Thursday 10th October, People's History Museum
In a couple of weeks I'll be taking my tales of utopian European creative collaboration to the 'IMPACT: Reflect & Respond' Conference. Run by Cartwheel Arts and held at the always wonderful People's History Museum, the conference focuses on 'Creative Health & Wellbeing' and invites practitioners, arts organisations, and health experts to talk about the interplay between creativity and mental health. I figured my time in Estonia for the 'Bring Your Own Utopia' Prima Vista project, which resulted in The Forest of Ink & Skin, was a great boon to my own creative mental health and has helped me to see my creative practice (and the practices of others) in a whole new light. It was a boost I sorely needed after feeling a bit creatively fragile at the tail end of my PhD.
In my talk, I'll be suggesting that the pan-European, cross-discipline collaboration model created by the brilliant minds at Prima Vista fosters a much healthier space of creative interaction than the standard 'author talks & workshops' model that you usually get at literature festivals. I'll chart the tendrils of my Tartu project that have taken me in various marvellous directions from the initial nervy conversations with my collaborator Henri, all the way through to the spectacular 2-day spoken word extravaganza of The Embassy of Utopia at the Festival of Libraries earlier this year where we showcased the work of over 100 performers. I want to urge literature festivals to broaden their scope a bit, and rethink their strategies. I'm not sure repeatedly asking audiences to listen to famous authors answer the same five questions is quite the creative expression they think it is.
It's great to see a conference dedicated to these matters, and other confirmed speakers include disability theatre group DIY, mental health & arts charity Arc (all the way from Stockport's Hat Museum!), and TiPP, a brilliant organisation that takes theatre into prisons. It's likely to be an inspiring and enriching day, so if you have a spare Thursday, do come and join me. Tickets are here (a bit pricey, but there is an unwaged/low waged option): https://www.cartwheelarts.org.uk/article/impact-conference-2024
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