REPAST - our final project…
22 March 2010
Arts+Media will be closing its office-based operations at the end of March 2010, although the website will continue to offer services under new management. It has been a long and interesting voyage enlivened along the way by a number of people who have given a great deal of time, energy, commitment and enthusiasm to the venture. You know who you are and, on behalf of A+M, please accept our heartfelt thanks and gratitude. When A+M were considering how to mark the end of our era we wanted to achieve four things: to celebrate our achievements; to thank the numerous people who have helped us enormously along the way; to offer a final blast of the creative professional development we are famous for and to leave some questions in our wake.
REPAST is an exciting collaboration between A+M, curator Anne Forgan, and Blanch and Shock Food Design, working together on our mutual passions: food and art. REPAST will take place in a disused industrial unit, provided by Ian Harrabin, Managing Director of Complex Development Projects. This typifies a working relationship that many artists will need to emulate in the future to offer a platform for work that exists beyond traditional spaces. Ian says: “The Far Gosford Street area is one of the last historic areas in the city centre, giving it a unique character, but it is pretty run down. However, it has clear potential .....a vibrant living and work quarter designed for creative companies and groups.” We have done a great deal of thinking about questions of survival, considering where the sustenance that professional development brings in all the different stages of growth might be found in the future, and how artists might use what is available in innovative ways when there are no uncomplicated alternatives. What makes artist-led initiatives important is because that’s where artists coalesce to build ability for their own practice. Blanche and Shock have been given a brief to use the space creatively to achieve the aims of our event. We hope that REPAST will provide a little context (and nourishment) to the discussion.
For more information on Blanch and Shock you can either check out the following PDF BS.pdf or visit their website at www.blanchandshock.com/