British Council 2nd Tier city cultural venue research

The British Council in China, as part of its expansion strategy, was aiming to gain a better understanding of cultural venues across China’s second tier cities.

Through a diversified methodology, including on-line research, interviews with venue management staff, and interviews with cultural officers of several embassies in Beijing as well as consulates in Shanghai, we were able to draw up a shortlist of candidate venues to present work across the arts forms, as well as advice on the rules of engagement. This latter element included insights on local decision making processes on the institutional and governmental level as well as on patterns of financial engagement.