Elemental

Following Frank Wilson’s keynote at the East Midlands event. The delegates were divided into two groups to talk about or devise a ‘Commissioning Toolkit’.

Below are the notes from the flipchart sheets:

Commissioning Toolkit – Group 1

Commissioning Toolkit – Group 2

What would your suggestions be? Please add them in the comments below.

For your own copy of this document, please click here, for more about the East Midlands click here.

At the Elemental event in the East Midlands, the session started as it did with some of our other events with a ‘Setting the scene’ exercise to find out the delegates understanding of the outdoor sector and specifically, Street and Circus.

Here are the responses to the 3 questions asked by the facilitator on the day:

What do we mean by circus and street arts, in the context of outdoor arts?

What are the contexts in which this work is produced and presented?

What are the structures needed to support the development of this work?

Are there any you’d like to add?

To download this please click here for the PDF and for more on the East Midlands click here.

For all those at Elemental East Midlands, here is Frank Wilson’s presentation on ‘Commissioning New Work’.

All notes from the event will be typed up and added, so please subscribe to the site by email for full updates.

To download straight to your desktop as a pdf - click here.

Do you commission new work? What are your recommendations for commissioners if you are an artist?

For more information about the themes and East Midlands region, please click here.

On Thursday 7th May, ‘elemental’ in the East Midlands took place at the ACE Offices in Nottingham, welcoming the regions officers, Local Authorities, organisations and artists alike.

Starting with an introduction from the regions champion Jayne Quantrill, she laid out the timeline for key developments within the sector up until New Landscapes was published in 2007.

Orit Azaz facilitated the setting of scene asking three questions:

What do we mean by circus and street arts, in the context of outdoor arts?

What are the contexts in which this work is produced and presented?

What structures are needed to support the development of this work?

Frank Wilson, Director of Stockton International Riverside Festival and Event International, was keynote speaker and picked up the regions key themes around commissioning of new work. He detailed his background and the development of Stockton, and Frank has been commissioning for 15 years. He also raised questions about public space:

‘Public arts invokes nightmarish associations of every traffic roundabout decorated with a sculpture, every small square embellished with its own fountain, every blind wall covered with a mural — a crowding of the public space with superfluous pieces of art of dubious value through the zealous engagement of urban planners, city bureaucrats and commission-hungry artists….
The main risk of public art projects is that they become possible only through a series of compromises among the stakeholders and yet, art that is meant to please everyone usually turns into most bland sort of kitsch.’ Dragan Klaic, From Circostrada’s publication ‘Arts in the Urban Space: Contemporary Creation as a Tool’

Frank’s presented in a conversational style encouraging questions and discussion from the delegates. Talking about his commissioning experience and identifying national and international models, but highlighting a common theme from all the events so far that the work in the sector requires: collaboration, communication and a network of advocates outside of the sector. Lyn Gardner’s keynote speech had resonance in the message of Frank’s presentation, quoting her in two sections:

“The Sultan’s Elephants reclaimed the streets as a place where people can play and dream.”

Frank was followed by a session to discuss best practice for commissioners and to possibly contribute to a commissioner’s toolkit to which key themes emerged:

The notes, ideas and possibilities are endless in this emerging region.

Full notes and presentation will be available soon.

Were you at the event? Even if you weren’t please share your thoughts…

There are only a couple of days left to RSVP to the East Midlands ‘elemental’ event on Thursday 7th May 2009 with our keynote speaker, Frank Wilson!

We would love for you to come along, BOOK NOW to avoid disappointment!

By Jayne Quantrill, Arts Council England (East Midlands): Assistant Officer, Theatre and Music and Regional Champion.

While the East Midlands has not traditionally been seen as a focal point for outdoor performance, over the last few years there have been a few events and initiatives that have aimed to change that perspective,

Local Authorities are essential partners in the development of street arts, in many cases driving much of the activity within this sector and that is true here in the East Midlands

While other East Midlands events have demonstrated a commitment to programming outdoor performance:

Arts Council East Midlands commitment to outdoor performance has helped regional artists to develop new work and supported regional festivals to attract people to outdoor arts events and brought the wonder of outdoor arts to the wider public

There is still a fair way to go before the East Midlands can boast the infrastructure of other regions, but there are some jewels in the crown both established and emerging - some of those Regional Artists, Companies and Festivals involved in outdoor work are as follows: (Full details are available here)

And further exciting developments are still to come…Watch this space for the new “SO” festival. East Lindsey District Council and Arts Council England are at the planning stage of developing a major regular festival for Skegness on the East Coast of Lincolnshire which aims to include outdoor performances – street Theatre & large scale processions, as one of 3 planned strands of activity for the event. So2009 will be staged as a single days worth of activity on July 25th acting as a taster for the full festival event starting in 2010 (So2010) and occurring as a biennale thereafter.

An extended version of this overview is available in pdf format here.

Elemental in the East Midlands are pleased to be welcoming Frank Wilson as keynote speaker.

Frank Wilson has over 20 years experience as a creator, curator and producer of large scale public events.

As the founder/director of the Stockton International Riverside Festival (established in 1988), Frank has developed a superb network of contacts with performers and creative producers specialising in outdoor and site specific work. Beginning in 1992 when he worked as a programmer on the government sponsored European Arts Festival, he has also undertaken a number of high profile commissions and projects as curator and creative producer. Since the end of 1999 these have been delivered through his company Event International.

Clipper Theatre courtesy of Frank Wilson

In 2005 Frank was the creative force behind “Cresting the Waves” the Eve of Parade of Sail event for the Newcastle Gateshead visit of the Tall Ships Race. This single event attracted an audience estimated at between 150,000 – 250,000 people. In 2006 Frank organised the Mapping the Streets international Street Arts Conference which attracted delegates from five countries.

Theater Titanick - image supplied by Frank Wilson

For the past five years Frank has been the international programmer for the Chaoyang International Spring Carnival in Beijing, and was appointed Padrino (special advisor) for performances in public spaces at EXPO 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain.

Gob Squad, image supplied by Frank Wilson

Frank is currently chair of the U.K Independent Street Arts Network, and a founder member of the Without Walls and Meridians outdoor performance consortia.

We are pleased to announce elemental in the East Midlands! (To see the invite in your browser please click the invite below)

More information about Frank Wilson will follow but he will with no doubt be an exciting and inspiring speaker for the East Midlands theme. To come along please book your place now!

Please let us know your thoughts on the East Midlands region by commenting below…