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
THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 2020
BCU Partnership with Tate Liverpool
BCU and Tate Liverpool embarked on an ambitious partnership that involved activities across teaching, learning and research offering opportunities for professional development for our students and staff. This involved undertakings that were identified by colleagues from both institutions on both sites such as lectures, talks, opportunities for professional development, PhD research, conferences, and interventions at Tate Exchange. The third year of the partnership also saw many activities, but the focus was on the co-collaborative project culminating in the commissioning of Mikail Karakis’ film, Ferocious Love. My role was to co-ordinate all these activities and together with Dr Jonathan Harris to develop the research for the School Wide research project.
BICA and Tate Public Online Lecture Series: Global Futures
I was involved in the commissioning and developing the BICA and Tate Public Online Lecture Series: Global Futures which focused on the critical issues facing art, artists, and the art world in the wake of the pandemic.
The Shipping Forecast
As part of the partnership project, the School of Art announced an ambitious school wide research project “The Shipping Forecast” which involved all students and staff taking part in an imaginative experiential research activity centred on the theme of ‘The Shipping Forecast”. Through exploration of this theme, students and staff were prompted to think creatively and critically about human pasts, presents and future. This resulted in many ideas and activities that were captured in presentations which embraced these key themes
The All School Project had two purposes: (1) to help build a collective and supportive identity (‘learning community’) within the school by bringing students from all levels together with staff, and (2) to help form ideas, visual representations and activities that can be taken forward by the school in its partnership activity with Tate Liverpool, which culminated in a Co-Created Exhibition Project at Tate Liverpool in Spring 2020.
From discussions with Tate Liverpool, artist Mikhail Karakis was invited to work with the school to take these ideas further in a collaboration with staff and students. This resulted in the works Ferocious Love, an audio-visual installation shown at Tate Liverpool by Mikhail Karakis made in collaboration with students from the School of Art and Birmingham City University. This work focuses on emotional responses and the need for mutual care in the face of the climate crisis
Please see below a link for more information and to see the trailer.
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/mikhail-karikis-ferocious-love
As part of the project BCU commissioned film maker Chris Keenan to work with students from L5 Professional Placement Modules to explore and document the processes which resulted in the documentary film the Making of Ferocious love, please see below a link to the film.
https://www.chriskeenan.com/ferocious-love
Finally, as the entire project came to a close, students and staff from both the Tate and BCU who had worked on the project came together to hold a public seminar in which we presented our processes, and reflected on the on our work together, it was a really important close to the project as we gathered different viewpoints form all involved. This was captured on film, please see below.
LINK TO COME