Naomi Shoba to join Glasgow Life as Senior Arts & Music Manager: Diversity

Published: 14 Aug 2017

Naomi Shoba has been appointed Senior Arts & Music Manager: Diversity at Glasgow Life.

In this new role, which is supported by Creative Scotland, Naomi will work with the in-house team, and the independent art sector across art forms, to maximise ethnic diversity within activity carried out by Glasgow Arts, Music and Cultural Venues.

Glasgow Life is the charity responsible for inspiring Glasgow’s citizens and visitors to lead richer and more active lives through culture, sport and learning.  As part of Glasgow Life, Glasgow Arts, Music and Cultural Venues manages a portfolio of leading venues and produces internationally recognised festivals and individual events across the city.

Venues include the iconic Kelvingrove Bandstand, the world renowned Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Old Fruitmarket and City Halls, and south-side international art space Tramway.

The event and festivals programme includes, the leading annual festival of world, folk and roots music Celtic Connections; the Glasgow Music and Tramway programmes; Scotland’s biggest free multicultural festival, the Glasgow Mela; the celebration of the city’s cultural hub, the Merchant City Festival; the city’s annual celebration of reading and writing, Aye Write and Glasgow’s book festival for children and young people, Wee Write; biennial contemporary art festival Glasgow International; Scotland’s leading contemporary dance festival Dance International Glasgow; a wide ranging Community Arts Programme; and – working in partnership with championship organisers - the Cultural Programme for the Glasgow 2018 European Championships.

Naomi Shoba, who will begin her new role in October, has worked for the past four years as Head of Youth Arts at Ovalhouse Theatre, a South London-based venue, commissioning new work that responds to today’s social and political issues, and work that reflects the cultural diversity of its local community.

At Ovalhouse, Naomi provides strategic and managerial leadership for a large portfolio of activities, commissions, partnerships and festivals, and oversees a staff team and the delivery of an annual intergenerational creative programme. Naomi has also led year-long cultural leadership training for Ovalhouse Young Associates, teams of BAME emerging artists and cultural leaders and has launched the careers of artists such as Ambreen Razia and Urbain Ngendahayo.

Prior to working at Ovalhouse Theatre, Naomi worked as Theatre Arts Worker for South Sutherland and Easter Ross for Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.

Naomi Shoba said: “I am excited to become a part of Glasgow Life and work with the team to expand and platform the rich diversity within Scotland's cultural sector. I am incredibly passionate about diversity within the arts and returning back to Scotland in this post feels like a real homecoming for me.”

Jill Miller, OBE, Director of Cultural Services at Glasgow Life, said: “Glasgow Life is committed to creating cultural opportunities that are open to everyone who is part of our diverse, welcoming community.  We are delighted that Naomi will be joining us to lead on our work to ensure that that the voices, ambitions, expertise, cultural heritage and innovation of ethnic communities in our city are central to the planning, programming and presentation of the arts, music and cultural venues for which Glasgow is celebrated.”

Philip Deverell, Director, Strategy at Creative Scotland said: “We are delighted to welcome Naomi Shoba into this important new role, where she will play a key part in affecting change and promoting diversity. Naomi will lead on developing a strategy to embed ethnic diversity at the centre of artistic programming and creative practice in Glasgow, and raise visibility of the minority ethnic cultural sector in Scotland.”

About Glasgow Life

Glasgow Life is a charity which delivers services to both citizens and visitors to the city, providing opportunities through culture, sport and learning.

Last year, more than 18 million attendances were recorded at venues, events and festivals – up more than one third since 2007. Some 2,600 staff and 2,200 volunteers deliver services across 160 Glasgow Life venues.

Glasgow Life has responsibility for:

• Managing nine award-winning civic museums, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Riverside Museum and the Burrell Collection as well as the Kelvin Hall;
• The Glasgow Club – Scotland’s largest health and fitness network – including landmarks such as the Emirates Arena and Tollcross International Swimming Centre;
• The Mitchell Library and 32 community libraries, as well as community facilities across the city and a significant learning programme;
• Programming world-class music in venues such as the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, incredible art and exhibitions at Tramway and a number of cultural events, such as Celtic Connections, the Mela, the World Pipe Band Championships and the Merchant City Festival, among others;
• Leading partners in the delivery of Glasgow’s Tourism and Visitor Plan to 2023; positioning the city as a vibrant, first-choice destination for leisure and business tourists;
• Managing the city’s destination marketing and implementing the award-winning PEOPLE MAKE GLASGOW brand;
• Managing Glasgow’s Convention Bureau, which attracts more than 500 conferences to the city each year.

Glasgow Life helped to deliver the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships, Davis Cup ties and the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships.

Looking ahead, Glasgow Life is supporting delivery of the Total BWF World Badminton Championships 2017, the inaugural 2018 European Championships – a major multi-sport event in partnership with Berlin – the European Indoor Athletics Championships 2019 and the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship.

For more information, visit www.glasgowlife.org.uk