This month, our Director Susie Thornberry shared a conversation about the importance of kinship with Bea Udeh, the Head of Diversity at Arts Marketing Association, hosted by Simone Kelly, our Marketing and Communications Manager. Our current arts programme, The Unlonely City, is a series of gatherings, celebrations and citizen-led initiatives, was born from the belief that we need ways to come together.
“I wanted to hold this conversation at a moment when disconnection feels increasingly woven into our everyday lives. Bringing together Susie and Bea, two people whose work often centres on creating spaces of connection, I was interested to see where the conversation would go. As three Global Majority women, we understand the value of seeking out spaces where recognition, support and understanding can be found. What emerged was a reflection on kinship, as recognition without explanation, solidarity, power-sharing, and collective care.” – Simone Kelly
Arts Marketing Association is the UK’s only membership organisation dedicated to supporting and advocating for the marketing community in arts, culture and heritage.
Simone: Kinship. What does it mean to you?
Bea: Connection. Being part of something bigger than yourself. Friendships, communities, tribes. Throughout history, people have always sought belonging. You see it in sport, people find their team, identify with it, subscribe to it and build a sense of kinship.
For me, kinship is finding a space where you can fully be yourself. A space where I can speak my truth openly, and where others can approach me without feeling they need to explain or justify before they speak. You can say what you mean without apologising for it.
In a nutshell, kinship is about authenticity.
Susie: Recognition and not having to explain are so valuable. Sara Ahmed said, “Events can catch you out”. You’re moving through your day, and then something happens, in the news, at work, and for some people it’s abstract, whereas for others, it’s an embodied experience. That’s when I’m really like, “I need kinship.” I need a conversation or a moment where somebody understands what this feels like.
At Metal, kinship is related to solidarity, and our work to imagine an ‘unlonely’ city inspiring positive change. José García Oliva, who we love working with, has a collaboration with agricultural workers supported by the Worker Support Centre and Justice for Seasonal Workers, which is a beautiful example of kinship and solidarity.
Bea: At the Arts Marketing Association, we’re a community of members working across arts, heritage and culture. What connects them is a shared identity as marketing professionals and leaders.
There’s often an immediate sense of kinship because they’re united by a common purpose: creating better experiences for audiences. People recognise each other’s challenges, aspirations and values.
Simone: You’re both involved in different kinship and affinity groups. What role do these spaces play?
Bea: When I joined the Arts Marketing Association, I introduced affinity groups, beginning with one for racialised and Global Majority professionals. The aim was to create a space where voices that are often overlooked could be heard – people who exist in the sector but are not always seen or represented.
People meet quarterly online. They talk about work, wellbeing, belonging – whatever feels important or urgent. The value lies in having a safe and supportive space where conversation can happen on your own terms.
I often think of it as a body of water. We notice the waves, but not always the ripples. Those ripples are different people, communities, and experiences that form part of this body of water.
Affinity groups help us pay attention to the ripples. They ensure those voices are recognised and valued.
Simone: As a member of AMA’s Global Majority Affinity Group, I’ve found that so important. It’s a place where I can show up as myself and speak honestly about what’s happening socially, politically, globally, without feeling the need to explain why it matters. So, thank you, Bea, for creating and sustaining the group.
Susie: This reminds me of Metal’s Get A Room programme, which asks ‘what are the creative spaces cities need to thrive?’ and looks to build solidarity and kinship, and inspire new ideas. There are three strands: small affinity groups where people share an interest, idea or aspect of identity and want to get together on the basis of kinship; social spaces for bigger groups to get together and be in conversation with others laughing, dancing, learning and all the good things; and spaces for difficult conversations, where people come together around questions they aren’t sure how to move forward on.
I think those kinship spaces are essential to the health of a city. At Metal, this has ranged from hosting groups of people with chronic illness or partnerships with organisations assisting refugees and asylum seekers, to being part of founding Peterborough Pride.
And as you said Bea, I really value them myself, particularly groups of Global Majority women. Sometimes it’s a sense check. Sometimes it’s collaboration. What can you learn from each other? There’s real joy in that. And sometimes you do need a space to be angry or vent.
Bea: Every affinity group gives me something different. I’m part of a Black women’s group, and for me that’s a space of joy. I can relax, let my guard down, let my hair down (though I haven’t got much hair!) and being in a space where there’s no judgement.
Other groups offer emotional security. Some are places where I receive support; others are places where I give it.
They’re also spaces where ideas are tested. Conversations with activists and leaders for example, those interactions help me reflect on what we’re doing and what can be improved. You can’t do this work in a bubble.
Susie: One thing I wanted to hold onto after the pandemic was the informal networks that emerged.
Not every meaningful connection happens in a formal affinity group. Sometimes it’s just someone saying, “I see you, I hear you.” Or sometimes just asking, “Is this just me?” The arts sector is particularly good at that. Collaboration is fundamental to what we do. People are generous with their knowledge and experiences, and there’s a real willingness to share, learn from one another and work together.
Simone: How does kinship shape belonging and identity?
Bea: I’ve always felt you can’t tell people they belong. They have to feel it for themselves and say it to you. It can’t be imposed from the outside.
Belonging doesn’t sit alone. It’s connected to equality, diversity, inclusion, acknowledgement, acceptance, and also to experience of othering.
At the Arts Marketing Association, that thinking informed a framework I developed where belonging sits within a broader set of values. People don’t feel they’re belong because they’re told to. They feel it through experience.
Susie: For me, one of one of the biggest challenges we face is disconnection. It is caused by and exacerbates so many inequalities. If even small moments of kinship can create connection across places, jobs, different aspects of who we are or what we enjoy, then we need more of them and a better quality of conversation and acknowledgement to create belonging.
Bea: Self-identification is part of this too. When we self-identify, we’re saying to the world, this is who I am. It’s an act of showing up for ourselves, and there’s beauty and joy in that.
Simone: How does kinship intersect with power and inequality?
Bea: Who holds power? And how can that power be shared?
I think many leaders have had to learn how to step back and share it more intentionally. For us, that thinking is reflected in everything from governance to flexible working with a four-day week, menopause support and different policies to support how people actually live and work, and how we can be.
Power sharing is essential if we want to reduce inequality.
Susie: There’s a long history of people collectivising to make things better or around an idea. And I think that’s when kinship is most powerful.
Bea: It reminds me of citizen-led power – it takes democracy to a new level, doesn’t it?
At the Arts Marketing Association, we keep our audiences at the heart of what we do. Everything is shaped by listening to our members, gathering their experiences and seeing patterns emerging across different spaces and conversations.
Through our Together We Act campaign, we’ve been asking “What’s going on with you?” and using those responses from the different conversations at different levels to shape our future programme.
It’s an ongoing process that can be refined along the way. Nothing is fixed. We keep asking questions, listening and responding to what people tell us matters.
Simone: Is it too extreme to say about kinship is essential for survival?
Susie: We’ve talked about other kinds of kinship, but I want to say that kinship with the natural world is essential for survival.
Bea: I don’t think it’s extreme either. We have networks of connectors across the country who bring people together, listen, and respond to local needs. They help build kinship, share challenges, and connect the dots between what’s happening on the ground and our work at a national, strategic level.
It’s a bit like gardening. Sometimes you’re planting something new and helping it to grow; other times you’re unearthing what’s already there and bringing it to light.
Simone: That’s a beautiful place to end. Thank you both.
About Arts Marketing Association
The Arts Marketing Association is the UK’s only membership organisation dedicated to supporting and advocating for the marketing community in arts, culture and heritage. It represents over 4,300 arts marketers and leaders in over 700 organisations, helping them develop their marketing expertise, connect with audiences, and thrive in their work.
