gather at the edges of those big institutions and organisations, on equal terms. To ask daring questions and suggest implausible answers. To share a spirit of generosity and a galvanising sense of hope; that despite or perhaps because of the political, financial and environmental circumstances in which we find ourselves, the arts can and will play a part in imagining and realising a better possible future.

This is an ongoing campaign. Here is a collection of stories and resources to accompany the NoPay LowPay  debate.

TUC March for the Alternative
26 March, 11am - 4.30pm, Hyde Park, London
A huge march and rally protesting against government funding cuts involving all unions in the TUC. Equity members are assembling at 11am under the Equity banner on Victoria Embankment.

For more information about joining the march visit the TUC's March for the Alternative Website

Taster from he Local Government Breifing document.

The arts budget is usually a comparatively small amount of local government expenditure yet the benefits it brings to people’s lives are immense. Investment in cultural activities can drive regeneration, community cohesion, tourism revenues and employment.

Any significant cuts to public funding for the arts inevitably places the sustainability of many organisations at risk. This will impact on the employment, training and development opportunities available to actors, performers and creative professionals working not just in theatres but also those working at local authority sponsored events, festivals and in venues providing entertainment for the elderly. The cuts also threaten companies working with young people and community groups.