WORDS FOR THE LIVING, 2021
Live Performance | Beth Derbyshire | WERK
Words for the Living is a live performance in which an individual speaker, communicates a series of words and phrases through a megaphone in public space. The words are commemorative excerpts by loved ones for so many of the key workers who have tragically passed away from Covid 19. The poignant and celebratory recital of words is a living memorial, describing the qualities of these incredible people who lost their lives whilst saving others and is intended to pay homage to loss, whilst inspiring the living through their bravery. The performance will be filmed and presented in the digital space of Into the Parade.
Into the Parade is an online web encounter and live project that explores how arts organisation and practitioners across the Midlands are engaging civically. The digital ‘Civic Centre’ is both tangible and metaphorical concept to explore the role of cultural practice in a civic context. Into the Parade is a cultural intervention that undertakes projects that have online and real-world anchors points and has been initiated by Beth Derbyshire and developed with students from the MA Arts and Project Management course at Birmingham City University.
BETH DERBYSHIRE
LIVE AND LOUD, 2015
Selfridges Live + Loud was an exciting festival held in 2015. The event celebrated the very best of Birmingham and brought together many of their key creative partner to explore captivating ideas in art, fashion, music, beauty, andfood. As part of this event, Birmingham School of Art presented an exciting programme of performances, installations,and research projects for the city, centred on a pop-up ‘creative podium’, which was designed as a multi-purpose workand learning space by Art and Design students who study in the School of Art. The podium was curated andorganised by Beth Derbyshire and aimed to display and celebrate the richness, diversity, and quality of the variousa ctivities of the School of Art, both internal and with their external partner organisations.
Live + Loud represented a unique collaborative opportunity for both the School of Art as an entity and the individualstudents, staff, artists, and connected organisations involved. Through the commissioning and creation of new works, installations, and performances, those involved had the chance to gain vital exposure while contributing to a vibrantand varied festival which really brought excitement to the city. Being able to work with Selfridges was a fantastic experience for all the students and artists involved, and the project has been beneficial to many in terms of their professional development.
The podium featured the Newness archive (created by the Gorilla Collective), an installation of hundreds of tags bearing facts about Birmingham’s history of invention and newness. CFAR provided in house philosophy and alchemy to host a one-day philosophy conference involving performances and talks. Article Gallery Off-site presented 7 Disorderly Dramas, a series of acts that transformed the podium into a temporary theatre stage for the day with a series of theatrical live performances, music and films ranging from the serious to the tragic-comic and even the absurd.
P.E.N.D.U.L.U.M, the travelling art pop-up think-tank (a collaboration between the SOA and City and Guilds) presented their research of the Welcome Collection. An exhibition of work from alumni was exhibited alongside a series of framed prints presented by New Art WM’s Art Market. Fierce Festival presented artist duo One Five West who exhibited interactive objectss, together with a film by Emily Mulenga, whose digital work explores the female, black body in the internet age. Lastly Shebeen Sounds hosted a workshop using performance, sound and visual installation to explore how culture and history shapes our intimate memories.”
The event generated much press and social media attention, which gave the School of Art vital exposure and positive public representation.
Please see link below to the project: