WEEKENDER LABS (2009-2019)
While working with Artsadmin, I initiated and curated a regular series of labs for artists with an ‘out of the academy’ approach - each lab was led by an artist of international renown and was open to 16 practitioners from all fields. The intention was to help facilitate access to working with artists across a wide spectrum of approaches to performance and collaboration, and to bring artists together who may not otherwise meet. The labs were curated and run in a spirit of play and collective experiment – more of a lab than a masterclass - with the content of each reflecting the lead artist's own practice while responding to the interests of the people in the room. They were fluid and unpredictable in form, sparking new work and collaborations.
Between 2009 and 2019, the Weekender programme included labs led by the following artists : Gob Squad, Lone Twin, The Freedom Theatre Palestine, Harold Offeh, Graeme Miller, Stacy Makishi, Oreet Ashery, Julia Bardsley, Richard DeDomenici, You Me Bum Bum Train, Marcia Farquhar, Joe Moran & Christopher House, Kira O'Reilly, Simon Vincenzi, Anne Bean, Station House Opera, João Fiadeiro, Peggy Shaw, Karen Christopher, Peter Liversidge, Blast Theory, Ivana Müller, Franko B, Lois Weaver, Marcus Coates, Florence Peake, Dickie Beau, Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Joshua Sofaer, Vlatka Horvat, Lucy Cash, La Ribot with Juan Loriente and Thami Manekehla, Simone Aughterlony, Sonia Gomez, Tim Spooner, Mamoru Iriguchi, Nao Nagai and Marty Langthorne.
A unique, honest, inspiring, challenging, unusual event. I left feeling it had given me license to make my own work, stand up for and by my reasons for doing it
– You Me Bum Bum Train Weekender
Cover Image : Weekender Lab with The Freedom Theatre (Palestine)