Westminster Reveals

Westminster Reveals is the overarching cultural campaign Westminster Council developed in response to the pandemic this year, which sought to support the cultural sector and attract footfall back into Westminster through the curation of a programme of accessible art interventions in outdoor public spaces and vacant shops. A dedicated PR campaign was also created and delivered to promote the campaign and showcase the diverse and exciting range of cultural activities on offer.

The council launched its inaugural Inside Out festival of free outdoor events that featured collaborations with the city’s theatres, museums, galleries and performing arts venues, attracting over 250,000 visitors from August to October.

The Society of London Theatre, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Somerset House, The Photographer’s Gallery, The Cartoon Museum, Serpentine Gallery and Exhibition Road Cultural Group worked with the council on the festival to bring a range of exciting and interactive content outside of their respective venues.

The council also hosted its first series of Pop-up & Activations in empty shops across the city, offering grants to local entrepreneurs and creatives along with rent, and rates-free space.

The project responded to the need for visitors to find a reason to safely return to Westminster following trends developed during the pandemic – online shopping, shopping local, digital cultural consumption, as well as hesitancy about using public transport and engaging in social gatherings. On 16 June 2021, even after lockdown ended, footfall was still at 78% of pre-pandemic levels across the borough.

As a consequence of the pandemic, Cultural organisations were forced to close their doors and then, even after initial lockdown restrictions were lifted, audience and visitor numbers were limited, prompting institutions to seek new ways engage audiences. Dialogues led to the council supporting business recovery by co-producing outdoor experiences and brokering partnerships with Landowners and BIDS to find safe and innovative ways to reignite cultural activity.

A notable pop-up was by Pursuing Independent Paths, who support adults with learning disabilities and autism, which included a public exhibition where over £1,000 of art works were sold by their members. The organisation reported their students felt valued and experienced pride; one of their students who has ASD and was generally a non-verbal communicator “showed great initiative and customer service skills in standing up, approaching and welcoming visitors and showing them her art work”.

Black Heroes Foundation won a grant to take over a Windrush Living Room installation in a large two-storey space in Haymarket to tell untold stories of Caribbean heritage, with an exhibition alongside well-attended performances, readings and lectures that raised £1,700 ticket revenue in a week.

“West End LIVE” was revived as an Inside Out partnership with Society of London Theatre,  and achieved a record number of free shows in Trafalgar Square performed on 18th and 19th September 2021 with 57,000 attendees. 41% of those surveyed purchased tickets thanks to West End LIVE with an additional 45% intending to in future, thereby boosting the fortunes of local theatres. This complex production provided vital employment for 300 people, and with a total 850 creatives delivering the performance content.