Statement of support from Autin Dance Theatre
I am writing in strong support of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s bid for UK Town of Culture 2028.
My name is Johnny Autin and I am the Artistic Director and CEO of Autin Dance Theatre CIO, a Birmingham-based contemporary dance, physical theatre, puppetry and outdoor arts company with a strong track record of international touring, community engagement and creative learning. Our work brings together high-quality performance with meaningful participation, often in public spaces, parks and town centres, and always with a commitment to accessibility, imagination and civic connection.
We have been working with communities in Basingstoke for several years as part of the council’s cultural and artistic programme, and from direct experience I can say that this is a place with both ambition and the practical ability to deliver. Over time, we have built strong relationships with local schools, families, community groups and participants through our work in the borough, and those relationships have been made possible because the council has consistently invested in the partnerships, planning and local engagement needed to make cultural activity happen well.
What stands out to us is not simply that Basingstoke presents events, but that it understands how culture can bring people together across generations and across different parts of the community. We have seen a council team that is able to work collaboratively with artists, support delivery on the ground, and create the conditions for participation as well as presentation. That matters enormously in a Town of Culture context.
A few examples from our own partnership speak to this clearly. We have brought Eko, our 12-foot Sea Giant puppet, to life as part of Basingstoke Festival, and then returned again as part of the borough’s evening light event in November. These moments were not simply performances; they created wonder in public space, drew families together, and helped animate the town with shared cultural experiences. In summer 2025, Basingstoke also hosted the premiere of our large-scale aerial dance production Up in the Sky, an ambitious outdoor work that required trust, coordination and a council willing to back bold artistic programming. That experience showed us that Basingstoke has the appetite, the organisational backbone and the partnership mindset needed to support work of scale and quality.
Looking ahead, we are also excited to deepen our community outreach and engagement in the borough again this year through our family-friendly work, including Zig Zag! That continued relationship says a great deal. We do not return to places only because they can host a performance. We return because there is a real commitment to people, to partnerships and to building culture with communities rather than simply placing it in front of them.
From our perspective, Basingstoke and Deane is well placed to make a strong Town of Culture case because it can demonstrate all of the ingredients that such a designation requires: a clear and evolving cultural identity, a record of delivery, strong local partnerships, experience of community participation, and the capacity to connect artistic ambition with local pride and long-term benefit.
Just as importantly, this bid has the potential to build on work that is already happening. It would not begin from scratch. It would grow from an existing cultural ecology, from relationships already built, and from a council that has shown it understands that successful cultural programmes depend on trust, inclusion, co-creation and continuity. In our experience, Basingstoke and Deane has those qualities.
I wholeheartedly support this application and would be delighted to see Basingstoke and Deane recognised for its cultural ambition, its collaborative spirit and its ability to deliver a Town of Culture programme that is both inspiring and rooted in local people.
