Conferences

International Green Theatre Alliance Launched

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New international initiative to green the theatre sector founded by environmental organizations Julie’s Bicycle (UK) and Broadway Green Alliance (USA)

A new International Green Theatre Alliance (IGTA) has been launched at this year’s LDI show in Orlando, Florida. The IGTA formalizes the growing partnership between Julie’s Bicycle (UK), which works on environmental sustainability across the creative industries in the UK, and the Broadway Green Alliance (USA), which works with the US theatre community and its patrons to adopt environmentally preferable practices.

The Alliance’s first project is a new website www.igtalliance.com which will go live in December 2011 and provide an entry point for international practitioners seeking information and resources on environmentally sustainable best practices in the arts. The website will introduce the extensive sustainability programs of alliance members and direct users to international resources and support networks.

Alliance members will be working together on a range of projects over the coming years. A major aim will be to pool their collective knowledge and experience to help the theatrical industry respond better to the specific challenges it faces in its transition to a low carbon business. This will include sharing and disseminating research; case studies and practical tools; and collaborating on new resources and events. One of the first projects is focusing on sustainable practices in stage lighting.

The founding members hope that the alliance will grow into a worldwide initiative of similar organizations working at a national level to bring about an environmentally sustainable future for the creative industries.

Alison Tickell, Director of Julie’s Bicycle said, “It is fantastic to find like-minded partners committed to the same sustainable vision, and prepared to pick away at the obstacles that make tackling climate change seem so tough. When creative people come together anything is possible, and the energy, creativity and focus of the BGA has been inspiring.”

Sian Alexander, Associate Director, Theatre for Julie’s Bicycle said, “We have enjoyed an increasingly productive and collaborative relationship with our colleagues at the Broadway Green Alliance and this new international alliance is the logical next step for us. We feel that we have much to learn from each other and that through collaboration we can achieve more, faster as we work to improve the environmental sustainability of our industry. In the first instance we hope to provide a useful international resource for practitioners through our website. We expect to see other practical outcomes of our work together over the coming year, and in time we hope that our alliance will grow to include other countries. To this end, we are already in positive conversation with colleagues in Australia and Canada, among others.”

Charles Deull, Co-Chair of the Broadway Green Alliance said, “The BGA is thrilled to launch the IGTA with Julie’s Bicycle, a proven leader in working with arts organizations in making their operations greener.  Bringing together the best sustainability innovations from Broadway, the West End and the theatre communities in the UK and US will enhance our effectiveness and support the many companies and individuals creating a greener theatre.  We look forward to expanding the IGTA to encompass other national organizations focused on a greener theatre community.”

Julie’s Bicycle is helping to make environmental sustainability intrinsic to the business, art and ethics of the music, theatre and creative industries. Established in 2007 by leading figures in the UK music industry, Julie’s Bicycle is a non-profit company working across the arts and creative industries, providing expertise in environmental sustainability to over 350 organisations in the UK and internationally. We offer practical advice, tools, resources and Industry Green environmental certification, informed by world-leading research into the environmental impacts of the creative industries.

www.juliesbicycle.com

The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) was launched in 2008 as an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and is a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. The BGA brings together all segments of the theatre community, including producers, theatres in New York and around the country, theatrical unions and their members, and related businesses. Working closely with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the BGA identifies and disseminates better practices for theatre professionals and reaches out to theatre fans throughout the country.

www.broadwaygreen.com

LDI is the largest tradeshow and conference for live design professionals in North & South America. Over 9,000 professionals attend LDI each year for pro-training, to spec gear and to network with colleagues and industry leaders.

http://ldishow.com/LDI11/public/enter.aspx

LDI 2011 Green Product Award goes to ArcSystems house light

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A large crowd of LDI2011 attendees and exhibitors gathered for the annual LDI awards ceremony and cocktail reception, held this year on Saturday, October 29 at 5:15pm in Orlando, FL, where LDI marked its 24th year.  The Best Green Product Award (sponsored by Showman Fabricators): ArcSystem house light manufactured by GDS.

The ArcSystem is a new range of LED auditorium lighting fixtures that are truly dimmable from 0% to 100% using the wireless ARC Mesh protocol for control. This allows you to retrofit the ARC system without the need to rewire your auditorium.

The ARC system comes in a range of options for both recessed or surface mount, single cell to multi-cell including 1,2,3,5 and 8 cells. The optics are available in a range of beam angles including 19deg 24deg and 37deg. Using high efficiency optics and LED’s, GDS ARC system is able to produce a CRI in excess of 93 with a range of colour temperatures.

A + E Conference: Day Two

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Day two in the coffee-and-crumpets conference world.

Patricia Johanson was a highlight. Not just because her presentation was comprehensive, wise, and dynamic. Not just because her work is ecologically restorative, respectful of local religions and cultures, and deeply rooted in community practice. Because in this field, where ideas are infectious, where doom is palpable, where the issues at hand are so huge as to be hilarious, Patricia Johanson has done the work. She’s gone out to Dallas and made a sculpture that restored a lagoon. She’s created a wetland sewage system that is both a tribute to and a habitat for an endangered species. She’s done it while continuing the dialogue both in terms of artistic form– sculpture, painting, light– and ecological relevance. Full disclosure: I asked for her autograph.

The morning started with the music of Sean Shepard— composed for the Nevada landscape. It continued through the cultural waters of Australia, tromped through Italy on Amy Franceschini’s Not A Trojan Horse, and announced the research project “Venue,” an extended journalistic road trip by Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley.

On a day where MacArthur Genius fellow Jorge Pardo describes the houses he builds as not-architecture, author Bruce Sterling called for a reexamination of the definitions. “Disciplinary silos are breaking down in places like this,” he said. “You can actually hear them shattering.” What we have is not nature, he said. What we have is Next Nature, a world bereft of unaltered landscape. And the slow dawning is the sheer magnitude of the responsibility for that landscape.

The evening ended with a cocktail hour on the roof of the museum. On the one side, the mountains. Urban trees. On the other, the blinking lights of the biggest little city in the world. In a sense, Reno is the perfect setting for the destroying of silos.

A + E Conference at the Nevada Museum of Art: Day One

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Can a thing be both cuddly and epic? So far, the A + E Conference is. For while the lecture hall at the Nevada Museum of Art is intimate, folks are friendly, and there’s that slight taste of eco-art kumbaya in the air, there’s some giant figures in the room. Chris Jordan is one of them: you’ve seen his photos everywhere. The Harrisons are two more. Greenhouse Britain sums up their combination of systemic thinking and storytelling.  Fritz Haeg and his Edible Estates. Geoff Manaugh of BldgBlog. And while you might be so familiar with the work of the presenters you could have practically done their powerpoints for them, it’s still a bit dizzying. In fact, the lights went out towards the end of the day and a backup generator kicked on. They say it was lightning but I’m betting on a joyous collective mental short-circuiting.

However epic the conference, the issued raised today were not unique. They were issues that might be discussed at a conference about Climate Change and Journalism, for instance. Or a conference about Healthy Parks and Healthy People. Or about Theater and Sustainability. I kinda know because I’ve attended conferences on all those themes in the past year. The issues being raised include: how do we comprehend the vast level of ecological disaster we are now experiencing? How do we organize information in a manner that is digestible, accessible, valid and thought-provoking? How do we culturally deconstruct the paradigms that got us here– especially when we live ‘here’? How do we move forward to create a healthier population and planet?

This speaks more to the level of disciplinary blending and silo-destroying that’s happening all over. In the meantime, there’s no shortage of voices exploring answers, not here, not this weekend. There are three floors of installations and exhibits. There are new books and archives of those exhibits. And there is a whole second day of talks still. More to come, stay tuned. Should be cuddly. And epic.

Considering Sustainble Design @ PQ 2011

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Historically, the Prague Quadrennial has been an international exhibition of scenography (stage design), where countries come together to display the best of their theater work and the spirit of their design methodologies. It’s a mass of gatherings. It’s discussions and performances and lectures and guerilla moments in the streets (is that a performance or a conversation? Is she injured or just creating an interesting shape? Is that a flamboyant dress or a costume?). It’s also Scenofest, the educational arm of the Quadrennial, featuring a series of workshops and organized talks.

At DAMU, the Czech Academy of Dramatic Arts, CSPA Executive Director Ian Garrett gathered with Nick Moran of the Central School of Speech & Drama and myself to discuss sustainability in design on a panel led by William Mackwood of York University (best known for hosting the Staging Sustainability conference earlier this year). While no one walked in with a paper dress or noisemaking speakers, some fascinating discourse ensued regarding the nature of performance.

Ian Garrett started off with a powerpoint overview of green practices in the arts. He’s extensively acquainted with the overall carbon impact of the average theater production: length of run, power consumption, material. In the years that he’s been building the CSPA, he’s also been gathering a mass of information on the complexity of the arts’ environmental impact. Garrett brings into the discussion issue of audience transportation (a huge factor in carbon footprint) vs. the potential impact of audiences if they had just stayed at home that night. He also discussed the work of groups like Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company and the Broadway Green Alliance.

Following him was Nick Moran, who focused on the resources on the site Julie’s Bicycle and the need within the green movement to make changes on a small (and totally unsexy) level, like type of toilet paper, while continuously pressing for systematic change in arts production culture. He discussed everything from tungsten lamps to fuel cells from the standpoint of a lighting designer who fiercely believes in sustainability.

I stepped up and discussed my obsession of the past several years—ecologically restorative art, including works from Xavier Cortada and Mierle Ukeles, and some of my own work.

Then Mackwood wrapped up presentations with examples of his current work and research at York and Out of the Box Productions, including a greening of “Opera Erotique,” which used all-LED lighting. He discussed design qualities unique to the famously energy-efficient lighting, including cut-lines on dancers, strobe capabilities, and the ability to fit an entire lighting rig in the trunk of a car. What followed was an interesting and brief discussion of LED design. Nick Moran brought up the fact that, unlike tungsten, LED color properties don’t change as they fade. “Imagine that you’re in a world where, for the first time, your lights change color as they fade out. WHAT?! What have you done? Change it!”

In the roundtable following, balance was a key issue in discussion: between medium and message, between creative and financial needs, between work and decompression.“You’ve gotta make good work, otherwise there’s no point: worthy, dull, theatre does not change anyone’s mind,” said Moran. The audience was a point of debate. Are we trying to change their minds, or just give them more sustainable spectacle? Are we trying to address the needs of their transportation, or just present eco-theater? In a field of limited resources it’s all about priorities, and needs are complex. As performances exploded all over the streets of Prague, a very grounding discourse took place at DAMU. Like every conversation about sustainability, it leads to more questions, more conversations, and a grab-bag of actionable items. Regardless, it’s refreshing to be in a room with sharp minds that are focused on this issue, and there is potential for a wider impact at the next PQ.

We’ve got a new video to support the CSPA’s PQ Convergence on Waste and Reuse, can you support us?

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[iframe http://player.vimeo.com/video/23782360?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0 500 375]

The campaign lives here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/CSPA-Prague-Convergence-Reduce-Waste-at-the-Prague-Quadrennial

We are looking for $4,000 in additional funding to supplement travel for our team, and to provide resources and tools for distributing materials and documenting this project.

We promise to give you what we get: INFORMATION! We’ll be documenting this project, and will gladly share our findings with you. Other perks include copies of the CSPA Quarterly, a publication dedicated to sustainable practices in all creative areas, CSPA membership, and special tokens from the PQ!

2ND KUMASI BIENNIAL SYMPOSIUM: COMMUNITY ARTS IN FOCUS

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Date: July 16 -August 6, 2011 Venue: Kumasi and the Nearby Village of Abetenim in Ashanti Region of Ghana

The problem the symposium addresses is the widening gap between contemporary African artist and the community in changing times. There is an obvious social disconnection; yet, the fine arts and craft are viewed the same by the general public, including deep in the village. How can we meaningfully engage the rural sub-Saharan population in the contemporary artistic process? How can we broaden the scope of the Curio Kiosks project of the first Kumasi Symposium that was a successful attempt to bring international contemporary art to the general public who might not normally come to art galleries and museums?

In light of these questions and social concerns, the 3-week event will focus on community arts practice, as a response to the growing problem. We define community arts, also known as “participatory arts” or “community-based arts,” as the world of artistic processes and forms made by, with, or for a community setting that may emphasize community involvement and collaboration. Most often, it involves engagement with the issues and practices for communal bonds and empowerment for grassroots social change. We will use Kumasi City-Abetenim rural sites such as market places, local schools, village centers, and others as laboratories for workshops, artistic interventions, site-specific installations, lectures and other community-based approaches from around the world.

Thus, we invite individual or group submissions for community theatre, media arts, readings, film screening, slide shows, open studios, visual activism, musical performances, community design, social architecture and others to allow the rural community to become acquainted with international contemporary artistic practice. We aim that the participants will be inspired by one another’s work.

Registration for the 3-week event will be $520 / €395 / £328 in Ghana or equivalent in local currency; and early registration is $466 / €350 / £305 (till April 17, 2011). Participants are responsible for the costs of travel and materials; and we will provide you with a letter of candidature for your sponsor. Hotel accommodation or homestay for cultural immersion can be arranged within your budget. Dinner will be by cooperative kitchen in which we all work together in sharing the planning, cost, shopping and cooking; the estimate is $7-9/day. It has been more of a dinner party, a time to come together to sample national cuisines, have fun at the table and bond as a community. The symposium opens with a 2-day seminar. It will close with a Community ArtsFest, which will involve two days of exhibitions and screenings of project results along with food and performances by indigenous music and dance troupes from surrounding villages. Prizes to the winners of the “GHANA: 2011 OPEN ARchiTecture CHALLENGE” (International art+architecture Design Competition) will be awarded at the closing banquette.

Grand Prize Winning Entry

(Design Team: Mitsuru Hamada, Architect, Tokyo, Japan)

Second Prize Winning Entry

(Design Team: Giuseppe Calabrese, Architect, Sydney, Australia)

Third Prize Winning Entry

(Design Team: Claire Taggart, Architect, London, UK)

Interested individuals and collaborative groups should apply by submitting the abstract of your paper (200 words maximum) for the seminar or project proposal in English with a brief biography (200 words maximum) of the presenter to info@nkafoundation.org. The submitter should include title of the contribution and author(s) information such as name, affiliation, address, phone contact, and e-mail. Upon acceptance, author(s) can decide to publish the full text or only the abstract in symposium proceedings. The deadline for the full text submission is July 1. If submitting full paper (6,000 words maximum in APA format) e-mail it to info@nkafoundation.org and/or nkaprojects@gmx.com. For additional information go to www.nkafoundation.org

(Press Version)

2ND KUMASI BIENNIAL SYMPOSIUM: COMMUNITY ARTS IN FOCUS

Date: July 16 -August 6, 2011 Venue: Kumasi and the Nearby Village of Abetenim in Ashanti Region of Ghana

The 3-week event will focus on community arts practice, as a response to the growing problem of widening gap between contemporary African artist and the rural community. We will use Kumasi City-Abetenim rural sites such as market places, local schools, village centers, and others as laboratories for workshops, artistic interventions, site-specific installations, lectures and other community-based approaches from around the world. Thus, we invite individual or group submissions for community theatre, media arts, readings, film screening, slide shows, open studios, visual activism, musical performances, community design, social architecture and others to allow the rural community to become acquainted with international contemporary artistic practice. Project is open to only serious applicants. For additional information or registration e-mail to info@nkafoundation.org and/or nkaprojects@gmx.com. Project web site is www.nkafoundation.org.

 

KUMASI CURIO KIOSKS II

(Arts+ Architecture Social Experiment)

Kumasi Curio Kiosks II is a part of the 2nd Kumasi Biennial Symposium that will run from July 16 – August 6, 2011, as a response to the growing problem of widening gap between contemporary arts practitioners and the broader public across the sub-Sahara. As arts+ architecture social experiment, project is to bring together arts specialists, architects, and social interest groups from diverse parts of the world in a transnational platform to trade in cultural capital with the local public who might not normally come to art galleries and museums.

In the project, we will use Kumasi City-Abetenim rural spaces such as market places, local schools, and village centers, as empirical sites for curio kiosk workshops, artistic interventions, site-specific lectures and other community-based approaches from around the world. Each participant or collaborating team will created own curio kiosk; the size/design is open to the subject-specific needs and site-specific necessities. We use the term “curio kiosk” in anticipation that the outward design or content will invoke curiosity and bear special attraction to the public.

Thus, we invite individual or group submissions for community theatre, media arts, readings, film screening, slide shows, open studios, visual activism, musical performances, community design, social architecture and others to allow the rural community to become acquainted with international contemporary artistic practice. Project is open to only serious applicants; submissions will be reviewed until July 8, 2011. Submit your curio kiosk proposal (sketches/description) to info@nkafoundation.org and/or nkaprojects@gmx.com. Project web site is www.nkafoundation.org. And we seek as we go, nominations for the Project Curator and an expert in filmmaking/media arts, to do the DVD and create the e-publication.

Photos from the 2009 Kumasi Curio Kiosks

Slipper Kiosk Project by Patrick Tagoe-Turkson, Ghana

Portrait Shop by Brigitte Mulders, The Netherlands (portrait painter)

For additional information on the 2009 Kumasi Curio Kiosks, see:

(1) http://www.artinprocess.com/Kiosks this is a 05:56 minute video on Curio Kiosks Project.

(2) Photo Documentary, 500 photos on Flickers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/artinprocess/sets/72157621992680241/ and

(3) http://www.wandsbektransformance.de/news.html to download the Artists’ Catalogue.

‘Healthy Parks, Healthy People’ includes a healthy amount of creativity

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Usually, when I’m at a conference, and everyone is standing in a circle and talking about what inspires them, the participants are barefoot. With dreadlocks. Also, someone is making a giant pot of beans in the next room. This was not that conference. This was the “Healthy Parks, Healthy People” conference. The people in the circle were corporate VPs, non-profit directors, public health officials, and National Park Service Staff. And creative design thinking guided much of the process.

The concept of “Healthy Parks, Healthy People” is directly lifted from Parks Victoria in Australia. The idea is, basically, that nature is scientifically proven to be healthy for us, and so supporting parks is good for everybody. Parks Victoria Director Bill Jackson was in attendance, moving from group to group as we were all shuffled about to exchange ideas and brainstorm. As the chattering and shuffling went on, folks from the Grove Consultancy facilitated and drew giant illustrative doodles of emerging concepts. Like mind-mapping. Like some of us have done at other hardcore eco-conferences.

The doodles were helpful in visualizing commonalities. That’s a wordy way of saying there was a lot of common ground. There were collective calls for more research, pooled resources, branded messaging, and a reach out beyond the obvious perks of parks into the tree-less digital-screen-land most American kids live in.

This whole thing got started when the Institute at the Golden Gate created a “Parks Prescription” document, detailing non-profits across the country who were using park activities to fight obesity and diabetes. They connected with NPS director Jon Jarvis, and put the jumble of parks/health/environment people together at Fort Baker.”We need to create new partnerships,” said Jarvis in his opening remarks.

Done and done? In addition watching health insurance reps work in groups with uniformed Public Health Officers and green retailers, I ended up sitting in a group with an NPS staffer and the American Heart Association’s Ambassador of Play (yes!) discussing the possible benefits of a design competition. At the end of it all, Jarvis announced a Healthy Foods Strategy for parks, analyzing the nutritional value and sustainability of park food and creating requirements for concessionaires.

“How can we bring about a cultural change in which parks are valued not just as scenery, but as the untapped sources of healthy living that they truly are?, ” asked Jarvis at the start of the conference. It remains to be seen whether the gathering will be the catalyst for such a change. It has yet to involve the collaboration of known creatives like Presidio Habitats. But I did see one non-profit director working without her shoes.