THE RIVERS' MOVEMENT
presents a month of arts events at
EMERGENCE POD 1
BARNSLEY
YORKSHIRE
The award-winning Rivers' Movement aims to create awareness of climate change by means of art, poetry, science, and technology. Members of the public are warmly invited to a Showcasing Exhibition which will take at the Emergence Pod 1 on Mayday Green, opposite the market place, on 5 February 2010 and will run until 26 February (closed Sundays and Mondays). Workshops and public art events will also be held throughout February.
The Rivers Movement is a collaborative project involving Yorkshire people who have twinned with people from Gujarat in India. Together they explore common experiences involving the impact local rivers and climate change has on their lives. The exhibition currently focuses on the rivers Dearne, Aire and Calder.
The month long exhibition consists of works by twelve painters and photographers and two installation artists. All have taken their subject matter from the problems we face as we try keep our climate and environment in balance. We hope that more people will join us in workshop activities and become members of the either the Dearne Project Group or the Aire & Calder Group. Twelve of the original artists and photographers are featured in a new book which will be launched at the final exhibition on 26 February.
More about the exhibition:
The Giant Dearne Figures
The established Northern carnival organiser, Jean Compton, will work alongside Barnsley people to create at least one large statue. The figures will represent the Spirit of the River Dearne.
Coat of Collaboration Installation
Mother Nature is shouldering the effects of climate change and needs our help to ensure that we pass on a brighter legacy for future generations. We are already seeing the benefits and disruption of our actions. This is being depicted in the textiles of a 'Coat of Collaboration' that Mother Nature wears in the installation being produced by creative engineer Yvonne Denton. This creative work is made to challenge the lack of harmony in our environment.
Silence - An Interactive Video Installation
Lee Gascoyne having discovered a graffitied wall by the river behind Barnsley Asda has depicted it in an oil painting. In remembrance of his time in India Lee links Barnsley to the Hindu Festival of Holi as he destroys the image by throwing coloured powders at it and then dramatically floods it with water to bring the painting back to its original form. All the time he is documenting the process through a video installation. His collaborator Reinhold Behringer has devised a programme especially written for the occasion which allows onlookers to become part of the process.
Illustrating the Dearne
A book celebrating the River Dearne has been produced by adult writers and by school children. This is an opportunity for people to find a poem and use it to create an illustration.
India - Drawing from the 'Picture Frame'
Several of the contributors have images of India. The earliest were taken by Loretta Cusworth's father in 1944 and the most recent by Chhaya Upadhyay of her primary school class on a visit in January to the River Narmada. Jane Weatherby and Reinhold Behringer also have collections of pictures taken in Gujarat in 2008. These will be shown on an electronic 'picture frame' and will be used to encourage people to create larger images.
Painting and Drawing
Most days there will be a professional painter working in the gallery. If you have your own materials you are welcome to join them or simply sit and watch.
Mono Printing
Two established artists using techniques developed by Alexander Cozens (D.1746) will use modern variations of his method to show how the accidents which result from the process of printing one-off images can stimulate creative artwork.
Cyanotype Printing
Cyanotype is a printing technique which relies on sunlight to mark silk. Ideal for creating beautiful scarves. Since the sun can be indifferent to the needs of Barnsley Artist in February, we will teach the technique with the use of a light box and make Dearne Environment Flags.
The Carbon Rolls-Tools of Explanation
Using the important diagram on carbon use in the developed world (which shows the 'consumption stack' in Kwh per day per person found in David McKay's Sustainability Without the Hot Air) we will consider how we can express this complex database by making it less baffling and therefore easier to understand.
The 73 Pictures in 24 Hours Attempt
Brian Lewis celebrates Old Age by taking on the task of creating 73 artworks in a day. 'This time I am taking on the agenda suggested by the Carbon Roll and painting about sustainability, climate and the environment.'
The 24 Hour Moot
A moot is a gathering and at this 24 hour event, artists* from different artforms are coming together to produce work which focuses on the environment, climate change and sustainability. Brian Lewis, aged 73, is producing 73 paintings and drawings, Rob Hindle, aged 46, will create 46 poems. Reinhold Behringer, also 46, will create a 46 bar piece of music using a computer controlled synthesiser and samplers. Helen Mesezaros, aged 42 (an established teacher who laughs a lot) will be compiling 42 letters of complaint. Falguna Bharateeya in Gujarat, India will also be collecting and collating a body of work and transmitting it over to us in Yorkshire at this time. More and more contributors are coming forward wishing to participate in this event. The remaining body of artists will be working on less deadline orientated works throughout the day.
This workshop is open to the general public from 10am to 4 pm. Everybody is welcome and we look forward to seeing you there. We all make a difference...
*Rob Hindle has written poetry and short stories for 20 years. In 2006 he won a national competition run by Templar Poetry for a sequence of poems of place, taking as its subject the Sheffield Flood of 1864 and a new book is coming out this summer. Brian Lewis has paintings in public and private collections but is better known for his writing on community development. He won the national Raymond Williams prize in 1997 for a book about a woman's prison and has exhibited in the major public galleries in Yorkshire and Humber. Reinhold Behringer is a composer and also Professor of Creative Technology at Leeds Metropolitan University. Helen Mesezaos is an established teacher who laughs a lot. Falguna Bharateeya lives in India and is lecturer in literature and education in Gujarat.
Exhibiting Contributors
Lorreta Cusworth, Porl Medlock, Jane Weatherby, Reinhold Behringer, Runima Kakoty, Stephen Court, Brian Lewis, Bob Clayden, Stina Harris, Liz Salter, Rosie Gilligan, Rachel Knowles, Lee Gascoigne and Yvonne Denton.
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