We’re opening up our next BOOM gathering (artist development days) to the public. Meet our BOOM artists and join us for seminars with leading sound artists and producers covering the topics of presenting music/sound outdoors, creating shows for specific outdoor sites, and creating work with communities. These seminars will take place across Friday 30th and Saturday 31st January (with separate free booking for each day).
The OCM BOOM scheme is a professional development program for musicians, sound artists, and producers who want to create and present contemporary music and sound-based work in outdoor, digital and unconventional spaces.
We are thankful to St John’s College for their generous support for this event.
Friday 30th January: Public Seminars
11.00am – 11:45am Outdoor Arts in the UK – Challenges and Opportunities
Simon Chatterton of 101 Outdoor Arts presents an overview of outdoor work in the UK, and how the current arts infrastructure provides opportunities for artists. https://101outdoorarts.com
11.45am – 1pm Going with the Flow: Panel Talk with Q and A
Eco-activist-composer Emma Welton and Burn The Curtain outdoor theatre co. and will discuss two very different approaches to responding creatively to the same river bank. They will cover how site-specific performances can break down the fourth wall in radically different ways, approaching the land and water-scapes through deep listening and promenade theatre. Practical aspects of outdoor work, from council permits to weather and risk management will also be covered. https://emmawelton.net/ https://burnthecurtain.co.uk
Saturday 31st January: Public Performances
13:30 – 14:45 Listening with/Listening to: Celebrating Communities with Anna Braithwaite
Artist talk and performance from this prolific community artist who often works with verbatim text, local history and personal memory, contributing to systems of care and self-expression for women and people with disabilities. https://www.annabraithwaite.co.uk/communityartist
15:00 – 16:00 – BOOM Artists informal public sharing of works-in-progress with Q&A
Speakers:
Simon Chatterton is a key figure in the strategic development of art in public space in the UK. He is the founder and creative director of 101 Outdoor Arts – National Centre for Arts in Public Space, a 2000m² creation space and one of the major UK centre for artist development and innovation in outdoor work. An experienced festival director and producer, Simon has worked for twenty years to create innovative outdoor and site-specific events in international festivals and cultural programmes.
Emma Welton is a composer and performs on violin and viola. She has performed contemporary music internationally, including at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, with the BSO and with Brian Eno. Emma has a listening practice which includes leading creative listening workshops and walks. Her Exeter Sound Walks were recently featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
Based in the South West, Burn the Curtain make theatre outdoors, where, in their own words, “audiences can become playful participants, and performers and spectators alike can meet on equal terms, ready for adventure”. They are perhaps best known for The Adventures of Don Quixote by Bicycle, where the actors and audience participate on two wheels, and which has toured internationally.
Anna Braithwaite is a composer, performer and community-based artist. She runs the Free Women ensemble and the Sing Folk sessions in her native Kent. She has sung with Opera Holland Park, and her compositions have been commissioned by Sound & Music and Royal Opera House among many others.
To learn more about our BOOM artists, see here: https://ocmevents.org/project/boom/