MOVING ROOTS

 Moving Roots was a collective of arts organisations; Battersea Arts Centre, Restoke, Common Wealth, The Old Courts and Jumped Theatre, spanning across the UK.

Our aim was to collaborate with local people and artists to explore new ways to co-create live performances and create as many diverse opportunities as possible.

Over three years we worked closely with the community to develop new ways to create art in celebration of local voices, people and stories. The project was centred around three performances and the social change that these performances might invoke.

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Project Manifesto

 

  •  We will not use jargon, and make sure language and process is clear and demystified.
  • The work will celebrate the people and place.
  • We must be receptive to gifts.
  • The work must be artistically excellent.
  • “Not about us, without us”.
  • The project will encourage people to be more active in their own lives/ community.
  • Where possible, support the onward progression of people; take them beyond volunteering and give access to paid work.
  • Dig deeper.
  • The project will make people feel differently.

What is Co-creation?

Co-creation delegates leadership to participants and invites a wider range of voices, encouraging dialogue that continues beyond the immediate life of the project itself. It challenges hierarchies and gives people agency to shape the project, be the author of their stories, and make what they want to see in their hometown. The project works with artists as visionaries, skilled communicators and social provocateurs.

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Year 1 – Rent Party

“Rent Party” was the 1st of 3 shows to be programmed by the Moving Roots network.

Acclaimed choreographer and director Darren Pritchard (Mother of the House of Flava, House of Ghetto) invited audiences to Rent Party in Wigan. A 21st century Austerity Britain immersive show inspired by the 1920s Harlem Renaissance Rent Parties.

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Year 2 – Epic Fail

“Epic Fail” championed ways of working closely with local communities to give people agency to shape projects, be the author of their stories, and make what they want to see in their hometown.

Commissioned artist, Kid Carpet, who is a musician and performance maker, worked alongside Year 5 pupils at Millbrook Primary school to create the show.

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Year 3 – What Do You See?

The Pappy Show brought their show ‘What Do You See?’ to us as part of Moving Roots. Four artists from Wigan and Leigh – Shaun, Ruth, Zha and Joyce – joined the London cast to devise the play based on their lived experiences, with the performers not playing characters as such, but rather a version of themselves. Working together in a safe and creative space they could explore and collaborate with freedom – although this was challenging at times, as the material was so personal that they had to learn to get comfortable with their vulnerability.

Read More from Chandan Shergill

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