Offsite 9 - commissioned projects set to start in 2022
Offsite 9 is an ambitious program of work launching January 2022 to coincide with British Art Show 9 which is taking place in Wolverhampton.
Below we are sharing more details of some of the work that Creative Black Country is commissioning over the coming months that will explore the themes from British Art Show and showcase how the touring exhibition is inspiring and informing some of the commissioned works.
There will be more details of each project as they develop and unfold, alongside venue details and dates, but we hope that this taster will get you excited for an adventurous exploration of new works from both emerging and established artists from across the Black Country and wider West Midlands.
Themes
British Art Show 9 explores three overarching themes – healing, care and reparative history; tactics for togetherness; and imagining new futures. Each of the four exhibitions will also adapt to local contexts. In Wolverhampton the exhibition looks at how we live with and give voice to difference.
BAS9 takes place from 22 January - 10 April 2022
OFFSITE 9 Commissioned projects
A Euphoric Happening
Flexus Dance Collective in partnership with The League of International Misfits
Artistic Director: Katy Sterran
Driven out of a period of repression, confinement and conformity, ‘A Euphoric Happening’ aims to be an exhilarating creative release, capturing Euphoric moments through Dance, Music and Visual Media embracing themes of healing and togetherness. Building on the success of ‘Euphoria,' an audacious new work by FDC Artistic Director Katy Sterran in collaboration with Composer Ni Singh, the interactive event will invite audiences and artists from across Music and Dance communities to celebrate the culture of the City and their euphoric moments in an immersive live and digital performance art event.
‘Do you Understand?'
Zebra Access, directed by Jack Smallwood
A new film produced by Jack Smallwood will portray the emotions expressed by D/deaf people via a short BSL poem created specifically for the project. The poem will tackle the concept of dual identity with D/deafness in relation to selfhood. This short film will feature people who are deaf/hard of hearing and are born, raised and live in Wolverhampton.
It is hoped that the poem and film can help raise awareness in the wider hearing community of Deaf/Hard of hearing identity and the impact it has on the concept of ‘self’.
Kindness is free; lets pass it on
Susan Brisco
The warm feeling of wellbeing that washes over you when you’ve just done something kind isn’t just in your head; it’s in your brain chemicals too. (Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, non-profit Hospital, LA, USA)
Susan Brisco will focus on the science of kindness and the astonishing biology taking place inside our human body when giving or receiving kindness. Through her drawings, film and sound artworks, she will share how acts of kindness stimulate the release of chemical messengers in the brain, sending calming signals throughout the nervous system to create feelings of pleasure known as the ‘helpers high’.
Susan aims to open up conversations about the win-win biological effects to our body and how being kind can make us healthier!
*Susan’s artworks will be co-exhibited with Kanjana Nicholas at Newhampton Arts Centre in March 2022 together with ‘Postcards of Kindness’ from public workshops and layers of commissioned poetry.
Kindness is Free; lets pass it on
Kanj Nicholas
Kanj Nicholas will focus on Kindness, as the heartbeat of our city by exploring how acts of kindness, no matter how big or small, have the power to knit communities together, binding and uniting them through difficult times. Her work will illustrate the generosity of spirit and the immeasurable kindness and love that flowed out of the hearts of people, to help each other and provide the support to survive life’s storms.
She will create a series of acrylic paintings that reflect the diversity of the city in her vibrant and colourful style. They will illustrate local places around Wolverhampton and depict the rich cultural mix within the communities.
The message she conveys through her paintings is that kindness is a legacy for future generations to pass on.
Stephen Architect of Hope
Riccardo De Bruce
‘Stephen Architect of Hope' is a tribute to Stephen Lawrence, the Black British student from South London who was the victim of a racist gang murder on the evening of 22nd April 1993.
Using poetry and drawings Riccardo De Bruce is documenting the continuous critical discourse, the lessons to be learnt, and how Stephen Lawrence’s life story can truly inspire this generation to succeed in a multicultural UK.
His art book, which has 29 poems and 34 drawings - written for each year following Stephen Lawrence’s death, references Black Activists alongside quotes which add a historical context to the contemporary issues of hate crimes, racism, and institutional racism that affect the Black Diaspora in the UK.
“Highlighting the positive contributions of black, inspirational, achievers can inspire,” says Ricardo.
Alignment
Kathleen Fabre
Kathleen Fabre is a conceptual artist with an interdisciplinary practice. “I love to explore space and light, often drawn to architectural voids as spaces to exhibit, the spaces in-between, spaces we cannot touch, feel, or stand in,” she says of her work.
I create temporary installations with an instinctive and responsive approach.
‘Alignment,' will see a series of 4 vibrant site specific architectural scale rainbow wool installations, created utilising the existing infrastructure around Wolverhampton City centre. “The rainbow holds many meanings to different people and all interpretations are positive”. The temporary installations will form vast symbols of hope and diversity and each piece will be on public view at key locations, to act as a colourful welcome to visitors and residents.
Imagine Wolves
Leanne O'Connor and Ewan Johnston
'Imagine Wolves’ is a collaboration between artists Leanne O’Connor and Ewan Johnston born out of discussions and research in to re-imagined futures and ways of togetherness for Wolverhampton and its people.
“Everything in Wolves is being prepped for some imagined future, from the new developments, to the delayed developments, to the whispers of things anew. Within the connected context of BAS9, we want to activate a collective re-imagining of Wolverhampton, and adopt an approach of co-producing with the community, led by the reflections and imagined futures they share with us.”
Wander ਭਟਕਣਾ 漫步 विचलन گھومنا Zbłądzić
Graham Everitt and NEONE
Wander will be a projection based play where the audience will be invited to follow stories told by a number of on-stage characters from various ethnic groups as they make their own individual travels from their place of birth towards Wolverhampton to make new lives for themselves. This will be contrasted with a true story of a local white boy who "busses it" to Heath Town in the early 80's to breakdance and DJ.
With digital art projections forming stage sets, their journeys and stories will span a number of decades from the sixties to modern day, covering issues such as the Windrush generation, Brexit, relationships and employment, and will be complemented with news archive together with a soundtrack of ska, punk, hip hop and bhangra.
The play will also include live music performed by Wolves based NEONE the Wonderer.
Wander will ultimately celebrate how inclusivity and diversity in Wolverhampton has created a better and culturally richer place in terms of music, food, fashion, work and social integration.
Pop-up Lives storybook
Katie Holtom
A visual pop-up book experience designed for a family audience 'Pop-Up Lives' presents an intimate exploration of togetherness on a miniature stage produced by Katie Holtom.
Co-created by Wolverhampton's own children, a paper theatre will be brought to life with light. A combination of paper pop-ups, projection mapping, poetry, and hand-drawn illustrations will help illuminate the experiences of young people and their families.
SO9198
Daniella Turbin
Daniella Turbin will be working with Asylum Gallery to lead a series of public walks around the city. Through drawing and walking she will explore the different communities of the city, both past, present and future and will spend time researching and exploring empty and nearly lost spaces which, at some point, have been a place of gathering or a meeting point for people in the city. Through walking Daniella will attempt to recall the memory of these spaces whilst considering 'what might their future be?'
[ | IF WE HAD THIS S P A C E | ]
Asylum Artist Quarter - participating Sound Artists; Emma Purhouse, Steve Pottinger, NEONE, Nathaniel Grant, Ni Singh, Rebecca Mayhay, The Calamity, BONES, Sian Mcfarlane.
Asylum Artist Quarter is producing a sound trail that explores the social history of forgotten spaces in Wolverhampton. Nine artists have been chosen to create sound works in the form of music, soundscapes, spoken word and speeches that respond to 9 chosen sites in Wolverhampton City Centre that were once used as spaces that; emphasised care, commonality, collaboration, healing, togetherness and Non-Hierarchical ways of organising activity.
These spaces now sit as derelict unused sites, empty but restricted to the public to revitalise through grassroots initiatives. Working with the organisation OVERHEAR, these sound pieces will be geotagged to the location and an engagement board will collect responses of how we want to reclaim these lost spaces if we were only given the opportunity to organise our own activities in public space. This will then form a digital art trail for the duration of the BAS9 Tour. Each of the sound pieces offers the public the opportunity to imagine what was and what could be IF WE HAD THIS SPACE.
SINGLEPOINT / Counterpoint
Photographers: Deborah Stone (pictured above), Jaz Morisson, Tegen Kimbley, Sian Macfarlane.
Four female photographers have been chosen to explore how we navigate the reparative histories of our region when documenting culture. Each artist’s practise focuses on framing place, space and community identity within its particular gaze.
The project will allow for reactive documentation that responds to the city’s engagement with the touring British Art Show and its outcomes.
This will include social media takeovers, blogs, and tangible materials that allow for communities to engage with and exchange evidence of these shared experiences and transform them with their own participation.
Out of darkness cometh light
Omar Haq
Visual Vernacular (VV) is an exciting, artistic performance that can be enjoyed by people from all walks of life. This project aims to integrate the Deaf and hearing community as well as bring back the Deaf community to Wolverhampton, following the overarching theme of healing, care and reparative history.
Ish’s VV World (Ishtiaq Hussain) has recently reached his 10 year anniversary of performing Visual Vernacular and he will be performing ‘Out of darkness cometh light’ giving people the chance to learn a new skill as well as enjoying a breath-taking, entertaining performance that they may never have experienced.
Fae Kilburn
(Perspectives)
To create (Perspectives) artist Fae Kilburn will be incorporating the narrative of those who live, work and visit Wolverhampton. Exploring their experiences and asking: what needs to change for an inclusive city?
“I often include or refer to the lived experiences of other people in my art, this becomes a collaboration of their narrative and my artwork,” say Fae.
As a printmaker a large part of Far’s practice is their relationship with materials and the tactile nature of the different processes. (Perspectives ) will be a silkscreen text print installation on Japanese paper, that subtly moves with the air current, representing the ever changing nature of Wolverhampton.
Communion
Thomas Jack Brown
‘Communion’ is a video art installation piece that is tied to the BAS9 theme of ‘tactics for togetherness’. Communion is a site-specific video installation that will be installed on a large screen, placed on a custom built plinth and hosted within the chapel of St. Peter’s Church in the city centre. The video portion of Communion will contain archive footage and images of citizens of Wolverhampton. The collected footage will be collapsed together in order to show the history of the population of Wolverhampton non-linearly.
"Installing Communion within St. Peters Church reinforces the theme of togetherness as it will be in an environment where present day citizens of Wolverhampton come together to worship, attend events and strengthen community links within the city.” Says Thomas.
A familial life, THEY
Sahjan Kooner
Sahjan Kooner will be exploring the relationships between migration, technology and lineage through a new video installation titled 'A familial life, THEY’.
Working with individuals and a community of migrants this video will explore the connections and futures that bring people together and forge bonds across time and space. A set of recurring motifs from archival and digital imagery alongside virtually rendered environments will blend with testimonies, song and resistance to weave into existence a work that defies gravity and location, a work of familial life.
Plant Fete
Charlotte Dunn
Charlotte Dunn will recreate a ‘floral fete’ within West Park, inspired by the traditional fete stand and plant selling events of the 19th Century. A stand structure will be created that will host a plant swap, recreating the community plant fetes that once helped the development of the park.
The park's crowning glory; the conservatory, was built in 1896, with the proceeds of the town's Floral Fete (held every year in the park) where community members came together in different ways to improve the look and feel of the green space.
The large floral fete was held in West Park between 1889 and 1939 and provided a place for people to exchange plants they had grown to raise money for the park and create a community event for everyone working within the area.
“It got people from industrial communities to begin to appreciate nature by coming into the park for a community event, but also gave them a sense of belonging as they all came together to raise funds for a space that could provide healing within the community,” Says Charlotte.
Hum Saath Saath Hein (We are Together)
Punjabi Women Writing Group
Hum Saath Saath Hein (We Are Together) hopes to enhance the aspiration of community cohesion and nurture a sense of belonging. The group’s poetry will aim to strengthen relationships and harmony within the rich, diverse communities who live in Wolverhampton.
Social Death
Hanifa Hudson
Hanifa Hudson is an activist born and bred in Wolverhampton of Jamaican heritage. She is most known for her pioneering history in break dancing and her activists' roll in the fight for Reparations. Her current art work is inspired by the ethos of music and dance, and her fight for reparatory justice. In her art work, the movements are the vibrations, of sound. The colours are the feelings of her fight!