What is that?
We asked people around the world to send us their busking testimonials. These are short pieces that answer the following three questions:
- What has busking done for you, personally?
- What is important about it in general?
- Why should it be protected?
Send your answers to admin@thebuskingproject.com with the subject line “Busker Testimonial”. Also, please remember to include details about what you do. Are you a busker? What is your performance? Are you a professional? In what field?
Here are the first twenty we received. They make for very inspiring reading: thebuskingproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Busker-Testimonials2.pdf
Why?
1) Supporting buskers
Street performers often get discouraged because of the perceived closeness of busking to begging, because of the rejection they get from 9/10 of passersby, or simply because of the daily grind of putting your emotions and talent out there day after day, week after week. We’re hoping these inspiring stories will help street performers feel better about what they do, and remind them of the inherent value associated with their work — it really does help to change the world!
2) Changing perceptions
People often think of buskers as either beggars or, at best, as failed artists. You could argue that in a few cases this is correct (it’s not too important, but The Busking Project does NOT support this idea). But in the majority of cases street performance is a political, social or artistic choice, and even as a career goal. Beautifying our cities, getting paid to practice, meeting your audience, giving art to those who can’t afford staged live performances, or just choosing to live an alternative lifestyle to the regular 9 to 5, there are different definitions of “success”, especially in the art world. We’re hoping these testimonies will demonstrate that.
3) Defending your rights
By creating a body of evidence to show real stories written by and about buskers, we hope to influence the minds of judges and council members considering new legislation limiting public art. This is a common problem, and buskers are often in court trying to defend themselves and their methods. Testimonials written by buskers, celebrities, city planners, academics, audience members, judges, lawyers, mayors, police officers, artists, merchants, businessmen and people who work in the tourist industry are just one part of the package of documents we’re collecting to give as free downloads when the need arises.
What will you do with them?
We’ll offer them as a free download on the website. Other documents will include a list of previous court cases in which street performance has been successfully defended, and detailed descriptions of cities in which busking is treated fairly by the authorities and yet still work well.
What will that achieve?
Perhaps not very much. But this is the kind of information that buskers all over the world are looking for — we get contacted every month by buskers who are going to court and would like support. Once all this information is in one place, perhaps we’ll be able to help street performers fight for their own rights in their own cities, benefitting us all!
Do you have examples?
Yes. Here are the first twenty we received. They make for very inspiring reading:
thebuskingproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Busker-Testimonials2.pdf
My English isn’t very good. Could you help?
Yes! We copy edit every testimonial before publishing it. This means simple spelling and grammar mistakes, so don’t worry! As long as we can understand what you are trying to say, by the time it is published, it will sound very professional.
Do you have them in my language?
Not yet. But if you’d like to help us translate them, it would help us out hugely. These issues are prevalent all over the world, not just in English speaking countries.
How long should it be?
These will be read by people who are often very busy: judges and council members. So, tell us everything you think is important, but try to keep it to one page.
Where should I send them?
Here: admin@thebuskingproject.com
This sounds great. How can I thank you?
In the usual way…put a tip in our hat, and click here to donate! (All donations go directly towards funding The Busking Project’s success).