Pawlet Brookes, the Founder, CEO and Artistic Director of Serendipity – Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, has been awarded an MBE for services to the arts and cultural diversity in New Year Honours.
Pawlet Brookes has been the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, since she founded the organisation in 2010. Serendipity’s mission is to centre perspectives from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora, embedded as part of cultural experiences for all. Serendipity’s programmes include the flagship dance festival, Let’s Dance International Frontiers, Black History Month Leicester and the Annual Windrush Day Lecture. Under Pawlet’s leadership, Serendipity has become known internationally for being a catalyst for bringing African and African Caribbean dance, arts and cultural heritage and its numerous conferences and publications.
Serendipity is an NPO of Arts Council England and has recently been awarded a substantial grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) to support the development of a regionally project Unearthed: Forgotten Histories and a growing a living archive documenting Black Arts and Culture.
Pawlet Brookes has previously been the CEO of Rich Mix (London) and Artistic Director of the Peepul Centre (Leicester), programming and showcasing diverse artists and arts companies from the UK and abroad.