Vision Mission & Values
Together with artists, audiences and our communities we will shape a more inclusive and equitable world.
VISION
Submerge believe in the power of art to transform lives, contribute towards social justice in the UK and affect personal and social change. We understand that giving people moving and meaningful arts experiences can enrich how they feel in the world, and about the world.
Submerge knows that radical contemporary arts can demonstrate alternate ways of being, doing and thinking. Through our work with artists, audiences and communities we aim to help imagine and build a less selfish and less capitalist-oriented society that promotes sharing, welfare, and taking care of each other.
MISSION
We work towards our vision by connecting Greater Manchester and Northern artists, audiences, and communities with queer, radical, and intersectional ideas from around the world, bringing international perspectives which can change lives, challenge xenophobia and contribute towards creating a more fair and tolerant society.
VALUES
Submerge operates from within five core values that lay the foundation on which we build our festival and our organisation.
QUEER
Our queerness is a constant questioning of bases, roots, behaviours, ways of thinking, and the culture we live in. It is a creative disruption of normative pressures and binary thinking, uncovering that which has been hidden and seeking new and improved modes of being, thinking, and creating. Our queerness is anti-capitalist and anti-racist. It incorporates all sexualities, identities, and intersectionalities.
EXPERIMENTAL
We create contexts for artists to explore wild ideas, creating radical art that rips up the rulebook. We focus on developing artists whose work defies classification and blurs the boundaries of genre and form. We are often the first to support experimental and marginalised artists, whose work is subsequently propelled into the mainstream.
INTERNATIONAL
We think globally, connecting artists and communities with ideas from around the world. International perspectives can challenge xenophobia and ultimately contributes towards creating a more fair and tolerant society.
EXCEPTIONAL
We support artists to achieve high levels of ambitions and excellence and work to ensure that we also uphold these values in our producing practice. We work with extraordinary artists to make extraordinary work.
INCLUSIVE
We want to create an environment where everyone is respected, encouraged, and able to contribute. We embrace intersectionality and want to make our work as inclusive as possible, whilst protecting safer space for the communities we serve. Equitable access is embedded at the core of our work. We aim to do everything we can to find solutions to make our work accessible to the artists, audiences, and communities we serve.