Curious “The English regard their fêtes as the moral triumph of amateurism – that kind of ‘backbone of the nation, it’s the little things that count’ mentality, which is weaved inextricably into the national mythology. America has the rodeo, where man and beast pit strength … Read More →
Opinion has been divided about the value of NWN networking events. Detractors have suggested they are “frivolous,” “silly;” yet there is clearly a real need to facilitate meetings between artists who live outside of larger cities and either don’t want – or can’t afford – … Read More →
Independent producer, artist, community activist, broadcaster, author, educator….Lucy Neal was awarded an OBE in 2005 for her services to drama. She and Rose Fenton co-founded LIFT [London International Festival of Theatre] in 1980 after they graduated from Warwick University. They were Co-Directors of the festival … Read More →
Old news? It seems odd to be talking about archives on the third day of civil unrest where the ‘London riots’ are no longer just London’s problem. Yet at NWN’s weekend of Adhocracy Marlene Smith, director of The Public gallery, artist, exhibition organizer, co-instigator with … Read More →
20th Feb 2003 Is it every researcher’s dream to ‘discover’ something in the archive (better still, to discover an entire archive)? One recurring thread when asking interviewees or potential interviewees about their memories of NWN’s early days is the inability to remember. There is a … Read More →
Extract from email about NWN Vision Statement, April 2005 Back in 1996, critical theory was in love with the marginal as discourses around postmodernism and post-structuralism dominated. I was completing my DPhil thesis at the time (Maps for Wayward Performers: feminist readings of contemporary live … Read More →
Email from the NWN archive “Live performance is politically more radical today than it was twenty years ago and it needs to be saved” is Bush Hartshorn’s unequivocal answer to my: “Is live art still relevant?” He says he has never seen an instance of … Read More →
A novel (written for Louis XIV’s spoilt 11 year-old grandson by his then tutor Catholic clergyman and poet François Fénelon), Les Aventures de Télémaque (1693) popularized the term ‘mentor.’ Mentor was a character, the wise companion to the ‘hero’ Telemachus. The book was one of … Read More →
Simon Jones, writer, founder, and co-director of Bodies in Flight http://www.bodiesinflight.co.uk/ speaks about the notion of inbetweeness – in between collaboration, in between disciplines, in between in an aesthetic sense – and I like how he shifts so seamlessly between his own roles as artist … Read More →
A Question of Independence
Roney Fraser-Munroe – as writer, director, actor, experimental graphics-video maker, producer of text, theatre, music, photography, movement, video and the digital interface – began showing work in London in 1985. His practice is an example of the most sophisticated kind of critical postmodernism (i.e. using … Read More →