Nimble Fish » Festivals

The Space in the Middle

Samantha — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 06:25:14 +0000

As respite from the Re:bourne ‘machine’, I have been doing some research into Landscape and Environment Art; think Christo, Dennis Oppenheim and Andy Goldsmith. I stumbled across this;

(Environmental Art)…is a “spatialisation of cultural politics”, a radical rethinking of the intersection between social relations, space and the community. This rethinking can lead to a kind of IN-BETWEEN or THIRD SPACE, a lived space of radical openness and unlimited scope, where all histories and geographies, all times and places, are immanently presented and represented. Edward Soja

My thoughts exactly!

I hope on some level Re:bourne is able to achieve some of these things. At its best it will be a ‘creative disruption’ or ‘interruption’ that enables the community to inhabit a transgressive space between bricks and mortar and day to day life; it will a critique of what is already there , an invitation to change literally and emotionally. At worst, it will simply enrich shoppers experience as they collect their frozen peas from Iceland.

re:bourne HQ

Greg Klerkx — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:15:53 +0000

As we approach T-minus one week for re:bourne, a shout-out is required to the A.E. Barrow & Sons Bakery and Coffee Shop in Sittingbourne. For the past few months, this has been the unofficial HQ for all things re:bourne, both because of the undeniable quality of their Chelsea buns and because they don’t have an issue with us lot stomping in and out of their otherwise tranquil coffee shop at all hours of the day and generally causing a bit of a commotion: architectural maps strewn across tables, choruses of laptops clickety-clacking away, the stultifying babble of multiple voices discussing the art of road closure, etc. Being conscientious types, we’ve asked them if they mind. The response? ‘No, love. Why would we?’

High on the wall in the coffee shop are photos of Mr. & Mrs. A.E. Barrow, circa early 20th century, and one ’son’ and his wife taken a bit more recently. A proper family shop, then, doing a thriving trade in nice food with a happy, welcoming vibe. Thank you, Barrow folks…you’ve made many a day of hard re:bourne planning that much easier (and tastier…)

Posted via email from rebourne2010’s posterous

Time-Travelling Sparky

Greg Klerkx — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:09:08 +0000

Sparky, a lively and very animated character who has been making friends throughout Kent this year, is looking forward to making a special visit to Sittingbourne during re:bourne on 13-14 August. Here, one of Sparky’s friends, artist Ciaran McKay, talks about his re:bourne experience to date:

“Since being part of this project, I have visited Sittingbourne a few times and have noticed a number of shops either boarded up or closing down. However, I noticed that two of the shops that were still doing good business were local butchers and bakers, two trades that i would imagine have been part of the town as it has grown over the centuries. On one of my visits I overheard two people commenting on the downfall of the high street, highlighted by disappointment in their voices. I thought to myself that I hope they are around during re:bourne to witness something special on the high street…maybe a new beginning for the renovation of this historic town.”

Posted via email from rebourne2010’s posterous

Shadow Catching

Greg Klerkx — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:08:46 +0000

Wendy Daws’ ‘Shadow Catching’ will be part of re:bourne on 13-14 August. Her thoughts on the project thus far:

“For me, Sittingbourne has been somewhere you drive by on the way to somewhere else. I’ve not had a reason to visit the High Street, but it has a fascinating history and I’m very happy to be immersing myself in it.”

Posted via email from rebourne2010’s posterous

Tide & Time

Greg Klerkx — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:04:59 +0000

Today we’re posting the first of several bits of reflection from some of our re:bourne artists about the process of creating their re:bourne work; its impact on them as artists, and their hopes for its effect on Sittingbourne, Swale and beyond. We’ll post some random shots we’ve taken of the event site over the past few months of working there to accompany each bit of reflection…a small, slightly random bit of associative virtual art in advance of our big, non-virtual event on 13-14 August.

The following is from Swale-based artist Julie Bradshaw, whose interactive work ‘Tide & Time’ will be on our programme:

“Taking part in re:bourne has excited and enthused me. It has acted as a catalyst in making me more determined to raise the profile of Sittingbourne and Swale as an area to host art events that are both challenging and enjoyable, contemporary and traditional, and which would have people from many different locations wanting to visit and participate.”

Posted via email from rebourne2010’s posterous

Just a bit of cleaning…

Greg Klerkx — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:45:29 +0000

…of a long-unused shop, and amazing things happen. This is Lucy doing a bit of tidying in one of our re:bourne event spaces. So many people came up to us asking what we were doing, remarking on how great it was to see these shops occupied, even for an hour or two.

In a small way, this is a demonstration of the potential for arts-led community events to shed new and positive light on familar places. And for us it’s wonderful motivation as we close in in our re:bourne weekend: Friday and Saturday, 13 and 14 August, 2:30 to 5:30 on both days.

Posted via email from rebourne2010’s posterous

Guerrilla Radio

Greg Klerkx — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:39:53 +0000

Keepin’ it real at BRFM’s (96.5 FM) seacliff studio…talking re:bourne tonight from 7ish.

Posted via email from rebourne2010’s posterous

6A

Greg Klerkx — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:59:35 +0000

The re:bourne team today, getting to grips with one of the performance spaces. With us are the fantastic mixed-ability performance group, Risky Business, who are planning something very special for this space.

Posted via email from rebourne2010’s posterous

Three weeks out…

Greg Klerkx — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:22:51 +0000

…and it’s a day in the re:bourne trenches with the production team, all of us surely hoping there are no major obstacles waiting to be unearthed. Of course if they ARE waiting, if we haven’t unearthed them maybe they’ll remain buried? Yeah, I know…I know…

Posted via email from rebourne2010’s posterous

Bourne Again

Greg Klerkx — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 09:59:05 +0000

We can finally (finally!) talk about the exciting gig we’re going to lead this summer: a site-responsive, slack-space, community-driven happening in Sittingbourne (Kent) that we’re calling re:bourne. Nominally, this is a community festival…but it’s so much more. Re:bourne has narrative content, hidden spaces, surprises, interactivity and wonder; it’s visual, aural, performative and experiential.

All of it, though, is in service of a very clear and important goal: to allow the people of Sittingbourne and Swale to re-experience a familiar and economically-challenged part of their community (we’re using an entire section of the high street as the event space, including unused commercial spaces). More, the community will have created and directly inputted into what results in the final event. While we’re leading it, they’re creating it. When we’re gone, they will carry on with what’s been created.

The ‘we’ in this context is more than Nimble Fish; we’ve partnered with a new Kent-based arts organisation called Workers of Art, which includes some friends and colleagues we’ve known and respect for some time now. We’ve never embarked on a collaboration on this scale, in which we are joined at the hip artistically and financially. Scary? Sure. The level of communication required to keep all of us on the same page is remarkable. But as previous posts have underscored, we think this is the way of the future in the cultural sector.

Watch this space: we’ll be blogging a lot about re:bourne itself, the process of collaboration, and any number of things brought to light therein. Let us know what you think.

Posted via email from gregklerkx’s posterous