Troublemakers’ Festival


Event Details

  • Date:

Six artist commissions for Swansea High Street

The Troublemakers’ Festival is a cornerstone project of From the Station to the Sea, a collaboration between Volcano Theatre and Coastal Housing Group funded by the Arts Council of Wales’s  Ideas : People : Places initiative (more here).

The Troublemakers’ Festival is about changing the world. More specifically, it’s about changing the world – starting from Swansea’s High Street. The festival reimagines the stretch of street between the station and Castle Square as a pedestrian-friendly place where art and culture aren’t something special, but are part of everyday life. It opens up buildings that people perhaps don’t normally see (more here).

We are pleased to offer six commission opportunities as part of the festival:

  1. Disruption – 4 x £500 micro-commissions, in association with Elysium gallery
  2. Coastal Housing Group staff – £1000 commission
  3. Swansea Central Women’s Institute – £1000 commission

Please send all proposals to carrie@volcanotheatre.co.uk, clearly stating which commission you’re applying for. DEADLINE: Monday 3rd April, 10am

 

1.  Disruption – 4 x £500 micro-commissions

The Festival: The Troublemakers’ Festival is about changing the world. More specifically, it’s about changing the world – starting from Swansea’s High Street. The festival reimagines the stretch of street between the station and Castle Square as a pedestrian-friendly place where art and culture aren’t something special, but are part of everyday life. It opens up buildings that people perhaps don’t normally see.

The Work: This commission is in association with Elysium gallery and inspired by the Disruption events they created in 2011 and 2012.

We’re looking for work that will, in any way, disrupt normal behaviour on the High Street for one day or for the duration of the festival.

We don’t expect artists to make new work; rather to test work-in-progress or present existing work. We see this as seed funding to support new work, or to further develop existing work. The work can take any form, and be any shape or size.

Artists can choose to work together to bid for more than one of the £500 commissions.

Dates: The Troublemakers’ Festival takes place from 13-16 July on Swansea High Street. The work can be exhibited or performed at any time or for the duration of the festival.

Venue: The festival is going to take over the High Street between the station and junction with College St/Welcome Lane, and a road closure is planned for the Saturday and Sunday. The work commissioned for the Disruption thread for the Troublemakers’ Festival can be exhibited or take place in any location in that section of the High Street. The festival organisers are working with a number of venues, and can join the artist with a suitable space; these include gallery space, a small cinema, a theatre, cafes, and shops.

Selection: We’re looking for a short outline (no more than 500 words) saying how Disruption inspires you, what you’d like to do, why it fits and how it’ll happen. Send us a link to some examples of your work online. The Troublemakers’ Festival team and Elysium gallery will look at all the proposals and select artists. The Troublemakers’ Festival team will then match you to a venue, and help you make and deliver the work.

The budget: We are offering four micro-commissions. The fee for each artist is £500. In addition, we can cover travel to Swansea and accommodation during the festival.

  1. 2. Coastal Housing Group staff – £1000 commission

The Festival: The Troublemakers’ Festival is about changing the world. More specifically, it’s about changing the world – starting from Swansea’s High Street. The festival reimagines the stretch of street between the station and Castle Square as a pedestrian-friendly place where art and culture aren’t something special, but are part of everyday life. It opens up buildings that people perhaps don’t normally see.

The work: The staff at Coastal Housing, Swansea would like an artist to create a piece of work that inspires people who work on High Street to spend their lunch time on the street. The team are interested in proposals that offer an alternative to what might usually be sought out as a lunchtime diversion and engage with some of the things that make the High Street so distinctive and idiosyncratic. And, bearing in mind that this commission is part of the Troublemakers’ Festival, they’re especially interested in proposals that are not afraid to stir things up a little bit.

The work can take any form, and be any shape or size. It could be existing work, or created for the festival. While this is a temporary project for the duration of the festival, we welcome proposals that consider how the work might continue once the festival finishes.

Dates: The Troublemakers’ Festival takes place from 13-16 July on Swansea High Street. The work can be exhibited or performed at any time or for the duration of the festival; it might be more suited to the weekdays 13-14 July, to engage with people who work on the street.

Venue: The festival is going to take over the High Street between the station and junction with College St/Welcome Lane, and a road closure is planned for the Saturday and Sunday. The work commissioned by Coastal Housing staff for the Troublemakers’ Festival can be exhibited or take place in any location in that section of the High Street. The festival organisers are working with a number of venues, and can join the artist with a suitable space; these include gallery space, a small cinema, a theatre, cafes, and shops.

Selection: We’re looking for a short outline (no more than 500 words) saying how encouraging people to spend their lunch hour on High Street inspires you, what you’d like to do, why it fits and how it’ll happen. Send us a link to some examples of your work online. Coastal Housing staff will look at all the proposals and select an artist. The Troublemakers’ Festival team will then match you to a venue, and help you make and deliver the work.

The budget: The fee for the artist is £1000. In addition, we can cover travel to Swansea and accommodation during the festival.

3. Swansea Central Women’s Institute – £1000 commission

The Festival: The Troublemakers’ Festival is about changing the world. More specifically, it’s about changing the world – starting from Swansea’s High Street. The festival reimagines the stretch of street between the station and Castle Square as a pedestrian-friendly place where art and culture aren’t something special, but are part of everyday life. It opens up buildings that people perhaps don’t normally see.

The work: Swansea Central WI would like an artist to celebrate a woman who’s been a troublemaker in Swansea. The artist should identify women or a woman of Swansea, past or present, who has done something, which may have, at the time caused trouble, been scandalous etc., but was ultimately for the benefit of people of the city.

The work can take any form, and be any shape or size. It could be existing work, or created for the festival.

Dates: The Troublemakers’ Festival takes place from 13-16 July on Swansea High Street. The work can be exhibited or performed at any time or for the duration of the festival.

Venue: The festival is going to take over the High Street between the station and junction with College St/Welcome Lane, and a road closure is planned for the Saturday and Sunday. The work commissioned by Swansea Central WI for the Troublemakers’ Festival can be exhibited or take place in any location in that section of the High Street. The festival organisers are working with a number of venues, and can join the artist with a suitable space; these include gallery space, a small cinema, a theatre, cafes, and shops.

Selection: We’re looking for a short outline (no more than 500 words) saying which woman inspires you, what you’d like to do, why it fits and how it’ll happen. Send us a link to some examples of your work online. Swansea Central WI will look at all the proposals and select an artist. The Troublemakers’ Festival team will then match you to a venue, and help you make and deliver the work.

The budget: The fee for the artist is £1000. In addition, we can cover travel to Swansea and accommodation during the festival.