Cornwall City of Culture 2025

The 2025 City of Culture will be the fourth city to hold the title since the UK City of Culture programme began in 2013, the 2025 bidding competition has allowed for the first time, bids from regions, areas and places, including groups of towns across one or multiple local authorities.

An opportunity of such magnitude and responsibility to do justice for the people of Cornwall doesn’t come lightly and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (CIoS LEP) orchestrated a strategy and plan involving teams from Falmouth University, Cornwall Council, Screen Cornwall, The Eden Project, Tate St Ives and ourselves to name a few.

The idea and expression of ‘Leading from the Edge’, comes from a region with a clear social, economic, cultural and identity. A place with a reputation for welcoming artists, and a historic track record of innovation and collaboration. Our culture and economy are defined by the environment and our relationship with it; crashing Atlantic waves; granite batholiths, and borderland rivers contain and nurture a culture that is both rooted in place and connected to a global diaspora.

We developed an initial teaser film demonstrating the breadth of culture within in the region which formed part of their first stage bid response, then after being long listed with 7 other regions we have developed an identity, narrative and look & feel system, website and campaign assets to support and promote their second stage bid application. The identity delivers the idea of ‘ALL’, coming directly from the Cornish motto ‘One and All’.

The narrative is built around 3 pillars – People, Place and Planet which address the climate emergency by using culture and creativity to connect communities. Earlier in 2021 Cornwall highlighted to the G7 how for longer than most its strength, passion and drive to address the situation has become part of its culture. Using these themes as a gateway to consider areas of shared human interest: climate change, nature and sustainability, ways of living, play, minority languages and culture, storytelling and learning.