Yearly Archives: 2012

Creu Cymru partner with Julie’s Bicycle to help fourty two Welsh arts venues go green

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Whether a former miners’ institute, an Edwardian theatre or modern iconic buildings such as the Wales Millennium Centre or Galeri Caernarfon, arts venues occupy an important place in the communities of Wales. Today sees the start of a major, ground-breaking initiative to support forty two arts venues in Wales to become greener and leaner.

The venues are all members of Creu Cymru – the development agency for theatres and arts venues in Wales. They will be asked about the way they manage their use of energy and water, their waste disposal and other environmental issues. Those who choose to will take part in a more detailed investigation with on-going support.

Based on the results of the investigation venues will be given the tools and advice needed to strengthen their environmental, social and economic sustainability. By becoming more energy and resource efficient, managers of the venues will be able to save money. They will be helped to develop new strategies and communicate these to staff, contractors, suppliers and audiences. Overall, this initiative will make them fit for the future and better able to respond to the challenges of a changing world.

The initiative will address three areas;

  • energy and waste (consumption and treatment)
  • the supply chain (theatre production and touring)
  • communicating to audiences the issues and potential solutions (imagining the future)

The initiative is part of Emergence – an on-going programme of work led by Cynnal Cymru-Sustain Wales and Volcano Theatre Company that aims to make sustainable development a core organising principle of the arts in Wales. This Creu Cymru Emergence initiative has been made possible by the Welsh Government’s Support For Sustainable Living grant scheme through a partnership comprising Creu Cymru, Cynnal Cymru-Sustain Wales, the ESRC BRASS Research Centre (Cardiff University) and London-based arts and environmental sustainability experts Julie’s Bicycle.

BRASS and Julie’s Bicycle will provide the technical expertise. Both organisations have a track record of success in investigating and offering solutions for the environmental and social sustainability of the arts. Cynnal Cymru-Sustain Wales will use the information and learning that comes from the work to inform consultation on the development of the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Development Bill.

The Creu Cymru membership consists of Wales’ most cherished theatres and arts venues that have for generations acted as hubs of social and cultural activity. With this initiative, they will be able to continue to do this in the context of a changing world and make an important contribution to the development of a sustainable Wales.

Launch of The Theatres Trust People’s Choice Award 2012

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The Theatres Trust is pleased to announced at the ABTT Theatre Show 2012 that entries are open for The Theatres Trust’s third annual People’s Choice Award.

Entertainment industry manufacturers and suppliers are invited to enter one of their products for the People’s Choice Award. Products need to be making a difference to theatres sustainability, either through design, manufacture or operation.

Selection takes place at PLASA 2012 running from 09 – 12 September at Earls Court, London, where shortlisted products are displayed on The Theatres Trust’s stand and visitors to the show cast their vote for the People’s Choice Award.

Visitors to stands at both the ABTT Theatre Show 2012 and PLASA 2012 can also find information on the Trust’s European Regional Development Fund-backed ‘Ecovenue’sustainability project, which has been improving the sustainability of 48 London performing arts venues.

At PLASA 2012, after three days of visitor voting, the award will be presented to the winner on The Theatres Trust’s stand at a reception at 1700 on Tuesday 11 September. The presentation of the Award will mark the culmination of PLASA’s sustainability series of related Education Programme events that day.

In 2011 those shortlisted included Core Lighting, ETC, Martin Professional, Philips, ROBE and Robert Juliat. Last year PLASA visitors voted Global Design Solutions’ArcSystem the overall winner.  Matt Lloyd, of Global Design Solutions, which also took the 2010 prize, said “The People’s Choice Award is so important as it’s voted for by people in the industry – the people who actually use the equipment. It’s great for public relations, and a morale booster for the company.”

PLASA Chief Executive Officer & Director of Events, Matthew Griffiths, said “The Theatres Trust People’s Choice Award provides a chance for people in the industry to support the commitment shown by manufacturers to issues of sustainability in theatre and live entertainment. An award that is voted for by the theatre community carries real value to the companies dedicated to making a sustainable difference.”

Tim Atkinson, leading on delivery of the Ecovenue project, said “It was a closely fought competition last year. The enthusiasm of the visitors that voted demonstrated that improved product sustainability is high in the mind of users, buyers and manufacturers. I look forward to a competition just as close this year, with entries from a range of companies spanning the entertainment industry.”

Manufacturers or suppliers who wish to enter may pick up an entry form from The Theatres Trust stand at the ABTT Theatre Show 2012, or visit www.theatrestrust.org.uk

Diego Stocco – Music from Nature

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To celebrate Earth Day 2012 Burt’s Bees asked Diego Stocco to create a video performance in the style of my Music from a Tree.

To expand the concept he also included as “instruments” some of the ingredients used in their products, like honey, almonds, rice, and coconuts; also bees had a musical role in this piece.

He performed the whole composition by playing these natural elements, no synthesizers, samplers or additional sounds have been used.

Here’s a gallery on Behance with more info and pics: behance.net/gallery/Music-from-Nature-Burts-Bees-Earth-Day-2012/3698325

Synergy = Music + Sustainability

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Arts Earth Partnership (AEP) and NextAid are two long-standing Los Angeles-based nonprofit organizations that promote sustainability projects within the arts and cultural sectors.  AEP certifies cultural institutions throughout Los Angeles to make them more sustainable and reduce their environmental impact.  NextAid harnesses the power of dance music to support young entrepreneurs in urban centers in Africa, with a specific focus in Nairobi.  Both organizations offer tangible results to today’s most pressing environmental and societal problems.

In a spirit of collaboration, AEP and NextAid are coming together for first time to raise funds for their vital work!

Music by:

AND MORE

Saturday, August 4th

4pm -11pm

At a gorgeous private home in the Los Feliz.

GET TICKETS BY CLICKING HERE

Host Committee:

Gabriel Avenna, Brooke Bendewish, Mimi Campbell, Stuart Cooley, Lindsay Hawes, Janine Jordan, Joe Hernandez-Kolski, Lisa Lee, Jeffrey Levin, Heather Lounsbury, Mia Mayweather, Naomi Okuyama, Bonnie Powers, Jonathan Rudnick, Susan Von Seggern, Joel Shapiro, Dominique Smith, Lynn Tejada, Wamuhu Waweru, Carl Welty

———————-

Arts:Earth Partnership (AEP) has been in existence since 2008 and has created a user-friendly green certification program specifically for the arts sector and cultural institutions.  Endorsed by the cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica, both have adopted AEP’s standards into their “official” Green Business Certification Process. Funds raised at the event will help AEP certify more facilitates in the greater Los Angeles area and lower the negative environmental impact of the cultural sector.  The money will also be used to implement the Los Angles Arts Environmental Impact Report (LAAEIR), a project that gathers data about the environmental impacts of arts organizations in the greater Los Angeles area. www.artsearthpartnership.org

NextAid is an 8 year old Los Angeles based nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of music, specifically electronic dance music, to support sustainable development projects that serve children, youth and women in Kenya and Sierra Leone. Currently, funds raised are going toward the completion of the Kawangware Vision Centre (KVC) in Nairobi, Kenya. KVC is a youth-driven, locally created and managed organization that runs an ecological business making silkscreened gift bags out of recycled paper for the tourism industry. NextAid partnered with KVC to build a new “green” workshop and multipurpose facility to expand their operation and ultimately serve more youth. Other NextAid partner projects include the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy which provides free high school to girls in Kibera, Nairobi and a Birthing Shelter in Sierra Leone, stated to be built this year partnership with the First Ladies Initiative and the First Lady of Sierra Leone. www.nextaid.org 

Liberate Tate action

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This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

A group of artists and activists donate a symbol of alternative energy to the BP sponsored Tate Modern

The Turbine Hall – image from Liberate Tate blog – image by Ian Buswell

Watch the Vice News video.

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

Sonidos de la Tierra – Community and social development through music

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This post comes to you from Cultura21

http://youtu.be/cmp5E9gEYvU

Sonidos de la Tierra (Sounds from the Earth) is a project for children and young, created by Luis Szarán,through the formation of music schools, musical groupings and cultural associations, it facilitates the shortcut to the musical education to more than 3.000 participants of scarce resources, in communities of the Paraguayan countryside.

Sonidos de la Tierra, is based on the concept of “education through arts” and began in 2002 in 18 towns, with support from the AVINA Foundation. Today, with alliances with more than 100 other local, national and international institutions, both public and private, the program reaches over 72 communities throughout Paraguay.

In Cateura, one of the many communities where Sonidos de la Tierra has music schools, started a project whose aim is to build musical instruments out of garbage, this city is one of the poorest in Paraguay, and a great amount of garbage is sent daily there.  People who work in this project say that they aren´t “looking for good musicians, but for good citizens”. Last month, the Recycled Instruments Orchestra from Cateura performed at the Entreperneurship Forum in the New Economy during the Rio+20 summit.

To know more about the project, you can visit http://www.sonidosdelatierra.org.py/

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Bolivian Animated Film “Abuela Grillo” Highlights Water Issues

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This post comes to you from Cultura21

http://youtu.be/YMM7vM7aiNI

Abuela Grillo, an adorable – though equally tear-jerking – animated short-film, calls attention to Bolivia’s fraught history with water privatization.

The film is a collaboration between Bolivian animators and the Animation Workshop of Denmark. The Abuela Grillo character is based on a myth from the Bolivian lowlands, but the film tells the story of a historic moment in Bolivian water politics.

Water issues reached a boiling point in 2000 after water privatization legislation led to a significant spike in prices for Bolivian citizens. Demonstrations rocked Cochabamba in what is also known as the Cochabamba Water Wars. Though they began as peaceful protests, demonstrations quickly grew violent, leading to dozens of civilian and police injuries and casualties. Then President Hugo Banzer was forced to resign.

This animated film takes you on journey with Abuela Grillo (Grandmother Grasshopper), who walks through rural and urban landscapes with a raincloud constantly looming over her shoulder. She encounters various obstacles as the film weaves a sad – and deeply symbolic – tale of environmental exploitation and government corruption.

Reposted from the Center for Latin American and Caribean Studies at NYU blog.

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

/adaptations/ 2012 Call for Entries

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This exhibition is open to proposals from all fields of design including industrial design, fashion design, interior design, graphic design, architecture, fabrication, engineering, and information technology. We are looking for innovative approaches which reflect the future of design through sustainable, emergent and regenerative systems, particularly those which are informed by biological and natural processes.

Adaptation refers to the ability of an organism to survive in a particular setting or milieu, through alterations of structure, physical form and/or behavior, operating through a process of natural selection. Similarly, design ingenuity, the creation and articulation of new technologies, is a human expression of adaptation.

Patterns of global consumption, resource depletion, and pollution have rendered many of our current modes of design and production insufficient or harmful to our existence. Innovative solutions to these issues are essential and as they emerge, they collectively influence and integrate the fields of design, fabrication, and information technology to bring us back into balance with our planet.

/adaptations/ is an exhibition to showcase leading developments in sustainable, emergent, and regenerative systems, particularly those which are informed by biological and natural processes. The exhibition is curated by Ginni Stiles, as part of DesignPhiladelphia 2012.

/adaptations/ will be installed in indoor and outdoor galleries at  Provenance Architecturals, located in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia.

October 10 – 20, 2012
Provenance Architecturals
912 Canal Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123

Deadline: August 1, 2012

Proposal Submission:

Please email a .pdf file (max 5MB) which includes:

  • a description/narrative of the work including any specific display requirements (max. 200 words)
  • 3 to 5 images
  • bio(s) or company information (max. 200 words)
  • Supporting links for reference may be included in the body of the email but may not substitute for the information requested in the Proposal document.

Email for Submissions: entry@adaptations2012.org

For more information and inquiries please contact ginni.stiles@adaptations2012.org

DesignPhiladelphia, in partnership with University of the Arts, now in its eighth year, is a nationally recognized, city-wide design festival that celebrates Philadelphia as a center for creative advancement, drawing from broad range of design disciplines.

Ginni Stiles is an interior designer and craft artisan who specializes in the reuse of salvage materials. She is currently designing the renovation of several Philadelphia row houses and organizing the non-profit initiative Arcadia Commons. Previously, she worked at Greensaw Design & Build, where she was the lead designer and one of the fabricators for the “Reclaimed Kitchen” episode of House Crashers, and at Onion Flats, where she assisted with the construction administration of green roof, storm water management, and solar pv projects.

Bug Cinema USA – An ecological forest art project

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This post comes to you from Cultura21

Bug Cinema’s work-in-progress is located in the Siuslaw Model Forest, from 25 June to 9 July

Bug Cinema is a new ecological forest art commission for the Whale Oil to Whole Foods summer eco-arts festival in Greene County (Hudson Valley), on the edge of the Catskill Mountains, upper New York State. The eco-arts festival consists of a large group exhibition, site specific artworks, and accompanying public events in June/July 2012. Manifest through a collaboration between Greene County Arts and the Cornell Agroforestry Centre, it is curated by eco-artist Christy Rupp and GCCA Catskill Gallery Director, Fawn Potash.

Bug Cinema is revealed to the forest as a portable ‘glow-lab’ ultraviolet solar light sculpture: a trans-disciplinary hybrid of art/entomology and functions as an integrated, collaborative inter-species ‘social-sculpture’ and biodiversity research project. Essentially, this sculpture embodies a distinctive minimalist aesthetic, playfully combined with a desire to facilitate the observation of moth species living in the forest. Bug Cinema transforms areas of the forest into a film/theatre-like staging of light and shadow, subsequently becoming a social space for moths, humans and other wildlife, through which the ‘performance of life’ is played out.

If you want to know more about the project, please visit http://bugcinemausa.wordpress.com

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21