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About us

Welcome to Gulbenkian.

Gulbenkian is the University of Kent’s Arts Centre offering innovative, engaging and high quality arts activity for the public, staff and students. It provides a key role in delivering the University commitment to public engagement and has a particular focus on the creative empowerment of children and young people.

Gulbenkian’s Story: Radical Roots & Dangerous Ideas

Gulbenkian is 50 in summer 2019, forged in a time when conventions were being questioned and traditions being challenged. In 1969, The Vietnam War raged, Woodstock raved, man landed on the moon, the Paris student rebellion was fresh in the mind. Young people felt they could change the world, the University of Kent was a hotbed of radical action, using creative thinking to find answers to society’s problems.

50 years on, Gulbenkian remains an organisation with a radical vision. We believe that young people’s voices must be heard and we are committed to providing time, space and opportunities for them to experiment, discover and create. Time that is squeezed from busy daily life, artistic space that is in short supply here in Kent, precious opportunities to speak up and change the world.

Gulbenkian is a powder keg, where young people, artists,
academics and communities meet and exchange ideas. As
these new ideas explode, we see confidence grow, careers
form, talent get uncovered, work get created and the future unfurl.

Our Vision

Gulbenkian will work with a range of creative partners to become a leading 21st Century international arts centre offering an engaging, innovative and high quality arts programme. We will act as a catalyst developing and curating ideas, spaces and emerging talent. The empowerment of children and young people will be at the core of our activity.

By 2020, Gulbenkian aims to be:

  • Become a zero waste organisation.
    – Reduce, reuse, recycle
    – Implement sustainable food strategy
  • Improve carbon efficiency year on year.
  • Increase digital communication and produce sustainable marketing materials.
  • Encourage partners and visiting companies to supply sustainable goods and materials.
  • Work towards achieving the University of Kent’s 17 sustainable goals as set out by the UN.
  • To be a leader on sustainable delivery in the arts sector.

FACT:
Since switching from plastic to glass / can in September 2018, 2299 fewer plastic bottles have been sold in the Café.

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Gulbenkian houses a 340 seat theatre, 300 seat cinema and a café which incorporates an informal cabaret style space for live music, comedy and slam poetry. We programme over 1,000 events including music, comedy, theatre, dance and film per year, enjoyed by more than 100,000 people. The arts centre attracts a range of conferences and events to Kent such as BBC Question Time.

Our work with young people includes the Gulbenkian Youth Theatre with over 100 members aged 5-18 years and Gulbenkian Youth Dance Company, run in partnership with Jasmin Vardimon Company. We are also home to ART31, a cultural leadership project, led by young people, TECH31 , SCREEN31 and TECH(Y)31 plus Kent’s international family festival – bOing!

A range of companies and artists are based with us including Artswork (South East Bridge), Confidance, Animate Arts Company and the Three Half Pints.

In April 2015 we became an Arts Council of England National Portfolio Organisation in recognition of our developing role as a pioneer in the creative empowerment and engagement of children and young people.

The University of Kent as the “UK’s European University”, provides invaluable access to Europe through our campuses in Paris, Brussels, Rome and Athens. Our international outlook and the expertise of international colleagues helps to inform our work and develop best practices through initiatives like ART31 and the bOing! International Family Festival.

"Altogether, the venue lives and breathes its mission."
Arts Council England Artistic and Quality Assessment 2016
"The support and mentorship from the Gulbenkian team allow us to realise our ideas that would otherwise be unachievable."
Nora, member of Gulbenkian Uncovered

Also from the Gulbenkian

What we do - outside projection

What we do

We believe passionately in the creative empowerment of children and young people, and this belief drives everything we do.

Audience member wearing a virtual reality headset is reflected in the object she is examining.

Supporting Artists

Central to our vision is the support and development of emerging artists. We are home to Kent Dance Network, Confidence; Animate Arts and Spark Film Production.

BOING

Support us

We need your help! If you can donate, volunteer, or just tell everyone you know about us we would love your support.

ART31

ART31 takes its name from Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, which states that ‘Children have the right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities’.

ART31 is a vision created with, by, and for young people in Kent, championing the belief that all children and young people have an entitlement to access high quality arts and culture, to empower them to achieve their creative potential, and to genuinely engage young people as equal partners in any decision making that affects them. The ART31 Youth Board is made up of young people from across Kent aged 13-25 who steer its governance, and influence policy and practice across the county and beyond, challenging the creative sector to examine existing ways of working and integrate young people into the core of their practice.

ART31 is supported by a network of cultural partners across the county, a number of whom have been inspired to adopt the ART31 ethos, including Pie Factory Music, Jasmin Vardimon Company and partners leading the Theatre31 project in Medway and Sheppey.

The ART31 Youth Board have had great success with programming and co-commissioning, working with a wide range of practitioners from across the cultural and creative industries. They have developed the ART31 manifesto and have challenged policymakers and enabled change so that more young people across the county, from a range of diverse backgrounds, can experience high quality arts and culture.

Below are our current projects and groups:

Our projects with young people

Techy31

TECHY31

TECHY31 is a fun, weekly workshop for 10-12 year olds interested in the technical side of theatre.

GulbenkianUncovered

Gulbenkian Uncovered

Are you enthusiastic, committed and creative? Gulbenkian Uncovered gives students the chance to get behind the scenes, develop new skills and run events at Gulbenkian.

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Square Pegs Arts

Square Pegs Arts are an award winning Charity who provide drama groups, music projects and other accessible Arts opportunities for children and young adults who have learning disabilities and autism, and produce original, inspiring, challenging Theatre. Difference is celebrated and everyone is supported to shine in their own way.

Gulbenkian, Screen31 Workshops.

SCREEN31

Interested in filmmaking? Want to learn some new skills? SCREEN31 might be just what you’re looking for!

Youth Theatre

Fantastic and fun sessions for ages 5-18 years, encouraging creativity and theatre-making skills. Sessions run during school term-times.

Four Art 31 members stand at the front of a theatre audience. Everyone has their hands in the air.

ART31KENT

We want to #ChangeKent. How? By creating more artistic events and opportunities for young people. By motivating young people to be creative, and to try art forms they wouldn’t usually think of. By introducing them to new work that they may not have been able to access before. By developing relationships between arts organisations and young people, leading young people to take control and get involved in making decisions.

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TECH31

TECH31’s weekly training sessions will introduce 13-18 year olds to the technical side of theatre, providing training to young people and on job experience of working back stage in a theatre and other live events.

ART(Y)31

ARTY31

Gulbenkian’s ARTY31 group meets on Wednesdays 4-5.30pm and consists of young people aged 8-12 with a wide variety of arts interests. These sessions are FREE.

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KRAN Fam

KRAN Fam is Gulbenkian’s drama group for young refugees and asylum-seekers aged 16 and above, delivered in partnership with Kent Refugee Action Network.

A group of young actors in a uniform of clue shirts and black trousers or skirts. They are engaged in conversation.

National Theatre Connections

NT Connections is the National Theatre’s nationwide youth theatre festival. Each year it offers a unique opportunity for youth theatres and school theatre groups to stage new plays written for young people by some of theatre’s most exciting playwrights, and to perform in leading theatres across the UK.

Accessible Film Club

Accessible Film Club

Monthly film screenings that are open to all, especially those with autism and learning disabilities.