Lady Godiva is doing her bit to rebalance the economy

 

"Let's get back to a more balanced economy. Specialist engineering is where we should be going, get it made locally not mass produced in China!"

For years and years now I've been working in schools and colleges, utterly frustrated by the lack of manual skills which young people seem to have and which they seem to possess less and less of. I realise that I'm probably in grave danger of sounding very much like a tweedy old lady, a relic of a pre-word processor age... but I have seen with my own eyes over several years how the emphasis has moved away from practical task led learning. Go and look in any average primary school anywhere in the UK, you'll be lucky if you find an area larger than 3x3m which isn't carpeted.


It seems to me that for so long the political part of the education system has revered one kind of learner -one who can follow the rules, tick boxes and pass the SAT's tests! I've not got a bug to bear about tests or the so called 'acedemic subjects', I just think that we shouldn't be putting them on a pedestal -there are other more 'relevant to life' and 'inspiring' things which require just as much intelligence and which if allowed to happen in schools would help children and young people to see connections between what they are learning and their potential life beyond...  lighting fires, gardening, fixing engines, building shelters- not just learning how to make things but actually making things!! Hands on learning through trialing, testing, experimenting, playing and making mistakes with real materials and real tools! 

Why does there have to be a snobbery around people who use their heads to make useful or beautiful things in the world, as apposed to those who use their hands to prop up their brainy heads?
Anyway, I have a feeling that the tide maybe turning, initiatives have come and gone and failed but now the pressure is economic, it's more urgent and is coming from the creative industries and not the curriculum creators.

The cultural Olympiad is an excellent opportunity to show the rest of the UK, let alone the world, what the makers of this country can do and are already doing! There has been for some time a growing movement in the UK, the alternative 'source it and make it home made' philosophy that is spreading among our artistic communities in response to the bland, faceless, glass and concrete expanses which have become our shopping centres. 

 

Our centres are struggling to hold on to the traditional market places, to attract shoppers and keep units full, whilst consummers go on line in the search for something that isn't the same as everything else! -but that's a whole other story. And meanwhile the artists, craftsmen and makers are setting up art markets and vintage bazaars. They are buying old factories and warehouses and setting up cooperatives, performance spaces and antiques emporiums everywhere. I just hope that the true inventive underground spirit of the UK gets the show case it deserves through the Cultural Olympiad projects happening in the big year?

I was very lucky to have recently got a sneak preview of a very exciting Cultural Olympiad project being produced in Coventry by a theatre company, Imagineer Productions. They are working with NP Aerospace, Coventry University and now a puppetry company called Artem, on a creation which has the opportunity to inspire a whole generation of makers, designers, engineers and artists. 

The eight metre high figure of Lady Godiva will awake on 28th July next year from her special chamber in Cathederal square in the centre of Coventry, amid choral music and a great carnival celebration. Two days later she will embark on a journey to London with the help of 100 cyclists (25 at a time) and will be stopping at rest points on the way.

The cyclists have been training for a year now and will be mounted on a 'Cylepedia' which has been specially engineered to pull Godiva and to take corners safely! Just working out the height to wheel base and the stability factor is enough but they have to think about the mechanisms which will animate the enormous puppet, the braking systems, the events on route, the roundabouts, bridges and obstacles -the logistics of the route itself. Just imagine the hydraulics involved when Godiva encounters the bridges on the way!

The design, building and fabrication period of the project is complete. And the cyclists and puppeteers are now being brought on board for the next phase -the testing. The build up will start in January so I recomend that everyone befriends the facebook, twitter and other sites and follow the progress on the web page: www.imagineerproductions.co.uk



I was on a visit with a group of representatives from Milton Keynes and other reps from all the various stop off towns that will host welcome events as Godiva passes through on her way to London. After the sneak preview, we were given a presentation to help us plan events - all the facts and figures as they are known so far; she will weigh 3.6 tonnes, have 25cm ground clearance, have a 4-wheel braking system etc etc... and then we were introduced to one of the main engineering partners whose passion and enthusism was, for me, the real story...   "Let's get back to a more balanced economy. Specialist engineering is where we should be going, get it made locally not mass produced in China!"

There has been so much engineering involved in this project, challenges overcome and new solutions found, all out of the creative and manufactoring mix which still survives in the area. Godiva will awake from a rich Midlands heritage; clocks, bicycles, cars and now giant puppets. This is so encouraging, as this kind of large scale mechanical street puppetry has previously come from Europe, specifically France (we all think of La Machine and their giant spider).

It could only have come about through having an Olympic challenge before us.

Time for tea

 

“Lots of companies claim to be 'participatory groups who work with communities' but they aren’t. Festive Road creates real carnival, engages and connects with their audience ...they create a magic, a weirdness, a vibrancy and mayhem which is really different.”                                        Sian Thomas

So we have reached the end of a second year of the great tea project and there have been moments when I hoped I'd never have to slap on the blue face paint ever again...

Over the summer we gave 7 performances between 11^th June and 11^th September 2011 at Northampton Carnival, Oxford Carnival & CNSE Gala, Milton Keynes World Picnic and The Mayors Thames Festival.

This second year provided excellent development time for Festive Road as a company, we had already engaged the core team so less time was spent recruiting and more time was given to building skills, finding clarity of roles, exploring possibilities, developing the work together and finding time for tea.

We did recruit an Artistic Director, Sian Thomas, as an ‘outside pair of eyes’ though and I received a small bursary from, Creative Northants, to support my professional development as an artistic director. This enabled me to work closely with Sian Thomas and as a co-director. Although in practise, much of the focus was on managing our volunteer performers and musicians and there was not as much time for the mentoring or for the ongoing reflection until after the summer.

We wanted to create time to develop the Brewing Up performers, musicians and trainee makers and did this through creating regular rehearsals sessions during May to July 2011. 

In these rehearsals, which were lead by Sian Thomas, Manuela Benini and Mat Fox, we did some team building work, as well as having lots of laughs and developing the new musical arrangements and movement. The music was really fantastic this year. 

The rehearsals were at times fairly chaotic and our expectations were high. On reflection the outcome was incredible, considering the time we actually had and the number of tea breaks which were made, after late comers had arrived or left and once peoples baggage had been unpacked! 

We have had some time now to look back and along with Sian, have begun to discuss our plans for next year. In doing so I realise now what a difficult thing we were trying to do by holding the balance between ‘giving people opportunities to participate’ and ‘producing a high quality and original show’.

In many ways the Brewing Up project this year became a support network for many of the people involved, many of whom were looking for self development opportunities, professional support or friendship in difficult times. For example, we set up and provided space and support for a women’s 'voluntary sewing group' who met at our unit and worked with our artists over May and June to create the wonderful new costumes.

Some of the volunteers involved in Brewing Up were people who we’ve been nurturing for some time as trainee makers or performers, others had professional skills which they wanted to offer the company and some were young people keen to learn new skills and perform at carnivals and festivals.

I think that it was important for the performers and artists to have a focus and to have events to work towards, even though the events were all fairly low key. So the emphasis was on building up skills, enjoyment, increasing performance experience and building up the confidence of the performers in preparation for 2012. We now have a skilled, committed and enthusiastic group for next year.



However the process revealed to me the need for clear role responsibility within our organisation and also, as we raise our aspirations of being a successful 'outdoor arts company,' the limitations and frustrations of working with volunteers and non professionals against the particular special energy that they bring to the work.

The whole process has been exhausting for all of Festive Roads core team, not least myself, who as usual took on too many roles but it was definitely worthwhile! There were moments when we began to question where we had left to go with this project and how we would keep building momentum and retain our own interested for another year? And in the last couple of months we have spent some time as a company in dialogue, questioning our motivations and checking that we still have a collective vision? It seems that we have, that there's more tea to be made and Brewing Up will live to dance another glorious and final year.

Brewing Up has really helped us to understand our strengths and weaknesses as a company and where our work sits it terms of outdoor arts/theatre/carnival. It has been very challenging but we have been able to continue developing an excellent extended team of musicians, technicians and performers as a result.

As the project begins to unfold again we will be identifying producers and promoters in order to present Brewing Up as a finished national touring show for 2012. Our ambition is still to develop the audience experience and to create more spectacular structures and costumes with the idea of creating a highly original performance for presentation on the Outdoor Arts circuit.

So, we begin again to develop a collaborative vision, we’ve made designs, tested ideas, materials and are beginning to create the new structures which will be part of the final show. All top secret! 
We're keeping the kettle warm, the construction is ongoing and it's all dependant on final funding of course!

Make time for Tea!

Visit www.festiveroad.org.uk

or www.facebook.com/festiveroad

Green Journey

"How can we empower and engage Ashcroft students to participate as effective global citizens in their local community, through creative and inspirational learning activities?"

The Green Journey began in September last year when I started in my role as a Creative Agent for the UK Center for Carnival Arts in Luton. Ashcroft High School is one of three schools which I have been working with over the last year as an Agent and it's one of many hundreds of projects across the country which are part of the National 'Creative Partnerships' programme, now coming to an end due to funding cuts.

The Creative Partnerships programme has brought practitioners, students and teachers together to enquire, explore and learn collaboratively through creativity, whether it be illustrating maths problems through dance or exploring scientific theory through practical applications.

For each school the area of enquiry is different and dependant on the focus of the school development plan or the specific needs within the school. Creative Partnership projects have been used to improve boys writing, encourage more parental involvement, up skill teaching staff, raise awareness of cultural heritage, healthy eating and much more -these are just a few examples.

At Ashcroft there was already an initiative to achieve 'Fair Trade School' status, the school was embarking on a huge rebuilding project, so class room space was at a premium and there was also a drive to raise 'Global Awareness' and encourage 'Local responsibly.' 

After a couple of planning meetings with the very energetic deputy head, Julie Clarke, the Green Journey was begun. Five practitioners, mostly from Festive Road, were brought on board and the idea of converting a double decker bus into a 'Green Classroom' was born!

An old Leyland bus was purchased on ebay and delivered to the school. The Young people reacted suitably with: " It's got to be blingin' Miss, not mingin'..."

The musician, Simon Oldhams, worked with the science faculty developing prototypes for wind turbines and testing how much cycle power it takes to illuminate different types of light bulbs. 
 
Offsed were in school at one point and observed the complete duration of one of these creative science lessons with great interest. The staff have since begun to rethink the GCSE coursework and how more 'practical science' could be included.


Meanwhile Sarah O' Toole and Paul Smith worked with the Art department to create a bike powered entry in the Luton International Carnival. They ran after school clubs and sessions in school, introducing some new textile techniques and creative uses for recycled materials. This was the first time many of the young people had participated in their local Carnival and the school took away the prize for 'Best New comer'. 

Paul Smith also led a 'Recycled Green House' building project at a neighbouring Special Needs School, which groups of students from Ashcroft helped with. Zena Ellis, a local Luton artist, also worked with the Humanities faculty and with other students designing and painting the interior and exterior of the bus.


 
And Journalist, Sally Ann Keiser created short films with year 7 about litter and also worked with year 12. The films were premiered in the cycle powered cinema on the Green Bus.



After months of work; designing, prototyping, gutting, stripping, refurbishing and editing, the wind turbine was fitted, the blackout blinds went up and the artificial grass was laid for the unveiling of the bus.  





 
As the head teacher cut the ribbon and stepped back there was a stampede!  But opening the bus for business is only the beginning of the 'Green Journey' for the staff and students. 

I chatted to staff, governors, students and practitioners at the opening, about the project, I wanted to find out how the project was going to continue, who would take ownership? 


The Young people were keen to use the bus as a lunch time lounge area, whilst the staff could see the potential for it to have many other uses; staff meetings, class project space, fair Trade learning area, a lunch time science club and film viewing area. They talked about installing solar panels and bean bags...it will be interesting to revisit our Green Bus in a year's time. 

The main feed back I got from everyone was that the project had been successful because it had been a 'real world' project, helping students to make connections between the curriculum and possible career paths, through practical and creative activity, led by professional role models. 

What a shame that there wont be any more Creative Partnerships after this year -just when we need it most.

‘PLASTIC DEMOCRACY’ Residence with Britto Arts Trust in Bangladesh

                    ‘Mother of Corruption’

Jessica Rost

Installation

I had some difficulty adjusting to my comfortable life back here in the UK, after spending two months in Dhaka, Bangladesh, one of the most polluted and over populated capitals, in one of the poorest countries of the world.

It is probably quite normal to feel disorientated after such an intense period of work and certainly common to feel ‘culture shocked’ even returning from a short break. But this time the adjustments were harder to make and perhaps the changes to my outlook were permanent.

Bangladesh culture is the richest I have ever experienced in terms of creativity and ingenuity; folk art, textiles, music…the country is also rich in natural resources. It is however, one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

These contradictions woven into the daily life provided endless artistic fuel for my work. The beautiful textiles; wood block printed cottons as cheap as chips, hand woven silks and jute cloth next to the beggars sifting rubbish for anything recyclable, next to the heroin addicts sleeping on pavements. The colourfully painted trucks belching out thick smog into the barely breathable air and the Rickshaw pullers, with no shoes, who sleep on the streets, between pulling the beautiful people and their heavy loads everyday, all day, for very little money.

The frustration, even resignation, among young Bangladesh artists was obvious. The longer I stayed, the more I understood what they were up against, the more I admired their strength and witnessed their helplessness, verging on hopelessness.

In this country the political system holds everything in an impossible arm lock. Those with any power will stop at nothing, using bribes, blackmail, religious law and force, to gain more power. They are controlling health services, businesses, trade, and education.

This includes the Art Colleges, where, due to the continual national strikes by various political factions, the average time taken to complete an MA is eight years. Many students are forced to show affiliations to particular groups to gain access to their Halls of Residence and the lecturers are employed and selected not according to experience, qualifications or even enthusiasm but according to their political alliances. Most of these lecturers offer no guidance to students and are rarely seen in the colleges.

My residency was supported by Triangle Arts Trust and funded by Arts Council England. The residency was hosted and organised by Britto Arts Trust in Bangladesh.

Britto is a voluntarily organisation run by a small group of trustees, -practicing artists themselves. Despite the constant struggles, which include; keeping foreign funding safe from the corrupt banking system, facing the changing, often dangerous situations, working in a country where inflation is out of control and the electricity is cut off up to six times a day, where people have little or no contact with the international art world…despite all this, Britto survives. It provides a valuable support, a forum, for many young artists, who want to make contemporary work but would otherwise give up, with no dialogue and no audience within the art education system provided.

During the two months I was in Bangladesh I made many works which reflected the frustrations, the ‘no-win’ situations and the inequalities which I witnessed there, including a collaborative performance, ‘The Road to Plastic Democracy’, two short films and the installation ‘Mother of Corruption’. I worked closely with a Bangladesh artist, Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty, a member of Britto Trust, who was also taking part in a residency. There were many similarities in the themes we were both exploring and our work came together in an exhibition which we called ‘Plastic Democracy’, at The Goethe institute, Dhaka.

'The News at 10’

Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty

Puppet Show Performance

 

‘Blue Mosquito’

Jessica Rost

Still from Film

From the beginning of my stay I was interested to find out what the real Bangladesh was about. With so much recent history and problems still raging, I wanted to know where the people had come from, their story. I was at first disappointed to find that many of the ancient buildings are left to crumble and the folk traditions are given little value. I soon realised that the identity of Bangladesh is kept close to the people through personal experiences, stories, songs, puppet shows and music. It can’t be defined through architecture or objects in the museum.

The film, ‘Blue Mosquito’, is about the feelings I experienced under the surface of everyday life there; the struggle to be free, the search for the unattainable, the longing for the impossible. The film is a song, a beautiful love tragedy; the hopes, and aspirations which are constantly interrupted by the menacing mosquito eyes.

        

 ‘Mother of Corruption’

Jessica Rost

Installation

A net is both a partition and a divide. It protects some of us from danger and it prevents change and opportunity or it can bring people closer together, connecting them to each other.

In this case, the blood suckers, (paper mache mosquitoes painted with the colours and logos of the many Bangladesh political parties), are trapped inside the net, unable to have any control on either side. Trapped in net bags used to carry shopping; they are the political market place.

The over sized mosquito inside the net installation denotes that things may be out of control. The monster mosquito is free to come and go through a large hole; her scale is on a human scale inviting the viewer to enter the lair.

Although in this work I was using very specific imagery related to issues I witnessed during my stay in Bangladesh, I wanted the work to reach out on a broader human level. It is a work about all religious and political fundamentalism and the frustration and inequality which I see that causes.

  

Jessica Rost

April 2006

A new blend of Brewing Up

Once again Brewing Up is getting the kettle on and in a very organic way we have selected a team, or have they selected themselves?




 

Putting these people together is a bit like blending a tea. In this case there was never a specific blend in mind.

The last year has been spent finding out what shape vessel we can contain the brew in... Are we stage actors, street performers, carnival processors, clowns, sculptors, dancers, facilitators, artists or all of the above? Do we need a narrative, a stage, less or more performers etc..?

The end point, I hope, will be rich, multi-layered and surprising, the result of a well developed and complicated brew which leaves traces of all the select flavours of the core team over the three years and allows their distinct talents to combine... like a good thirst quenching cuppa!


Having discovered that the company has the potential to break its own mould, exploring a new blend of processional street theatre, this year, we are concentrating our work on the blend -that is, developing the performers and artists and 'the team'.

I have always had a trust in the organic process. This undefined way of creating space, allowing anything to happen, underflow the ethos of the company. And in my own studio practise too, the objects and materials which find their way into my work often do just that, they find their way. As an artist I’m not so much a conceiver, as a curator or editor of ‘things’ which the universe is bringing together anyway. The products of my practise are moving towards ‘coming into being’ and I’m helping that happen with my special brand of panache. 



So just before our first rehearsal some weeks ago, I met with Sian Thomas, co-director and appointed Dramaturg for Brewing Up. I was impressed with her need to get to the bottom of her role and to understand our journey so far. And I found it difficult to describe an organic process in which the shapes are ever changing.

Rehearsals began and new characters have emerged –some have stuck and more will follow. The characters have developed around the mixed bag of individuals who have now become part of the Brewing Up family... the project continues to morph and the pot is always hot.
If you saw us last year, prepare to be surprised; it promises to be a very different cup of tea!



Our next performance of the show will be at Carnival Network South East Gala, following Cowley Road carnival in Oxford, on 3^rd July from 1pm onwards. See you there then?

Brian MacFarlane -still the King of Carnival

My trip to Trinidad Carnival in 2005 was one of those life changing infusions. Experiencing 'The Greatest Show on Earth' turned out to be pivotal in deciding the direction in which my creative career took. When I left England I was a Fine Artist who earned my bread and butter facilitating community projects, including creating carnival costumes but what did I really know about carnival? My work in carnival arts had no context. I soon realised that carnival was not just about costume -it was a whole way of life; a virtually uncharted Mela of art forms, a culture of music, role play, tradition, poetry, craft, ritual, symbolism and dance. When I returned to England Masquerade was deep 'in me soul'. But my most striking memory in all of the madness, colour and covortion during that five day non-stop street party was a vision of a pure white band, 'The Washing', by Brian MacFarlane. It seemed to access a response in me which went deep beyond the surface of the seductive sequins, the glitering beads and the wining, quivering feathers... The players were serene, powerful and passionate all at once, clear and confident in their message. Seeing 'The Washing' made me see carnival as a real artform, one which I wanted to follow.

And now six years later, I have the chance to meet Brian MacFarlane and hear him talk about his work in Coventry, where he is to unveil 12 new designs for Imagineer Productions Cultural Olympic project 'Godiva Awakes'. I realise that at the time 'The Washing' was somewhat of a turning point for him too; a new beginning or perhaps a new era for Trinidadian carnival.

MacFarlane is the last link to the past, stoking the spirit of carnival and it's origin in real raw street theatre. But Brian MacFarlane is the only one of his kind, a purist in a tsunami of artless bikini Mas which has somehow been allowed to become the world face of Carribean carnival. While the other Mas bands are raking in the cash, his Mas band looses money year on year and is only subsidised by his international career. He has come close to giving up like other true carnival designers before him. He is the only true 'King of Carnival' left. Who else will save the integrety of the Islands art? 

I hear him say "Where is the message gone from the Mas? As artists we're not just there to make pretty things...we are there to nudge people..." His words lift my feelings of cynicism, my dissapointments and frustrations. The sequins and the bling don't matter for a moment. I feel cleansed by his words like 'The washing' and I believe in the power of street theatre, proud to be a 'carnivalist' once more.

But most interesting for me though, MacFarlane tells us there is no such thing as originallity. He describes how he wakes himself out of his deepest sleep in the middle of the night and forces himself to transcribe his visions onto paper. I think of all the missed ideas that have floated through my exhausted sleep, when I'm too tired to or too worried about annoying my husband, to get up, turn a light on and start scribbling! Besides I'd only be even more exhausted for work the next day than usual... But he says there's no such thing as original " It's all there, we just need to know how to reach it." 

Yes, I think, his work is full of archetypes, shared symbols and pure expressions of humanity. He is like the innocent child -timeless, unconsciously intune with an ever changing big picture and his voice is full of clear intent.