Wandsworth Arts Fringe is back with its first full-on festival since the pandemic.  With 150 events taking place, there’ll be an explosion of colour in the streets, intimate live performances in surprise locations and a huge celebration of art as Wandsworth’s pubs, theatres, galleries, studios and churches are transformed.

We caught up with the Producer of WAF Cath Mattos to pick her brains about this year’s festival.

When and how did the Wandsworth Arts Fringe festival start and how has it evolved over the years?

Wandsworth Arts Fringe grew out of Wandsworth Arts Festival which grew out of the Shimmy and was a programmed festival taking place in the borough. We realised there were a lot of local arts organisations and companies in the borough that wanted to get involved and so we created an open registration process and WAF sprung to life and so began the organic chaos that has ensued. Companies and artists took WAF into their hearts and into their year-round planning.

The lockdown happened just as we were launching our WAF 2020 programme in March, leaving 15,000 programmes boxed up and ready to go. We decided with a 6-week turnaround to ask our artists if they were interested in being part of a digital WAF and with an enthusiastic ‘yes!’ we started planning. WAF In Your Living Room 2020 was born. We have had a ‘WAF in Your Living Room’ element of WAF for a number of years, but this was on a whole other scale. The WAF artists really appreciated the platform to give them support and a purpose at that time, there was so much enthusiasm to be involved. We held weekly meetings with all our artists and although it was a difficult and stressful time a wonderful community was created.

In 2021 we ran a hugely successful hybrid WAF with the WAF Big Top and lots of outdoor spaces were used and many events streamed their live events to their audiences that were still shielding. We are keeping our WAF in Your Living Room element though it takes a smaller part of the fringe this year. We run our WAF contributor networking meeting still mainly online, so our national artists and international artists can get the same support as the local companies.

How does it feel to be back with a full lineup of LIVE events?

It feels exciting and exhilarating to be back up and running for WAF 2022. Our programme is vibrant and engaging and there is something for everyone. It is weird though to be working in relatively normal times, we are used to the added layers of difficulty now, but so relieved we are back in our venues this year. We are partnering with 70 venues across the borough and this is just such a joy! The artists are super excited to be coming together and shining a light on creativity in Wandsworth.

What made you choose to shine a light on dance at this year’s festival? How will the festival be celebrating this art form?

We are celebrating Wandsworth’s emerging dance quarter as the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) open their brand-new headquarters on York Road in Battersea, joining a cluster of local dance companies including Tavaziva, bbodance and London Children’s Ballet, which opened last year. On Friday 10 June, WAF will launch with a promenade performance along the riverside around Battersea Reach, charting a course between bbodance and RAD’s new home and discovering hidden music, spoken word and dance gems along the way.

The WAF Dance Weekender has set a two-day extravaganza of dance styles from around the world, popping up in public spaces around Battersea. Find us in York Gardens on Saturday 18 June for contemporary dance from London Butoh Dance Company and Hallomai Dance, and accessible dance workshops with disability-led dance troupe Magpie Dance. Shake your tail feathers with the most fabulous flock of senior citizens in town, PC*DC’s Royale Dancehall Flamingos, then head over to bbodance for African movement, drumming, ballet and more with Tavaziva Dance and the English National Ballet School. On Sunday, WAF takes over Battersea Reach with another all-dayer featuring pop-up performances from Flamenco Con Gusto and Orleta Polish Folk Song and Dance, African drumming and movement from Tavaziva Dance, and even a chance to learn Japanese Tenshintaido with martial artist and calligrapher Beatrice Boivineau.

Alongside our free public events, there’s a brilliant dance programme of amazing contemporary dance and ballet performances – check it out!

Do you have any young artists exhibiting and performing this year? What’s the best way for young artists to get involved?

WAF is always a fantastic platform for young people to showcase their talent. We’ve got performances from Youth Club Providence House, World Heart Beat Music Academy, London Children’s Ballet and On Da Beat Studios – all organisations working with the next generation of young creatives, performers and artists. WAF works with local schools and supports a cohort of young visual artists to exhibit professionally via the RCA Bursary Scheme. We are also bringing back the WAF Young Reviewers scheme for a second year following a successful pilot in 2021 – providing an opportunity for young people aged 14-19 to review WAF events, receive professional mentoring in critical writing, and get published!

In what ways does WAF offer development support for artists and contributors?

Each year, WAF hosts a series of networking and learning sessions for artists and contributors in the lead-up to the registration deadline and festival dates. These are a great opportunity for artists to meet the WAF team and get the most out of taking part.

So far this year we’ve offered 6 open-access online support sessions for artists covering marketing, sustainability, event registration and ticketing, venue/artist matchmaking and accessibility – as well as an in-person publicity launch event, where artists and venues get to meet in person ahead of the festival.

We also offer online toolkits and guidance, and a 1-1 clinic session for more specific advice on realising ideas and fundraising, including making an application to the WAF Grant scheme. Every year Wandsworth Council sets aside £20,000 in funding for WAF Grants. The WAF Grants help artists, makers and community groups realise their creative vision for the festival and engage with Wandsworth communities. For 2022, we distributed £32,382 among eighteen creative companies, including local community organisations and internationally acclaimed artists, for projects taking place over this year’s festival.

What’s the best thing about working in the arts and what advice would you give to a young person who’s interested in pursuing a career in the arts and working for festivals like this one?

Working in the arts comes from a passionate belief that the arts can make the world a better place, it fosters community and a shared experience. Art deals with difficult issues in a positive and engaging way. Working in the arts is hard work but it is so rewarding when you see projects like WAF come to life each year.

The advice I would give is to get yourself to festivals, theatres and meet people who work there and find out avenues to get in through the door. I love freelancing but other people prefer the stability of being a secure member of staff in an arts organization, and there is definitely a benefit to this.

Go with your passion and interest and you will head in the right direction to suit you.

For more info about WAF please visit their website here:  www.wandsworthfringe.com

Interview by Jules Nelson who does marketing and operations for Abundant Art.

Ukraine’s right to national self-determination is being violently desecrated by Russian colonialism. Putin’s invasion threatens not only the immediate safety of the Ukrainian people, but also their very culture and identity. For those of us with the time and means, learning about local cultures is a way to resist the cultural erosion that Ukraine faces as Russia attempts to expand its borders.

In Britain, this war has been swathed in media coverage quite unprecedented in recent history; notably, neither the conflicts of Afghanistan, nor Yemen, topped the Guardian’s headlines for nearly as long. Amidst this frenzy and endless political commentary, documentaries from pioneering film-makers have provided me with much-needed solace, redirecting my gaze to the actual lived experiences of people disrupted by seemingly endless conflict. The documentary form is unique in its capacity to transport the viewer to faraway places without recourse to fiction. They are easily transmittable and for this reason, politically powerful: documentaries of life in Ukraine comprise a precious archive of the very cultures that are today being jeopardized by war. For me, watching these films has helped me to picture that it is the very fabric of people’s lives that is imperiled: their homes, their environments, their very ways of being.

I spoke over Zoom with the Ukrainian film-critic Daria Badior, who helped me better understand the context and history of documentary-making in Ukraine. Daria explained that Ukrainian documentaries have accrued international recognition only during the last ten years or so. Avant-garde film-makers, said Daria, turned to the documentary in order to eschew the social conservatism of traditional Ukrainian theatre and professional actors. Of course, when conflict broke out in Eastern Ukraine in February 2014, film-makers from around Europe also travelled to Crimea and the Donbass in order to capture on screen the lives of people stuck within these war-zones.

One of the most poignant reflections that Daria shared with me was her confusion at how to continue living life now that war has overtaken the whole country. The way she put it was this: ‘Is it right to enjoy a slice of cake now in Ukraine?’ This question lies at the heart of many of the films I watched. Each of them, in their own way, evokes how strange it is that life continues despite war, and yet how quickly uncertainty and loss become familiar, even expected. They testify to the resilience of the local people as they continue even the most mundane of activities, like shining shoes or going for a walk as their communities are being destroyed. Remarkably, people even go on staging cultural events: Mariupolis (2017), for example, features a theatrical performance and a wedding. Each of these moments takes on a new political significance against the background of conflict. Such films beget the question: Is eating that slice of cake when your country is at war an act of political rebellion, personal stubbornness or a psychological necessity? Every one of these documentaries offers a nuanced answer.

I was startled (and quite concerned) to find that neither of my favourite films were directed by Ukrainian film-makers: The Distant Barking of Dogs (2016) was created by a Danish production team led by Simon Lereng Wilmont, whilst Mariupolis (2017) was filmed by the late Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravicius. I was worried that this rather undermined my chosen focus on Ukrainian culture. Yet having mused for a while, I realised that it was perhaps becausethese documentaries were created by film-makers so enmeshed in local life, yet irrevocably alien to it, that their films moved me so much.

Both films offer a profound intimacy into the lives of the families they take as subject; the camera is invited inside people’s homes and records personal conversations over the course of a year, if not more. In The Distant Barking of Dogs, there are moments when the handheld camera shudders as the cinematographer runs to catch up with ten-year-old Oleg and his younger cousin Yarik as they run home from pond-dipping, their towels flying in the wind. Yet at other moments, the camera affords the family a certain privacy; we watch at a distance as Oleg and his Babushka walk home alone.

Similarly, Mariupolis captures a moment of joy as a group of girls dance around a beautifully frescoed town hall to traditional folk-song; the scene is beset by movement and laughter. But when the screen shifts, we are repositioned outside the building and beyond the community, in immense stillness. It is beautiful; serene. The only movement detectable is that of the dancers’ shadows as they glide behind the small window separating subject from audience. Away from the immediate laughter comes a distance with which to pause, reflect, and inevitably grieve.

What particularly struck me about either film was the lack of commentary presented by either director or editing team; we are simply shown the way of life of a few local people, their families and communities, without narrative imposition. There are, of course, clips that elicit an awareness of the film-makers’ presence: in The Distant Barking of Dogs, I suspect that the teenage Kostyas shows off for the camera. Moments of gently tragic comedy arise in Mariupolis, like when Ukrainian soldiers conglomerate in their make-shift barracks that still bears its former name – ‘The Library’ – to which the camera cleverly directs our gaze. It would be tempting for a director to forge a narrative from the events that we witness; The Distant Barking of Dogs could be reduced to a story of boyhood lost to war, or Mariupolis turned into a story of one community’s resistance to its destruction. Yet neither film succumbs to this temptation, and I suspect that this symptomises the status of film-maker as guest in these communities, with little claim to foreground his interpretation of events as they unfold.

In Mariupolis, tranquility is soon to dissipate as soldiers approach. (Credit: Mantas Kvedaravicius)

These juxtapositions between proximity and distance illustrate the film-makers’ sophisticated handling of their chosen task, one ridden with ethical quandaries. How can we film, or write about, or by any means attempt to share the stories of vulnerable communities not our own? This is something that resonated deeply with me, a journalist who works with displaced people. These film-makers, like me, bear the privilege and responsibility of sharing stories belonging to people we have come to know deeply and, in some way, can never understand.

For the director of Mariupolis, Mantas Kvedaravicius, loyalty to his adopted community led to tragedy. Kvedaravicius was filming a second documentary in Mariupol when he was shot dead by Russian soldiers on the 2^nd of April, camera in hand. This year, Cannes showcased the footage from this unfinished work, which has been edited by his fiancée and co-director Hanna Bilbrova and given the title Mariupolis 2. The first time I watched Mariupolis, Kvedaravicius was still alive and Russia was yet to launch a full-scale war. Upon second viewing, with this feature in mind, I felt the notes of elegy roused by the film in new intensities.

Mantas Kvedaravicius in 2016, around the time he filmed Mariupolis. (image taken from Cineeuropa.org)

The difference between viewing these films before and after February 2022 is a subject that Daria and I also touched upon. Most of the documentaries I’ve watched were filmed before the short-lived ceasefire of 2016; of course, no one could have then predicted with certainty the immensity of the war that was to follow. The experience of watching these films today is overcast by tragic foreshadowing and a transience that for Daria makes watching too painful to bear. A professional film-critic, Daria has not viewed a Ukrainian documentary since the war began. Yet for me, a privileged newcomer to Ukrainian culture and arts, watching these films has given this war a newly acquired human face. Where are Oleg, Yarik and their beloved Babuskha now? Do the girls from Mariupolis still have the energy to dance?

Oleg looks out to the horizon. (Credit: Simon Lereng Wilmont)

Sadness takes on many shades in these documentaries; grief and loss certainly make strong appearances. But these are not war-films. They are films before war, within war, around war and in spite of war. They are slow in pace, beautiful in abundance, and undeniably human. With lenses both intimate and distant, they provide their audiences with the chance to revel in the immediate glory of local life; and then, when the lens pans out, to appreciate with distance that soon these people, like us, will be far away from the places the camera depicts. Moments of joy and love in the harshest of conditions are what keep subjects and audience alike from despair: when Oleg’s grandmother suffers a nervous breakdown, Oleg manages to stoke the furnace alone and softly places a cup of tea on her bedside table. Yarik strokes her hair. This is the human face of living within a war-zone: helplessness, desolation, and the love for people and place that makes endurance worthwhile.

The Distant Barking of Dogs is freely available on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0015nnw/storyville-the-distant-barking-of-dogs.

Mariupolis is also available on ARTE, which showcases select award-winning European films: https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/067103-000-A/mariupol/

Sophia Sheera is a writer interested in migration, cultural citizenship, displacement and queerness with a focus on Central Asia and Northern India. Sophia is inspired by talking to the people whose stories are sidetracked by sensationalist headlines, and as such aspires to share those counter-narratives through political journalism.

Underwater is part of Family Weekend 2022 (15-16 April) at Sadlers Wells in Angel and is suitable for babies and toddlers aged 0-24 months and their grown-ups. We caught up with Directors Xenia Aidonopoulou and Georgia Tegou about their multi-sensory show and dance theatre piece ‘Underwater’.

We loved watching the trailer of ‘Underwater’. What stimulated your imaginations to create this beautiful dance theatre piece?

XA: Since I first attended -as a young mother back in Athens, performances for babies and their families, I knew, one day I was going to create a show for this specific audience. When I moved with my family to the UK, four years ago, this idea started to take shape in my head and the right moment had come for me to put my thoughts into words and create the script for Underwater. By that time, I had a career break and the opportunity to spend more time with my baby daughter and focus on exploring her world.

Underwater was conceived as an attempt to visualise our relationship to water, which is our first environment while living in our mother’s womb, a common experience that connects us all. I was lucky enough to meet Creative Producer Lia Prentaki who specialises in dance for family audiences. Lia introduced me to director/choreographer Georgia Tegou and that’s how the journey began.

What thoughts and ideas went into choosing the soundtrack and how important was it to use some familiar melodies?

XA: Sound played a central role in creating the right atmosphere for Underwater. From the beginning we have discussed with Jeph Vanger, our composer, the idea of using ambient and womb sounds in combination with remixed versions of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ to form the soundscape for Underwater. ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ was chosen as a point of reference because it is a global lullaby, with different verses from countries all over the world. Therefore, it is a tune connected to many people’s babyhoods even if they were born miles apart.

Tell us about any similar projects you’ve worked on in the past?

XA: This is the first time I created something for babies though I have worked as an associate director on productions for CYP Audiences in Greece.

GT: This is the first time I have worked on a project for early years audiences after an invitation by Xenia. My other choreographic work follows a similar aesthetic of embodied visuality, driven by my practice of dance-as-design. It is an expanded approach to choreography which blurs the boundaries of dance and movement with other visual and spatial arts more readily associated with design, highlighting their interdependent relationship. Dance-as-design uses volume, movement, embodied rhythm, textures, the connection to the space, sculptural and architectural mediums to reveal and portray aspects of the human condition, an approach that has also been incorporated into Underwater.

Is this the first time you have worked with Sadler’s Wells and Family Weekend?

XA: Yes, it is the first time and we are very excited about it. Sadler’s Wells is one of the world’s leading dance organisations and we feel honored and privileged to be offered this opportunity to participate in Family Weekend with Underwater.

Congratulations on selling out at your premiere at Watford Palace Theatre in February. What’s the secret to your popularity and your success on stage?

GT: One of the facts that inspired us to make this project is that as parents ourselves we were also seeking out this type of experience. After two years of staying at home, families with babies are welcoming the opportunity to experience something creative together. Underwater is a dance theatre piece that takes our audience through a mesmerising story, with a beginning, middle and end, while layering a variety of sources for sensory stimulation for babies and their grown-ups.

How would you suggest children to get involved in Underwater ideally? How can they get the most out of it? Would this kind of dance theatre appeal to children with special needs?

XA: The piece is made to be viewed from close proximity, we invite the audience to sit close to the action so that the sounds surround them. Each family has different ways of introducing their babies to theatre however, the auditorium is a difficult barrier. Therefore, we invite the whole audience onto the floor on special sensory islands we have created for the show. The gentle multisensory approach makes the work accessible.

What is it about lights, bubbles and sound that engage babies and children do you think?

GT: I think they engage babies, children and adults alike. For me these are elements that take you closer to that little bit of magic, a bit of fairy dust around the space by creating illusions, engaging the senses in a calming way and triggering the imagination. During creation, our research was supported by a baby focus group who took part in a series of sessions and offered feedback on their baby’s experience with ideas and tasks we were trying in rehearsals. This dialogue helped us to develop ideas and sound frequencies that are highly engaging for our baby audience.

Can you tell us about your online workshops for babies and grown-ups that accompany your performance?

XA: This is an idea by Creative Producer, Lia who has over the years delivered many parent and baby activities. The workshops aim to offer the chance to revisit the world of Underwater from the comfort of the home and to explore creative play using the soundtrack and some of the creative devices of the show.

When did you start working as artists? Has being a mother inspired your artistic creations?

XA: I started my career twenty years ago. I have worked extensively in dance, including large-scale projects for the National Theatre of Greece, Athens & Epidaurus Festival & other institutions, mostly for adult audiences. I believe all our lived experiences define us and affect the way we create but mostly in a subconscious way. I guess being a mother has affected me but I am not a different person or a different artist. For me, art is a way to communicate thoughts, ideas, and emotions, and my objective is to do it in the most imaginative, inclusive and powerful way.

GT: I started directing my own choreographic work in 2011, having worked as a dancer before. When we started making Underwater I was a new mother experiencing the incredible moments of the first months of my daughter’s life that strongly informed the work. In many instances, I felt I was making work for her and her friends to enjoy.

Are you working on any other exciting artistic projects at the moment?

XA: Actually, Underwater is the first part of a trilogy for early years and now I am working on developing the script for the second part, Skydiver, again a multisensory experience during which we will be transported up to a fluffy sky. I am also involved as a Dance Dramaturg in REVERIE, an amazing work by Georgia and Michalis Theophanous.

GT: I am restaging REVERIE, a multidisciplinary dance-led work with some exciting collaborations. The piece was previewed in 2020 just before the pandemic started and it is now coming back to life to premiere at Dance Umbrella International Festival and The Lowry in Autumn 2022. I’m also developing a new dance theatre work that uses VR technology and movement aiming to premiere in 2023.

Underwater image by Nikolas Louka.

Books tickets and watch the trailer of Underwater here: www.sadlerswells.com

For more information about Sadler’s Wells Family Weekend (15-16 April) click here: www.sadlerswells.com

By Julia Nelson who does operations and marketing for Abundant Art.

Chronic Youth Film Festival 2022, a festival programmed by young people (16-24) is taking place at the Barbican 12-13 March. This year the films look at the theme of ‘Home’ – and what that means to those facing adversity around the world and here in the UK.

Highlights include the San Dominican drama Bantu Mama, in which a young woman is on the run from a drug deal gone wrong; Mother, a Brazilian documentary celebrating the queer community there; and Crossroads, the teenage cult classic (starring Britney Spears) about three friends on a cross country road trip.

We talk to 24-year-old young programmer Abiba Coulibaly about her experience programming for the Barbican.

Tell us about Chronic Youth Film Festival 2022

Chronic Youth is the 7th edition of the Barbican’s annual film festival curated by its Young Film Programmers, but this one is particularly special as it marks the festival’s return to the physical cinema space, since the two previous editions were online owing to the pandemic. This year our theme is ‘Home, Hope, and Hostile Environments’ as we found ourselves gravitating towards films that evoked the ideas of home and belonging, but in ways that were often complex and ambivalent, and not necessarily fixed, literal, or welcoming. We felt this resonated both locally with the UK‘s socio-political landscape, but also globally allowing us to showcase some really exciting films from across the world.

How did you become part of this festival as a young film programmer?

I responded to the open call for applications in 2020 and after getting through to the interview stage wasn’t successful. For this year’s edition there was no public advertisement as it was meant for the two previous cohorts who had missed out on the physical event, but I got in contact with the programme coordinators and was able to join the alumni.

When did your love of film start and how has it evolved over time?

I’d pinpoint it to the first time I went to Film Africa in 2012 and saw L’Afrance by Alain Gomis which dealt with the psychological aspects of irregular migration status, and postcolonial migration patterns in France, two issues which are deeply personal to me, but which I never really saw fleshed out in cultural depictions. Film Africa were screening a lot of films at the Ritzy in Brixton, at the end of my road, which made it really accessible. Then when I started going to university (SOAS) I was within walking distance of the ICA and Bertha Dochouse where screenings were incredibly cheap for students and I could try out all sorts of genres and retrospectives and strands at a really accessible price. I was studying Geography and took one module called Hollywood and the Post-Industrial City which explored how the industry of Hollowood intersected with the urban processes around housing, gentrification and civil unrest that were taking place simultaneously in the wider Los Angeles area, and I think this method viewing film as part of inherently political processes situated in the real world, rather than a vehicle for fantasy or evasion, continues to inform my approach to and taste in films today.

How did you acquire programming skills and how did you move on to programme, market and deliver Chronic Youth film events?

I think for me a lot of it has been osmosis through attending so many different film events over the years, I never did any formal training prior to Young Film Programmers, in fact, it’s really, really hard to come by any training programmes for this field, let alone free ones. I also think the fact that we’re a group of 12 has meant you really have to discuss and justify your film choices, and often need to convince the others, which is completely different from choosing films one likes individually, and that has definitely strengthened my programming ability.

What is it you love about film and the cinema?

My favourite aspect is the immersive experience of being in the cinema. In the 21st century, there is no other activity where we sit and concentrate, fully absorbed by something without other distractions for 2 or so hours, which makes cinema for me a kind of meditative experience that other creative mediums can’t really rival.

What do you think makes the best cinema event?

I’m a big believer in cultural democracy and accessibility, so my primary response would be an event that is affordable and understands the needs and context of the community in which it’s being screened. Cinema shouldn’t be elitist or inaccessible, so I think this should always be kept in mind when organising related events.

What are your top favourite 5 films?

Sorry, I can’t choose 5! The Last Black Man in San Francisco by Joe Talbot, Mediterranea by Jonas Carpignano, Beau Travail by Claire Denis, Omar by Hany Abu-Assad, Timbuktu by Abderrahmane Sissako, Shakedown by Leila Weinraub, Four Lions by Chris Morris, Les Sauteurs by Abou Bakar Sidibe, 120 BPM by Robin Campillo

Do you see yourself curating your own film events in the future? What according to you would be the fun element of the experience?

In an ideal world, 100% – it’s not just a hobby it’s my dream career path. That being said it really isn’t easy to get regular and/or paid work in, so I don’t see a future in film programming as being guaranteed. For me, the most fun part comes once the screening is over and you get to discuss it and hear all the different reactions and interpretations that might contradict or add to your own understanding of what’s just been viewed.

What have you gained from being a young programmer?

I’ve gained really valuable experience in every aspect necessary to run a film event, which was particularly meaningful because it was with an institution that I’ve admired and attended for a really long time, so it was great to switch from audience member to someone behind the scenes. 12 months ago I would’ve had 0 clue, capacity, or contacts for things related to film rights and marketing for example, but now I feel really equipped. I’ve been able to watch all sorts of films I would never have come across as well as develop more of an appreciation for short films which I was previously reticent about. I’ve also been able to discuss at length the programming and film festival industry with people who are as invested as I am, which was also a first.

What can we expect at the festival and what made you choose the line-up?

Variety – while staying under one theme we’ve taken it in all possible directions meaning there’s really fun, lighthearted, and celebratory viewing as well as more sobering, or contemplative moments. You can also expect our zine, which includes short written and visual responses to our programme, and look out for the Young Barbican Late that we’ll be curating in a few weeks’ time which will allow for more active participation from attendees.

Photo credit info: Mother
UK/Brazil 2020, Dir. Jas Pitt & Kate Stonehill

For more information about the Chronic Youth Film Festival 2022 visit www.barbican.org.uk

Interview by Julia Nelson who does marketing and operations for Abundant Art. Thanks to the Communications team at Cinema Barbican. 

Ativador Windows 10

The Art Value initiative, a perennial art project, exploring the concept of ‘numbers as art’, has started selling NFTs (non-fungible tokens) via a unique-concept auction, where the highest bid becomes the content of the token. The artwork’s price becomes the subject matter of the piece, making each work one of a kind.

During a typical NFT auction, once the reserved price for a piece is reached, the auction continues until the highest bidder acquires the asset. However, the artists behind the Art Value project have coined up a slightly different approach; before the auction occurs, technically, there is no artwork to bid on, as it is created after the event itself.

Each unique auction begins with empty Art Value tokens—depicting a question mark (“?”)—being offered for sale. As the proposed auction bids change, with each offer outbidding the previous price, so does the content of the artwork. The auction is won by the highest bidder, whose proposed price gets tokenized, meaning, the exact price of the winning bid will be inscribed in the token.

For instance, if the bidder has won the auction with a 1000 euro bid, s/he will acquire the number 1000 depicting NFT token. Each NFT piece can later be modified in a specifically designed virtual reality platform.

We spoke to Das Vegas, the artist leading the initiative.

Tell us about Art Value. How has it evolved and what has been your role in it.

The project started from holding live auctions in art galleries and art fairs, selling numbers as art. Now it has evolved into a uniquely-engineered auction, where the numbers represent the value of a bid and the final artwork was created only post-event. The price of the final bid, the winning bid, is depicted in physical artwork. So the biggest change, I’d say, is that now auction participants are immersed in the creation of artwork through the process of bidding, co-creating the NFT pieces.

I have been leading the project from the beginning, along with like-minded artists, seeking to introduce the concept “numbers as art” to fellow art enthusiasts.

Through this new project of Art Value, NFT auction launch, how do you see this disrupting the production and consumption value chain of the art world and creating a new model?

The main element in the project is the artwork’s own price. All the artistic and economic principles are determined only by the price. Price, in this case, becomes a crucial factor—like data in interactive arts—for creating something else out of it. Here the price, the major and middle point of the project, shapes the performance as well as the result. We believe that the numbers in Art Value project give meaning to our users and that afterward, they will continue to create more significant works from their number-depicting pieces, thus blurring the lines of the works’ true value and partially becoming creators themselves.

For the benefit of our readers could you please walk us through the steps of the NFT auction to acquiring the final product?

Art Value has pioneered a unique type of auction where generative tokens are created through the auction process.

Each unique auction begins with empty Art Value tokens being offered for sale. During the auction, the proposed bids change the content of the art. The auction is won by the highest bidder; after the auction is finished, the exact price of the winning bid will be depicted in the token. Also, the mechanics of the auction are very important to generating the art piece.

To sum up, if a user wins the auction with a 100-dollar bid, s/he receives the 100 NFT token.

What inspired the team to conceptualize numbers as art?

It started with my conceptual work on numbers and prices as art. This art practice now gets digitized and leverages digitalization, monetization, and the newest technologies. We believe that numbers are very important to our contemporary lives, for instance, various anniversaries, and their significance only continues to grow throughout our lives. We believe in the power of numbers and aim to emphasize their importance through art.

If I could invest a million in art, I would rather acquire an original masterpiece rather than owning a digital number-what is the value proposition of this project to attract both new and established art collectors and artists

The technology NFT’s are based on is the future. There will always be collectors, investors that appreciate traditional art, however, I think the potential NFTs bear is immense, and the current momentum we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.

What is unique regarding our work, is that having acquired our digital NFT numbers, users will be able to redesign that simple number with our digital tools (our virtual reality space, the “Art Value Experience”) to create a 3D object; later it can be printed with a 3D printer, so the piece becomes tangible as well. This brings numerical abstraction to the metaverse. We bring new physical experiences from both the abstract and virtual space to the real world.

Some critiques have cautioned that the digital arts NFT market could lead us into a potential bubble. How would you respond to that?

Some NFT projects have no value and they will never have, but some will stay forever. It is the same in the tangible art world, some art gets the recognition it deserves, some, unfortunately, remain on the sidelines.

The Art Value is a crypto art—or metaverse—project rather than only NFT. It examines fundamental issues of cryptography, distributed networks, functions of blockchain technology, digital art, provenance, certification. It is not only an image in NFT format to be sold for collecting or investing purposes only; it raises questions about what is digital art in general, how technology could support artistic expressions, and, eventually, how to disrupt or even hack the established power systems.

What could make this idea gain wider popularity?

Now we are actively working on developing new tools for the Art Value project, which will help our users to engage in creative processes in relation to numbers and NFTs. However, we need to build a strong network of professional artists and start working with them from the curatorial perspective as well as invite them to create artworks through art commissioning. Last but not least, we started building our community of artists and collectors – this may substantially increase the reach and support our idea’s development.

Tell us about your work outside this project and related to this project.

In parallel to developing the Art Value platform, I work with several other art projects. Some of them are more in the field of traditional media, some are digital and interactive; but most of them are grounded in the field of arts and technology.

I show my works in exhibitions, but also participate in academic endeavors like conferences where I present both my art practice and research. In the last solo exhibition “Digit”, I exhibited my 3 latest projects, which were of complex and interdisciplinary nature. During this exhibition, I also showcased Art Value works utilizing many different painting techniques; prices of those artworks were explicitly exposed in the paintings themselves.

Another project of mine is, for example, Metaphone – an interactive art machine producing paintings from participant’s biodata. It is based on advanced technologies, but the results are aquarelle paintings.

Innovation and technology are part of my artistic process, in the Delete by Haiku, an artistic mobile application whereby deleting old SMS text messages the user creates haiku poetry, the digital upcycling happens in the hands of a user.

Would acquiring or creating art in this new format appeal to buyers and artists emotionally and lead to a satisfying experience? What are your thoughts?

I think that working with such innovative principles of creativity, everyone should be excited to witness the novel use of old and new techniques. In the Art Value case, the buyers and artists become an inseparable part of the process, actively participating to create and, hopefully, achieve creative fulfillment. Numbers have strong emotional connections and significance to people, therefore, meanings in numbers are very important in this project, too.

-End-

About Art Value project:

Launched in 2009, Art Value is an enduring art project consisting of performances, exhibitions, installations, interventions, artwork production, critical designs, evocative experiences, network building, and interactions. Its latest initiative focuses on selling NFT art via a blockchain-based online marketplace. Led by the artist Das Vegas, Art Value is one of the first crypto art projects in the world, seeking to set new standards regarding art creation and production.

Learn more: https://artvalue.org

The Kingdom Choir performs on the sixth night of In The Round at the iconic Roundhouse tomorrow night. We caught up with Karen Gibson MBE  before they perform tomorrow night.

If you’re able to pick one, what would you say has been the biggest highlight of your career to date?

I think that the obvious answer would be the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Certainly in terms of profile and sheer numbers as well as the life-changing events that followed. After that day, things were never the same. It has been an incredible journey.

I think I would also have to mention our tour in the US. It was a wonderful opportunity to take gospel music to the land where gospel was born.

What was it like performing at the royal wedding in 2018?

It was magical performing at the royal wedding in 2018. It was almost surreal, in fact. I found myself mentally pinching myself throughout the day because I wanted to make sure I was really there and also because I didn’t want to forget the incredible experience – the atmosphere, the feeling, and every tiny happening.

How are you planning on celebrating your 25th year?

There were some amazing things that we had in the pipeline,  but we have had to put those things on hold for obvious reasons. I can’t say what they were but hopefully, we will be able to resume plans when we are in the clear, and things can move forward as they were before.

What can people look forward to from your performance at the In the Round festival?

We are very excited to be performing at one of the nation’s most iconic venues. We will be bringing a mix of some of our old favourites as well as some new music.

We are also very happy to be hosting the amazing Bianca-Rose as our support artist.

What does it feel like performing live again?

It is an absolute privilege to be able to do what we do in such a time as this. It’s fair to say that we have been chomping at the bit to get back to live performance! There is nothing like standing before people who have come especially to hear you sing. It is an honour and a joy. We absolutely love the connection of live music!

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kingdomchoir.com

The Kingdom Choir headline In the Round festival at the Roundhouse Saturday 22nd Jan, last tickets are available here: https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/2022/in-the-round-festival-2022/kingdom-choir/

Their new single ‘Together Again’ is out now.

Goat Girl headline the second night of In the Round this evening with support from PVA and Flâneuse. We caught up with the band’s Holly Hole before they perform tonight.

How did Goat Girl start out? What inspired the name of your band?

Lottie, Ellie and Naima started making music together as teenagers and Rosy joined when they needed a drummer a few years later. I (Holly) joined in 2018 when Naima left and the rest is history. I believe the name was Naima’s Dad’s suggestion initially, but it’s not hugely significant of anything.

What inspires your music?

Lots of things. Sonically it’s a combination of all our different and shared musical (and even non-musical) preferences. Lyrically it’s often about our personal experiences and trying to make sense of the world.

Tell us about your second album ‘On All Fours’ released last year.

Where to start? The album was written from the ground up in 2019 and was an entirely collaborative process, which saw us experimenting with new sounds and instruments, often switching around to write parts. We recorded it with Dan Carey and Alexis Smith, who helped us fuse together the raw and electronic elements and encouraged us to push the boundaries sonically. It was a hugely challenging and rewarding process and we’re very proud of it.

Previously you have joined with environmental charity Clientearth in creating Playlists For Earth – tell us about it. Any other social themes/issues you would like to address through your music?

We were approached to create a playlist where the song titles created a message about climate change. It seemed like a fun and interesting way to show our support, so we were happy to be involved. We are a relatively active group of leftists so it’s not unusual for social and political issues to make their way into our music. It’s not necessarily a conscious thing, it’s more about how we’re feeling and/or what we’re concerned about at the time of writing.

What will you be performing at the In the Round festival? Are you looking forward to watching PVA and Flaneuse who are supporting?

Mostly songs from On All Fours, with some special surprises thrown in. PVA are always so fun to watch and we’re excited to check out Flâneuse.

-END-

Website: goatgirl.co.uk

Goat Girl headline the second night of In the Round Tuesday 18th Jan, with support from PVA and Flâneuse. Last tickets here: https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/2022/in-the-round-festival-2022

Second album ‘On All Fours’ is out now on Rough Trade Records.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6DcAHOjKGAzytkGp7DNrbE

In the Round Festival, 15th – 24th January 2022

The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, Chalk Farm, London, NW1 8EH More info and tickets from roundhouse.org.uk

15th January 2022 – Hak Baker presents Bricks in the Wall with Connie Constance, Rachel Chinouriri, Bel Cobain and Kai Kwasi

18th January 2022 – Goat Girl, with support from PVA and Flâneuse

19th January 2022 – Emeli Sandé + support

20th January 2022 – Richard Dawson, with support from Luca Manning

22nd January 2022, 6.30pm – ‘The Birth of Punjabi Garage’ screening, plus q&a with Yung Singh

22nd January 2022 – The Kingdom Choir + support

24th January 2022 – Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Ségal, with support from Abel Selaocoe

Abundant Art is delighted to chat with Akeim Toussaint Buck in the run up to his upcoming show. On Thursday 20 and Friday 21 January, Sadler’s Wells welcomes Akeim Toussaint Buck to the Lilian Baylis Studio to present his Wild Card, Radical Visions with an ensemble of artists. 

 The  curated evening features live music, spoken word, film and powerful performances by artists who work with the themes of social transformation and diasporic identity. It celebrates the resilience and joy of the artists’ communities whilst underlining the oppression and trauma they face. 

Akeim Toussaint Buck’s interview with Abundant Art-

What does dance mean to you?

Dance for me is a means of healing. We heal when we express ourselves and for me dance has been an expressive tool of deep healing and liberation that I don’t even have the words to truly communicate. So, I create, and I teach to hopefully strike others with that message and truth. For me this is what every expressive art form does for us.

Your work covers multiple art forms to tell the story, combining dance, creative writing, film, poetry, beat-box, singing and acting. What inspires you to work on multiple artforms?

Humanity speaks many languages so it’s only right my message is delivered in multiple mediums. Sometimes my work is just dance however the process to create the dance is fed by different mediums. Source material can be poetry and sometimes it’s a film or a specific song or an interview or a situation etc. In the context of a finished product, for me to get my message across one medium just doesn’t cut it. As a creator whose focus is on people and their stories, I feel it necessary to exercise my skills in many ways, telling stories that can open up new perspectives for audiences. This also bridges the gaps between audiences, inviting regular theatre goers, dance enthusiasts, supporters of poetry and live music to be in one space. Or someone who’s simply interested in the subject matter, so they come to witness art like this for the first time and they hopefully become hooked because their appetite is enriched with so many different flavours.

What are the elements that spur you when creating new work?

Ascension, curiosity of clarity, enlightenment, challenging myself and questioning collective accepted norms that we all know deep down should be questioned. I’ll give an example: in ‘Windows of Displacement’ & ‘Displaced’ I was adamant to use my own story as a springboard to look at global situations of injustice related to displacement. I was adamant to show the connections between what has taken place in the past and the current political climate we live in. The purpose becomes the fuel, even when I’m trembling inside questioning my position to tell this story and thinking no one will care. The passion to reveal something in the work keeps me going, digging and breaking my own fears around exercising my right to freedom of speech.

What is the Radical Visions story, how did it come about?

The opportunity to do a Wild Card came about because I asked for it and kept putting myself out there and my willingness to bet on myself and the artists I have programmed. You must back yourself first or else no one else will.

I went to a couple of other artist’s Wild Cards and was inspired by this idea of curating your own night. I took part in Spoken Movement and Keira Martin’s Wild Cards, and both were earth shatteringly brilliant, so I felt excited to express to the programmers that I am interested in hosting my own. They liked my track record and ideas after a chat and then we began to plan.

I thought long and hard since 2019 on what I would bring together. At first it was How we Rise, a nod to the late great Ms Maya Angelou. However, as the pandemic hit and my own confidence in my profession became shaken and the sudden global lens placed on the plight of People of the Global Majority (People of African Descent and Indigenous People), it became apparent that something more heart centred and focussed on us lifting ourselves out of the doom and celebrating our inner power had to be the theme. Radical Visions is born as a response to all things that we find lacking in our society, it’s a soap box for the people our society likes to forget. This Radical Visions is about placing people of the African Diaspora who live in the west at the centre of the lens rather than at the margins. That’s why I’ve programmed artists of that identification and who make work that reflects on that experience.

Does the theme of Radical Visions reflect your own experiences of diasporic identity?

The theme of Radical Visions transforms to reflect my diasporic identity in the form of being the product of a radical imagination and radical environments. Being of the African Diaspora in a predominantly European environment means my experience is unique, this society was not built for me to fit in it fairly. However, I am here and the society, regardless of its foundations, has to treat me with humility and respect as a fellow human being. It sometimes doesn’t, it sometimes does beat me down in numerous ways but still we are here beaming with greatness. This is testimony to the radical persistence of oppressed people. The truth is like a lion’s roar and this roar is saying we are human beings and that we deserve to be treated the same as anyone no matter where we are from or what you may believe about us. I do feel it is sad though that something so natural is now radical, that is a reflection of our times. Love, compassion and empathy are now radical.

Radical Visions also talks about the oppressions and trauma faced by the artists’ community and their resilience. Please elaborate and share your thoughts with us.

The artists in Radical Visions all come from the African Diaspora, this means we are descendants of the enslaved people taken from Africa for the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This act literally funded the world we now live in, and the atrocities enacted to such close relatives are inherited by us. Not just us the descendants of victims but the perpetrators too. This is not just focused on this situation; this is the same for the descendants of survivors and victims of World War One and Two. Scientists have proven that we do inherit the traumas of our ancestors, the experience is in our DNA. Some Artists decide to make work that ushers us into the possibility of healing those parts of ourselves, by giving space to what has not been acknowledged. Our painful pasts become fuel for our creations as we rewrite, re-experience, explore and give new life to it. We transform this pain into something beautiful and transformational for the audience, ourselves and our communities. This is the same for our communities, regardless of the attempts of genocide of traditions and people. Traditions continue to thrive and evolve, we continue to dance, sing, drum, and tell our folklore stories of our magic. As if during slavery the drum was banned but still, we found a way.

Just a side note, I truly believe that the time we live in now is a time where the inheritors of such resilience will become the leaders of tomorrow because now more than ever, we need creativity so we can adapt to this quickly changing world.

Creative expression is a vehicle of healing that everyone can practice to get to know themselves. Our communities did this during pre-colonial times and they still do because of the resilience of the act of creating. Again, this isn’t necessarily isolated to people of recent African decent however, due to the times we live in, we see people of African heritage practicing more dance and song communally because it is and always has been our pass time, before, during and after the slave trade. This is what my entire message is, at the core of all of us we have the same need, the need to express and be heard. This expression transforms depending on who we are, the acceptance of a diverse landscape of expressions is the Radical Vision.

Your presentation at Wild Card on 20^th and 21^st are packed with powerful work from a team of amazing co-artists exploring topical themes such as race, identity, unity, and power.  What led you to select the team?

I selected the artists for Radical Visions based on the intention I felt from their work and them as people. Both companies aim to shed light on the many dimensions of what it means to live an African diasporic life. This was something crucial for this Radical Visions. I also contemplated whether this opportunity or event makes sense for their career and their projection of themselves. They had to want to do the event of course, this was super important. I am really happy with all involved, everyone connects to the theme and their work will shine and connect with people. FUBUNATION and Alethia Antonia are rewriting and expanding the possibilities of how people receive work, not just because of their identity but because of their ability to be relatable, vulnerable, with flaming hot movement language and potent messages without excluding their audience. This for me is a genius balance in being an artist and I just want to tip my hat to them.

Lastly, the cover poster for Radical Vision with a flaming Akeim Toussaint Buck leaping out of a stained-glass background with flying locks is absolutely striking. It tells the audience what can be expected from your performance. We would love to know about this image and if this is a part of a performance.

Pertaining to the picture. That is the great synchronicity of myself and Ashley Karrell, the photographer. This church is a location in the film ‘Displaced,’ yes, some dancing takes place. You’ll have to catch the film to see exactly how. It is a very beautiful image, full of symbolism and metaphor, it felt perfect to promote Radical Visions. As you may know Christianity was used to mentally indoctrinate many people who were subject to biological and cultural genocides, for example, Africans and Native Americans. To have myself dressed as this mystical African Angel Warrior, leaping out of this stained-glass window, represents breaking the mental chains. Don’t get me wrong, Christianity really and truly started in Africa, don’t believe me, read up on Ethiopian and the Egyptian connections to it.

The hunter not the hunted tells the story so when the European powers at the time were ready to spread their version across the world, the tactics were placed in scripture. So, for me it’s really an image saying we can connect to the god all around us in the traditional way our ancestors used to. And I’m not just talking about African spirituality, I’m talking about the Druids and ancient Celtic and Nordic cultures. It was about the Earth and the Spirit of the Universe as god and that lives in us.

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Radical Visions is Co-Produced by Sadler’s Wells and Akeim Toussaint Buck for Wild Card. Radical Visions is also a part of Sadler’s Wells’ new programme Well Seasoned, Celebrating Black Dance in 2022.

Other artists featuring are London-based dance duo FUBUNATION, Ashley Karrell, Azizi Cole, Otis Jones, Pariss Elecktra, Amy Gadiaga and Muti Musifiri. Akeim Toussaint image by photographer Ashley Karrell.

Tickets:Wild Card: Akeim Toussaint Buck – Radical Visions – Lilian Baylis Studio – Sadler’s Wells (sadlerswells.com)

About Wild Card

Wild Card is the unique initiative providing a glimpse of the rich variety of work that makes up the current dance landscape. Increasingly popular with audiences and artists alike, Wild Card opens the stage to an exciting and adventurous community of dance-makers, giving a broad range of artists the unique opportunity to curate their own evening of dance. These specially curated nights feature exploratory approaches to choreography and combine different mediums, broadening audiences’ perspectives on dance made today.

Wild Card is part of Sadler’s Wells’ talent development programme of support for dance artists, alongside other initiatives including New Wave Associates, Sadler’s Wells Summer University and hosting the National Youth Dance Company.

About Akeim Toussaint Buck

Akeim Toussaint Buck is an interdisciplinary performer and maker, born in Jamaica and raised in England. Akeim’s intention is to create moving, thought provoking, accessible and free-spirited projects. The work challenges, enlightens and entertains in a visceral way, calling on multiple art forms to tell the story. Audiences are invited to not just observe: they are implicit in the experience. His work aims to reflect on reality, looking at ongoing socio-political issues, with a humanitarian intention.

Since graduating from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance with a Bachelor degree in Performing Arts, Akeim has been involved in multiple cross disciplinary programmes with a wide range of artists and communities from around the world. The aesthetic of his work combines: dance, creative writing, film, poetry, beat-box, singing and acting. Fused to tell stories capable of bridging the gaps between a variety of audiences.

Akeim’s movement interest has a myriad of inspirations, from Capoeira, Kick Boxing, Contemporary Dance, Contact Improvisation, Caribbean Dance, Hip Hop, Yoga and Release Technique to name a few. His performance focus expands from the physical to vocal expression. Building on an interest in the voice’s expressive qualities, with current explorations of beat boxing and vocal improvisation.

Recent achievements include becoming Irie Dance Theatre’s, Artist in Residence for 2019-2020, becoming the Artist for Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Yorkshire Dance and Spin Arts’ Catapult 2019. Thanks to Deda Theatre in Derby where Akeim has been recently appointed Associate Artist 2020-2021, gaining more support in his work. Thanks to Geraldine Connor Foundation where Akeim is an Associate Artist. Attaining a Seed Commission for piloting Beatmotion Mass for Leeds Year of Culture 2023.

Akeim’s work has been supported by Yorkshire Dance, Leeds Playhouse, Leeds Inspired, IRIE! Dance Theatre, Spin Arts, Serendipity, NSCD, Sadler’s Wells and Arts Council England. His choreographic work includes: Snakebox’s PLAY, Windows Of Displacement, Reckoning, Sib Y Osis, Beatmotion, Souls & Cells etc. Film work includes Galvanise & Displaced.

Instagram/Twitter/Facebook:
@toussainttomov

www.toussainttomove.com

Kate Conrad, an interior design specialist at Madison and Mayfair, has always found literature a source of inspiration in her work. To celebrate the life of the author, Kate pens a thoughtful reflection on Austen’s work. She tells us how her writings work to make us all better individuals.

1) We hear you have written a thoughtful reflection on Austen’s work. Can you tell us what inspired this and where we can read it? How has this inspired your work?

My design work has always been inspired by literary greats – I’ve been outspoken in the past about the influence of the likes of Wilde and Fitzgerald on my design work. Jane Austen’s representation of Regency-era style is unmatched, and her work has provided great inspiration for a number of my design projects. I wrote the piece around the time of national Jane Austen Day, which was celebrated in December 2021, to share why her writing is still so pertinent today – not just in terms of her influence on my design, but her influence on myself as a person too. The full piece is up on Madison & Mayfair’s website with our other articles if you’d like to read it.

2) As an interior design specialist working in a creative field how important is it for you to find inspiration?

Creative inspiration is absolutely crucial to what I do. For anyone working in a creative field, whether they are an interior designer like me, or a musician, writer or artist, finding inspiration is essential to the craft. Such inspiration can come from anywhere, and you may find yourself inspired by anything – for me, inspiration comes largely in the form of literature.

3) Besides books, what other things motivate your creativity?

Truthfully, a lot of my motivation comes directly from my career path. I began my career as a schoolteacher and later decided to pursue interior design as it was something I felt incredibly passionate about. There’s a Japanese concept called ‘ikigai’ which refers to the balanced fulfillment you find when your talents and passions converge; my vocational switch allowed me to find this balance, and it’s the gratification I get from doing what I love that motivates me.

4) Before Jane Austen were there any other authors or creative personalities you have closely associated your work with?

My design work has been inspired by a host of literary figures. F. Scott Fitzgerald, for example, is practically synonymous with the Art Deco movement and the roaring 20s in America. Art Deco design is always cycling back into style, and it’s a timeless style I love using to embody in my work. Beyond aesthetics, though, Fitzgerald was an author who romanticised the very concept of timelessness, longing for the golden hour of youth to be preserved so it could remedy the symptoms of life’s harsh reality. Fitzgerald lauded Art Deco aesthetic grandeur – not for merely superficial cause, but because it represented a comforting escape from the world outside. Fitzgerald’s philosophy is one I strive to encapsulate in my work.

5) What are you working on at the moment?

We launched a number of soft furnishing items over the Winter, which was a new and exciting exploration for our company. At the moment, though, I’m getting ready to launch a new product range full of products from really varying interests. Of course, I find my primary inspiration in literature, but in these new ranges, I’ve worked with a lot of new décor styles from around the world to expand my creativity. I can’t spill too many details, but I can say that I’m super excited!

6) Why could we all do with a bit more of Austen’s spirit in our lives?

Austen was a revolutionary of her time but managed to hide her assessments of strict Regency morality behind a veil of sarcasm. She drew attention to the confining reality faced by women in her contemporary era to provide a commentary on society’s downfalls. For all her vigorous, moralistic appraisals, though, Austen also offers her readership hope. Her female protagonists embodied hope for the future, where women would have the freedom to be witty and quick, not befitting of the defined mould they were expected to fit. Austen blended the real and the ideal, revealing society’s shortcomings while instilling optimism for women in the future. When you cast your eyes over the global landscape we’re in right now, it’s undeniable that moral assessment is needed, but it is equally true that hope is something we could all use a little more of.

7) Austen’s writing served an important moral purpose in its revelation of the inequalities and injustices of society. Her writing often tried to expose the confining realities of women and their position in society. Do you see any change in women’s position in society in 2022?

The women in Jane Austen’s novels had a lot to contend with when it came to their restricted societal position. In Regency-era Britain, women were not allowed to have independent careers, but were merely to hope for a companionate and a wealthy husband on whom they could rely upon would appear. Though women don’t experience this same type of restriction in 2022, their place in society is not held without struggle. Events of the last year or so have demonstrated the demoralising and deep-rooted prevalence of misogyny in our society. Though I’m sure many may be feeling despondent, we must remember that what is happening is categorically wrong. Stay optimistic and keep breaking glass ceilings – change, though perhaps slow, will be inevitable.

8) Sustainability is currently very topical. What steps is the interior design industry taking to be part of this journey?

Enacting sustainable practices is something every industry must do, and interior design is no different. Companies should be taking the lifecycle of products into account, and refrain from making products that are quickly replaced. Sustainable materials must also be utilised further. To use myself as an example, I’ve worked to embody tireless trends in my products, to ensure they stand the test of time. Moreover, as sustainable practices have grown in prevalence, companies dedicated to enacting them have grown too. At our events, we’ve enlisted the help of Delta Global to ensure our packaging met sustainability standards – outsourcing is a great option when it comes to sustainability measures, and has helped us greatly in the past.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: 

Kate Conrad is the lead interior designer for homeware company Madison & Mayfair. She is an avid reader of literary classics, who combines her love of design with the works of her favourite literary figures, creating unique artistic products. Kate draws on her favourite authors in her design work, combining timeless trends with modern sensibilities. Her free time is spent travelling, absorbing the spirit of design of every place she visits, and she cherishes moments spent with her family and friends.