Peshkar Productions is an intercultural theatre and multimedia art company based in the Northwest of England. It engages in participatory projects and professional productions.
Peshkar was initiated in 1991, through a series of Asian Arts workshops by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council’s (OMBC) Arts Development programme. The workshops were based on Asian music, dance and drama, involving members of the local Asian community with little experience in the performing arts. The success of the workshops and the enthusiasm of the participants led to the formation of Peshkar as a company with a role to promote the arts within the local Asian community by providing a forum for cultural expression.
Between 1991 and 1998 the company operated as a project within the OMBC Arts and Events Unit, gaining funding from North West Arts Board and other local funding sources to run a series of participatory workshop programmes and theatre productions employing a professional creative team to work with Peshkar’s growing company of participants from the local community.
In 2001 Peshkar secured support from the European Regional Development Fund, which allowed it to constitute the organisation as a Company Limited by Guarantee and a Registered Charity, and develop a business plan that would build on the company’s growing reputation as a regionally significant Asian Arts organisation. It secured Revenue Funding from North West Arts Board and the first full time Company Director was appointed in November 2000. In 2005, Jim Johnson (theatre-maker/musician) took over as CEO of Peshkar.
Peshkar's official website: [11]
Peshkar's Arts Council profile: [12]