A What Now?
In January 2011 as part of the State of the Arts Conference in London
we
created what we called
– a thrilling, temporary space amidst the busyness of the conference for artists and producers to come together to ask challenging questions, and a virtual space online for everyone who couldn’t be present to offer their thoughts and their words and play a meaningful part in the day’s conversations.
The event was unpredictable, exciting and galvanising
. We heard inspiring and provocative one minute speeches by a dozen brilliant speakers from across the arts and created a vibrant online community contributing to an
all generated over the course of the day.
Since the success of that first event we have wanted to take this project further
. Whilst retaining the same adventurous energy and inclusivity, we want to see if we can create a richer and more expansive flash conference; a real opportunity for people right across the art world to meet at its edge to think about the world we inhabit and how we might help change it.
There seemed to be no better place to do this than at the Edinburgh Fringe
, an edgeland that became the mainstream and has now developed a fringe of its own at places such as the award-winning
Forest Fringe
. We felt it was important that the flash conference happen in a place like this where the conventional modes of doing things are malleable and in flux; a place where we can think about the structures within which we operate and ask how they might work better.
This day is not about railing against authority or the great institutions of the arts.
It is a day for everybody to gather at the edges of those big institutions and organisations,
on equal terms.
To ask daring questions and suggest implausible answers
.
To share a spirit of generosity and a galvanising sense of hope;
that despite or perhaps because of the political, financial and environmental circumstances in which we find ourselves,
the arts can and will play a part in imagining and realising a better possible future.
Interested? Head on over to the eventbrite to get yourself a ticket.
