Yearly Archives: 2014

Reflections on Air falbh leis na h-eòin / Away with the Birds

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Although only part of Tuulikki’s work, the Canna performance of Away with the Birds focused on the vocal composition, Guth an Eòin/Voice of the Bird. The artist states that the work “explores the delicate equilibrium of Hebridean life, the co-existence of tradition and innovation, and suggests the ever-present inter-relationship between bird, human, and ecology.” This is constantly present in the piece; the very combination of the natural Hebridean soundscape with Tuulikki’s pre-recorded sounds, and the vocal harmonies of the performing singers served to demonstrate the interactions and commonalities of living things in such an environment. So concentrated was the attention to the performance, and so uniquely quiet the setting, that even the hum of an anticipatory audience seemed to contribute to the piece – each viewer forced to recognise their audible impact on the environment.

After gathering at the historical Canna House – a home to the performers, and a source of contributory material and support for the work – the audience members were led through the garden to the shore line, where one has a view of the entire Canna Harbour (luckily calm for the duration of the performance). We were met with the sight of all of the performers, dressed in dark dresses with red inserts, and red tights, calve-deep in the harbour water – an act that is not only visually quite stunning due to the reflections of the water, but also an unfamiliar site on a Scottish coast, eliciting much temperate empathy from the audience. The ten performers – including Tuulikki herself – proceeded to intermingle a range of sounds and voices, almost in a call and response format that weaves fragments of traditional Gaelic songs and poems reminiscent of birdsong. However, the sounds were less fragmented as this format would typically suggest. Instead, the outcome was almost a layering of sound – a composition of a co-operating landscape of interdependence, and greater than the sum of its parts.

The piece itself was centred around five movements, each which represents a different bird community (wader, sea-bird, wildfowl, corvid, and cuckoo) and entitled: “by the shoreline”, “on the cliffs”, “ebb tide (lament)”, “flock and skein” and “night – flight to the burrow” respectively. The titles and pictorial scores too evoke the atmospheric nature of the piece.

It was an immensely soothing experience, particularly with the constant ebb and flow of the immediate sea water, as the harbour tide came in for the evening. The physical movement of the vocalists around the performance space, and sometimes behind the audience, completed the immersive nature of the piece, ultimately even widening it to our whole surrounds – to the entire environment of Canna itself.

The location of the Away with the Birds performance was central to its production. Although a location not easily reached – the island is at least seven hours travel from Edinburgh – Canna inspires much of material of the piece, and it’s creative community has enabled the performance to be enriched by the heritage the island offers. The sheer influx of people must have put quite a strain on the island’s infrastructure, yet the event’s relationship to Canna is also somewhat reciprocal. Around 200 people witnessed the performance on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th August, a number ten times greater than the regular population of the place. Such an increase in appreciative visitor numbers not only boosts the immediate local economy (including an honesty-system community shop and cafe), but also the tourist connection with nature and the arts on the island, which perhaps might open other avenues of sustainable connections for the inhabitants.

Waking up the next morning, having camped overnight on Canna at a special Away with the Birds campsite, one was almost immediately thrown back into the performance. The calls of the various sea birds surrounding the site presumably must have been present the day before, but had gone unheard. Perhaps Tuulikki’s piece forces us to be awoken more fully to nature.


Away with the Birds took place on the 29th and 30th of August. It was produced by Suzy Glass, the Canna Community Development Trust, National Trust for Scotland and Cape Farewell, and was part of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Cultural programme.

The post Reflections on Air falbh leis na h-eòin / Away with the Birds appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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HighWaterLine Bristol

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Produced by Invisible Dust and Creative Catalysts, HighWaterLine was a project originally conceived by artist Eve Mosher in New York City. The original HighWaterLine was drawn at the 10-foot above sea level line in New York City in 2007. Much of the area covered by this line flooded during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Bristol is increasingly affected by flooding during England’s wettest months. This project aims to instigate conversation about flooding and climate change across Bristol’s many neighbourhoods. HighWaterLine Bristol includes opportunities for locals to help draw the line with a sports chalkier, as well as discussion events.

HighWaterLine is presented by Invisible Dust in association with Creative Catalysts, and funded by Arts Council England and LUSH. For more information please visit the Invisible Dust HighWaterLine project page.


 

Image: ©Invisible Dust, Drawing the chalk line, HighWaterLine Miami, 2013 

The post HighWaterLine Bristol appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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Content of Nothing :: Part 7 :: Making and Writing

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

Judy Spark: We have talked about ‘hope’ and about ‘wonder’ but looking around at those mechanisms that will seek to commodify almost every realm of human endeavour the second it appears, it’s easy to feel a bit dispirited sometimes, despite the legions of creative practitioners who are standing up to this – or that play along with it in order to! Is for instance, the creeping ‘academisation’ of creative practice something that we should worry about in this respect? This development is surely bound up with the commodification of ‘knowledge’ and in a way that is closely aligned with what Tim Kasser (mentioned in the last post) would call ‘extrinsic’ values? In any case, for me, writing happens differently to making – though listening is still a major component – but I’ll need to think about what makes them different.

Samantha Clark: For me, it’s important to keep a lightness to creative work, not to let it become too sure of its own rightness, or too didactic. It needs to be a little uncertain, always in a questioning stance. But, like you, I’m also drawn to the academic, philosophical work. For me, the two are in direct conversation, I don’t draw a line, though as I’ve said, I like that I can load the academic work with all the baggage so the art can have more lightness. But it’s not done in the hope that I might make better art as a result of all that booklearning, but because I like to stretch my mind that way. But I recognise it’s not that way for everyone. As for writing v. visual, creative work in either medium feels like a similar process…you hold an idea, thought, sensation, moment in your mind, turn it over and over, and it’s quite fuzzy and indistinct at first, but then something begins to crystallise out. Maybe it’s a word. Maybe it’s a sound. Maybe it’s an image. Maybe it’s an image that conjures up certain words. Maybe it’s a word that conjures a particular image. But whatever it is it seems somehow to resonate. And so you set it down. Then another word, image, sound seems to sit alongside it in a way that is more than the sum of the two, and so you just keep going. It always feels like stepping out blindly, one foot after another, into a white fog hoping the ground will be there when you step onto it.

Samantha Clark working on ‘Wake,’ 2013, photo: Michael Wolchover

Samantha Clark working on ‘Wake,’ 2013, photo: Michael Wolchover

JS: Yes, that is a highly accurate description of the process! It seems that neither of us really make a line between the processes of writing and making. Something led both of us to the MAVE; perhaps a desire for rigour in the philosophical subject area that might not be found within the fine art MA (I very much liked the reference you made to the notion of the ‘personal trainer’ to get you through all those philosophical texts!) Perhaps this latter point, about rigour, could be a bit contentious given the current phenomenon of the interdisciplinary MA? I mean because maybe some of those fine art crossover MAs think that this is what they’re offering – and I hasten to add, maybe by now they do, but contentious also because of the number of artists that are beginning to take on this ‘training’ – Isn’t making art enough!? Stupidly, it becomes about what’s ‘fashionable’…if enough people do it, institutions think everyone should, and so begin to structure their courses accordingly; and so we end up with, for instance, the debacle over the PhD potentially becoming the ‘terminal’ degree in fine art instead of the MA – James Elkins and Brad Buckley have both written well about this.

For me, a lot about the way I work has to do with recognising the multitude of other ways that artists work; it’s to do with the generosity / gift / love element of contributing to a dialogue. In short, I don’t work the way I do because I think it’s the ‘right’ or ‘only’ way to work – and I’m sure you don’t either – it is about ‘following your nose, as a way of making that sort of contribution.

SC: Yes, I see what you mean. For bookish types like us it’s fine, but there are some very fine artists around for whom this is such an imposition, this expectation that you should be an artist AND an academic, that making art is no longer enough, you have to also be able to theorise it extensively, and write about it academically. I suppose it’s an inevitable outcome of the process of Art Schools becoming part of Universities. It’s worth pointing out that art education in Germany has not gone down this path. So there are alternative routes. And artists don’t HAVE to be in the academy to practice, unlike a philosopher, for example. Artists can and do exist completely outwith the academic world, but are just subject to a whole other set of pressures – commercial ones – which they navigate with varying degrees of success and equanimity. Unless you are financially independent (with your own gallery and PR to boot), you’re going to have to navigate either, or more likely both, of these worlds. And it’s going to be a continual adjustment. Well, that’s my thinking anyway. Maybe I’m fudging it, but wherever there is money there is an agenda. As education becomes increasingly monetised this will change, but still, for all its many faults, the world of Higher Education inspires me more than the commercial art world, and fits more closely with my values. Not a perfect fit, but good enough for me to make some creative headway.

JS: Yes, I feel that inhabiting that world works for me too. It seems the best place to be, to return to hopefulness for a moment, of formalising my hopes of contributing fully to, and of getting something back from, on-going philosophic discourse of environment (and for you too perhaps, through the field of creative writing). Of course it is possible to contribute in this way as an artist, and though it is at least beginning to be widely accepted that artists have much to offer within such discourse, I feel that they are also generally expected to bring an artist’s perspective to the mix, whatever that means! In my experience, I still think that it is difficult to shake off the perception of the artist as being some free spirit that can drift in bringing their artist’s perspective, like some elixir, to every problem. I wonder if there is still the tendency to regard this perspective as a form of idealism, a sort of blue sky thinking outside of real world solutions to problems?

Perhaps it’s not important but I noticed very recently, when under pressure to refine REF statements in fact, that it was, for me, very important that the written output stood as something undertaken by a person who is writing as opposed to the notion that the writing might take on some form/character as a result of having been written by an artist. Indeed it’s perhaps the case that being ‘An Artist’ actually hinders dialogue over some things, but you go to a conference, first just as another ‘someone’ who has written something and then it comes out in conversation that you are also an artist, that seems to work better!?
References:

Buckley, B. And Conomos, J. (2009) Rethinking the Contemporary Art School: The Artist, the PhD, and the Academy, Halifax, Canada: The Press of The Nova Scotia College

Elkins, J. (2009) Artists with PhDs: On the new Doctoral Degree in Studio Art, Washington, DC: New Academia Publishing

ecoartscotland is a resource focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. It includes ecoartscotland papers, a mix of discussions of works by artists and critical theoretical texts, and serves as a curatorial platform.

It has been established by Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators and others focused on art and ecology.

Go to EcoArtScotland

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Julie’s Bicycle Presents Creative Sustainability Sept 24

JB logoJoin Julie’s Bicycle and guest speakers for a day of practical workshops and playful exploration.

10.00 – 18.00 including lunch and a networking reception

Cost: FREE

What does a sustainable future look like for the creative community? How will our practice flourish? How can we contribute to the emerging green economy? Combining expert talks with practical workshops, this event will give you the opportunity to reimagine the East of England as a low carbon hub, with creativity and culture at the centre of this transition.

We’ll look at how creative companies, venues and event producers are benefitting from sustainability and saving money by re-valuing materials to reduce waste; driving demand for new green products and services; working with renewable energy; and adopting radical new business models.

Guest speakers include:

  • Colette Bailey, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Metalan organisation that transforms the potential of people and places through great art and inspiring ideas.
  • Ali Pretty, Founder and Artistic Director of Kinetika, an arts organisation delivering community engagement, training and visionary creative projects.
  • Jo McLoughlin, Director of naturespacecreative and freelance artist, designer and producer on various events, festivals and community projects.
  • Lynn McFarlane, Founder of DRESD, a company that gives a new life to TV and film sets and event props through creative up-cycling and re-cycling.

You’ll have the opportunity to share your experience, network with other local creatives, and come away with practical actions and big ideas to develop your business sustainability. The day will be relevant to both individual artists and freelancers, and established companies, whether you’re new to sustainability or already engaged in the conversation.

10.00 – Arrivals and registration

10.15 – Morning talks and discussion

12.30 – Lunch

13.30 – Afternoon workshops

17.00 – Networking reception

18.00 – Ends

Register to receive news on speakers and the full agenda.

Participants will also be eligible for free one to one support with Julie’s Bicycle after the workshop.

The workshop will be facilitated by Julie’s Bicycle.

Julie’s Bicycle is an environmental charity working with over 1,000 creative businesses, both UK-based and international, to go green using the latest tools and resources to support action and sustainable business growth.

Please note: this workshop is only available to businesses registered in the East of England, including Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Places are limited so early booking is recommended.

For more information about Culture Change see www.juliesbicycle.com/culture-change

Julie's Bicycle Logo    Royal Opera House Logo Metal Culture Logo

Project Part-Financed by the European Union European Regional Development Fund        Low Carbon Economic Growth in the East of England

New Resource- Creating and Updating a Travel Policy

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

As part of our commitment to set sustainable examples through our actions, we have recently reviewed and updated our policy regarding business travel. The policy is adaptable to other organisations of a similar nature and location, and contains valuable research about “best practices” for travel within and outwith the UK.

The travel policy can be viewed in its entirety here.

Some tips when designing your own travel policy:

  • Think about the various aspects of your organisation – and remember to include travel to work
  • Consider your public transportation options, especially if you’re based in an urban location
  • Explore whether your current level of travel is neccessary, and if there are more suitable alternatives: would a phone call achieve the same result?
  • Design your policy so that all employees can access and understand it relative to their own activities

For more information about green travel, be sure to check out the following case studies and articles-

Case Study: Staff Travel- Halcrow’s Parking and Public Transport Scheme

Case Study: Travel Policy – Scottish and Southern Energy

Case Study: Carbon Innovations- Eco Drama

#GreenFests: Behind the Wheel

 

The post New Resource- Creating and Updating a Travel Policy appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

Julie’s Bicycle Data Lab Showcase September 23

JB logoJulie’s Bicycle and Watershed invite you to an evening of playful enquiry about data and environmental sustainability in the creative industries.

As the world gets more connected, we are surrounded by data devices, networks and infrastructure. We collect data on everything from energy consumption to weather predictions but this data rarely feels accessible or tangible.

If we could understand and interpret this data would we act differently? Join the Lab participants for a conversation and showcase of prototypes and new ideas for sustainable futures.

The Sustaining Creativity Data Lab brings together artists, technologists, data analysts and designers to look at how environmental data might be visualised and made tangible in creative ways. Together we will look at how to increase engagement and data literacy, and inspire long-term behaviour change through the creative industries.

Arts Council EnglandTSBWatershed

Do you have questions about Sustaining Creativity: Data Lab Showcase? Contact Julie’s Bicycle

Edinburgh Green Tease Reflections: Discussions with Eco Drama

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Eco Drama is a Scottish theatre company that aims to “embed sustainability and ecology at the heart of the experience,” touring their productions predominantly to school and community groups. Reid explained that in founding the company she was “keen to develop an arts practice that did things a little differently,” which has come to fruition in the company’s use of a touring van run on reclaimed biodiesels and its limited print publicity. A key characteristic of the Eco Drama productions is their immediate call to action, often enabled directly by the group. For example, The Worm: An Underground Adventure brings both the production and an introductory vermiculture workshop to schoolchildren, teaching them about the ecosystem services provided by worms in-situ. Another production, The Forgotten Orchard, has seen the planting of 34 school orchards reminiscent of Scotland’s historic apple production.

The Magic Van is another feature of Eco Drama that is quite unique; using repurposed oil from Indian and Chinese takeaways, the production company’s mode of set transportation emits 85% less carbon emissions than a traditional van would. More information about Eco Drama’s Magic Van can be found in our article #GreenFests: Behind the Wheel. Reid mentioned the group brings along vials of the biofuel in all stages of the reclamation process to help kids understand the idea.

Our Green Tease discussion covered ideas of sustainability evident in the gathering’s immediate surroundings; held at Fringe Central, our Edinburgh Green Tease occurred alongside the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Reuse and Recycle Days. This year’s Reuse and Recycle Days were a roaring success, with an extensive swap-shop of set materials, costumes and props. It was mentioned during our discussion that the concept of set and costume reuse is an underutilised asset for many production companies. An emphasis on more reuse would shift the linear structure of making, using and disposing towards a more circular approach of cradle to grave reuse, repurposing or recycling. Companies like Stage Bitz and Set Exchange are doing this via the internet, but more localised approaches seem to be lacking.

We also discussed the importance of bringing designers into the planning stages of a production earlier rather than later. Quoting the Design Council, Reid mentioned “80% of a product’s sustainability is locked in at the design stage” proving the importance of communicating sustainability aims clearly to all members of the production from its inception. In recent years, structural and funding changes have led to the use of more freelance designers rather than full-time in-house designers, which can often be a pitfall as the relationship between director and designer is not as well established.

A question discussed at the Green Tease gathering was- “What are the creative possibilities of setting rules?” The setting of rules certainly worked in favour for The HandleBards, winners of the 2014 Fringe Sustainable Practice Award. The production aimed to use only set items that were bicycle parts or something that could be used whilst camping, as cycling and camping is the group’s mode of touring. Through adapting to this rule set for themselves, The HandleBards reached a higher level of creativity rather than succumbing to the pressure of having restrictions on their practice.

“We (Eco Drama) try to be green models otherwise it feels a bit false” Reid explained, a thought that resonates consistently through their creative operations and sustainable themes. Through the discussions we’ve had at our Edinburgh Green Tease gatherings thus far, this seems to be a common aspiration with myriad unique and innovative solutions.


Information about our next Edinburgh Green Tease will be published soon. Follow us on Twitter or ‘Like’ us on Facebook to hear about the event!

The post Edinburgh Green Tease Reflections: Discussions with Eco Drama appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

#GreenFests Highlights: “Are the arts in Scotland radical enough?”

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Speakers David Greig, theatre writer, and John Tusa, former Barbican Centre managing director, shared their thoughts with chair Dolina MacLennan and the audience participants.

Greig began by sharing memories of a time when radicalism was prominent in the Scottish art scene, reaching its peak in the 1980’s around the miner strike and the height of Thatcherism. During this time, artists brought work to underprivileged groups and included performances in prisons as part of their tours. Greig described the ideas of these young artists “flourishing in a moment of defeat.” Though the years to follow saw a quieter and less challenging time on the arts front, the energy of this moment proved the yearning for politics within the cultural sector. “What do we do about our belief if there’s no struggle to append ourselves to push forward?” Greig asked. Drawing these trends in recent history to current situations, Greig explained, “everything is on the table” yet again; the desire to address contemporary politics has seen a re-emergence of radicalism particularly in Scottish theatre.

John Tusa’s argument was centred on the poor effects of instrumentalism and forced-radicalism being part of the government’s agenda. Upon examining the current context, Tusa explained that there are admitted and unadmitted issues within our current politics, though politicians “certainly aren’t addressing” many of the underlying issues to recent and upcoming political events. Does this responsibility lie within the hands of the artists then? Tusa warned, “I don’t think you can force radicalism. If you set out to be radical, you certainly won’t be very good.”

Both speakers very obviously acknowledged the effects of the referendum on the art world, Greig saying that the referendum has caused an enormous upwelling of hope and ideas that have sent out sparks; to Greig, “its those sparks that are fascinating.” Within the artist’s job there lies an important ability to reflect, and the turmoil of this moment certainly gives a lot for artists to reflect upon. John Tusa warns however, that “we mustn’t lay an expectation on artists and poets to respond to the here and now…maybe we don’t know where the radicalism is going to come or when it’s going to emerge.”

A key difference between Tusa and Greig’s opinions is the role of government within the arts. The frequently evaluated and debated concept of arts funding is a pitfall in Tusa’s opinion; government-funded art runs the risk of being instrumentalised as a “creative branding exercise for a country.” For Greig, government support for the arts in Scotland is a fantastic and nuanced occurrence of the funding situation. It was discussed that in England, arts bureaucrats often protect the arts from the government; in Scotland, the opposite is true.

After hearing from Greig and Tusa, the audience was brought into the discussion. An audience participant asked, “if you do have a radical or cool art scene, how can you see that from outside?” Tusa admitted that often the creative energy might not be as reflected as it should be. Greig mentioned the BBC’s involvement in the issue; the way BBC programmes are funded has resulted in “Scottish cultural products being demoted for what can be sold to the network,” a symptom of a broader issues of what film is actually getting made in Scotland. Citing the filming subsidy in Northern Ireland that made Game of Thrones possible and locally-profitable, Greig thinks it is strange that Scotland has not funded a similar subsidy.

The discussion certainly reflected the mosaic of current social, economic and political trends in Scotland, leaving audience participants to evaluate their own role in fostering the future of Scottish arts, suggesting audience members can help advocate for more progressive creative outputs.


Dialogue 14: Culture was one-off event held on 24 August 2014 as part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. More information about the event can be found here.

 

The post #GreenFests Highlights: “Are the arts in Scotland radical enough?” appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

Open Call – Emergent Ecologies » Oceanic Performance Biennial

OPB_Full-Visual-Summary_2013_4.1-487x1024Oceanic Performance Biennial 2015 & PSi #21 Fluid States 

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS DUE DATE: OCTOBER 30, 2014

GET PDF VERSION OF CALL HERE: OPB_Call_2015_VOct30

SEE FLUID STATES bLOG HERE: http://www.fluidstates.org/page.php?loc=53&id=55

SUBMIT ABSTRACT VIA THIS LINK: http://www.jotform.co/OPB15/abstract

The Oceanic Performance Biennial is a platform established by the Emergent Ecologies Lab to engage multiple publics in critiques and re-imaginings of the cultural, social, political and environmental ecologies of this region: performance operates as a multi-modal tool that attracts, connects and communicates in playful or affective ways. The Biennial program incorporates free public performance events and workshops and a performance hui that brings together performance practitioners, activists and academics to address Oceanic ecologies.

As an expanded field of flows, Oceania includes those countries and cultures on the ‘edge’ with Pacific Islands at its liquid ‘centre.’ Hosted by different island nations, the Biennial aims to build local capacity and develop Pacific performance and environmental networks.

SEA-CHANGE: PERFORMING A FLUID CONTINENT

The 2015 Oceanic Performance Biennial focuses on the sea as a performative site and changing ecology and calls for work – performances, film, events, installations, performance focused workshops, panels, papers – that address Pacific oceanic ecologies. As the Oceanic region’s contribution to Performance Studies international’s world-wide conference Fluid States, the Biennial links to into a global body of performance work addressing themes of fluidity and change.

Fluid States

Fluid States is Performance Studies international’s year-long globally dispersed conference: PSi is a performance-focused interdisciplinary association that aims to promote exchange among artists, thinkers, activists and academics. Fluid States regional clusters will stage a series of events, actions, meetings and performances throughout 2015 that follow a ‘trajectory from global concerns to local issues’. The global is indexed through the image of the world ocean as a delimited, contested and stratified site that problematizes boundaries and continually redefines limits.

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Oceania is vast, Oceania is expanding. Oceania is hospitable and generous. Oceania is humanity rising from the depths of brine and regions of fire deeper still, Ocean is us. We are the sea, we are the Ocean, we must wake up to this ancient truth … … Epeli Hau’ofa

“… suffer a sea-change, into something rich and strange” William Shakespeare

As a liquid continent Oceania images itself through the ocean, te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa, a connective space of currents, vortices, drifts, suspensions, sediments, tides, foams, and flows that resists fixity, performing in-flux. Oceania, that collection of large-ocean nations, is particularly sensitive to the effects of anthropogenic and highly politicized climate change: as the sea warms, acidifies and plasticizes, sea levels rise and storm energies intensify so the ecologies and economies, the social, political and architectural structures, as well as the geographical limits of islands come increasingly under threat. Yet there is also, now, a sea-change: as communities affirm their place in the ecosystem of the planet and adopt ecologically sensitive practices, as materials begin to be designed or utilised as resource flows within closed loop systems, as low-carbon energy systems begin to power vehicles and buildings, and green infra-structures and urban agricultures start to contribute to a more ecological urbanism, so our contemporary cultures shift.

In this second Oceanic Performance Biennial, Sea-change: Performing in a Fluid Continent, we ask how Pacific-oriented performance studies and practices can disturb, provoke and extend thought and action in relation to the seascape and it’s attendant social and biotic communities.. Performance acts here as a lens through which to see-change, a public presencing through performativity. We call for performance practices – actions, performances, events, installations, exhibitions, films, workshops – that foreground the rich and strange, that focus or activate change in our thoughts, actions or relations. We explore the ocean as origin, immersive medium, life-support system, and mirror – Ocean is us.

CALL DETAILS

COORDINATED FLUID STATES SUBMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 30 2014

Notification of acceptance: November 14 2014

We call for ABSTRACTS for the performance programme and performance hui/symposium.

All submissions should be by the following linkhttp://www.jotform.co/OPB15/abstract

(Note you can load text, images [maximum of 2MB size] and provide links to urls etc)

PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME:

23 July – August 1 2015: Rarotonga

stage 2 detailed proposal due: January 20 2015

stage 2 peer-review and notification: January 25 2015

Abstract: Please submit a 300 word or so short abstract for performance, installation, &/or event proposals using the jotform link above.

Please outline the minimum technical requirements and funding plan.

PERFORMANCE HUI/SYMPOSIUM:

23-25 July 2015: Rarotonga

stage 2 full papers etc due: April 2015

stage 2 abstracts peer-review and notification: April 2015

Abstract:

Please submit a 300 word or so short abstract for full papers, kora [pecha-kucha style presentations], round tables/panels/workshops.

Full papers: these should be submitted subsequent to acceptance of a 300 word abstract and will also be peer-reviewed. Papers will have 20-minute presentation slots within the symposium event with discussion thereafter. More informal or performative methods of presentation are encouraged.

Kora [pecha-kucha style presentations]: 6 minutes or so of still or moving images.

Round tables / panels / workshops: Panels and round table discussions will have 90 or 120 minute time slots within the symposium event.

Virtual: online presentations or digital installations will be considered for inclusion in the event program.

Publication: after the event selected full papers and short papers on performances, panels or round tables will be invited to submit for inclusion in a Journal special issue. These will be subject to double-blind peer review.

QUERIES TO: kiaora@emergentecologies.net or Amanda.Yates@aut.ac.nz

www.emergentecologies.net/OPB