Photo by Rebecca Beinart
Where: Online, via Zoom
Booking: Limited spaces, click here to book.
For Primary / Kaleidoscope Members
“The archive is a living, moving thing”
This practical and dynamic workshop will explore what it means to work creatively from archives (and the gaps within), inspired by a recent community theatre project in Bristol and the publication of Haunting Ashton Court: A Creative Handbook for Collective History-Making. Led by participatory artist and writer Jack Young, the workshop invites participants to think differently about history beyond the historically whitewashed narratives of dominant society. It will ask which stories make the cut, who is given permission to tell them, and how we might re-shape them through collective artmaking.
The session will be an opportunity to find out more about Jack’s participatory practice, try out activities drawn from the ‘toolkit’ of the Haunting Ashton Court book, and reflect on how you might adapt some of these techniques to your own practice and context.
You can find out more about the Haunting Ashton Court book and project here.
“A genuinely exciting piece of art: irreverent, radical, experimental and collaborative. I loved it. All artefacts of stolen and hoarded wealth must be haunted!”
Artist Bio:
Jack Young is a writer and participatory artist living in Bristol. He writes experimental work with a focus on queer ecologies and land justice, and his hybrid chapbook URTH was published by Big White Shed in 2022. He co-hosts the literary podcast Tender Buttons in partnership with Storysmith bookshop. As an educator, he works with young people using arts-based critical pedagogy, with a particular emphasis on multilingual filmmaking, applied theatre and creative writing, to explore themes ranging from reanimating the gaps and silences in historical archives, to queer ecologies and speculative fiction. He has worked with schools, institutions and community spaces in Barcelona, London and Bristol including MACBA, Institut Broggi, the Royal Academy, Horniman Museum, Tate, Gasworks, Spike Island, UWE Bristol, Acta Theatre and Artspace Lifespace.
Access: This session will be held on Zoom. Otter.ai will be active for anyone wishing to use live transcript or closed captions functions. There will be a scheduled break. Please get in touch with colette@weareprimary.org any other access needs in advance.
Please read our Online Events Code of Conduct here.
This event will not be recorded.
Kaleidoscope Network: This event has been organised by Primary for the Kaleidoscope Network, a collaboration between Eastside Projects (Birmingham), Primary (Nottingham), Spike Island (Bristol), and The NewBridge Project (Newcastle). Primary residents and members are automatically part of the Kaleidoscope Network and can attend selected events programmed by each partner for free.
Eastside Projects makes art public. Based in Birmingham, they are an artist-run multiverse, commissioning, producing and presenting experimental art practices and demonstrating ways in which art may be useful as part of society. Extra Ordinary People is Eastside Projects’ Associate membership scheme. EOP works with artists, curators and art-writers to support the development of work, ideas, connections and careers through a programme of events, opportunities and projects.
Spike Island is a dynamic arts centre that supports, produces and presents contemporary art and culture. A short walk from Bristol city centre. Spike Island Associates is a dynamic network of artists, curators, designers, writers and thinkers at all stages of their career. Members span multiple disciplines and share a common interest in collaboration, experimentation and a desire to learn new skills and have new experiences.
The NewBridge Project is an artist-led space that supports artists, curators and communities through the provision of space for creative practice, curatorial opportunities and an ambitious artist-led programme of exhibitions, commissions, artist development and events.