MOBO nominee Lady Leshurr headlines free arts festival - by young people, for young people.
A pioneering season of large-scale festivals curated by young people launched this month, hosted by major art galleries across the country: Tate Modern; Tate St Ives; Nottingham Contemporary; The Whitworth; Firstsite; MOSTYN; Wysing Arts Centre and Kettleʼs Yard.
Circuit festivals are programmed and produced by members of Circuit, a four year national programme for 15-25 year olds led by Tate and funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Built on both Tate and Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s long-term work with young people, often in vulnerable situations, the peer-led festivals are home to local and international artists showcasing film, music, art, poetry and dance.
Nottingham Contemporary will host Circuit: Affinity on 6th, 7th November, which is programmed by the galleries youth group Collabor-8 Collective. Circuit: Affinity is a free festival of art, workshops, music, film and performance from emerging local and international talent. Music will span hip hop, grime, R'n'B, indie and include live performances from MOBO nominated Lady Leshurr, Nashville alt-rockers Bully, BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Jamz Supernova, Harleighblu and Warren Xclnce among many more.
Nottingham Contemporary and its surrounding areas will be home to VJ-ing workshops by new media and projection artists Urban Projections, pop-up performances by spoken word collective The Mouthy Poets and Nottingham Young Creatives Award winner Jamal Sterrett. There will be chill-out spaces, busking and open mic sessions to carry the festival into the early hours.
Circuit Ambassador, Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo said: ‘I’m so excited to be involved with the Circuit programme. It’s brilliant that arts venues across the nation are opening their doors and their minds to the perspectives of young people. So far the work that’s been done has been so insightful and interesting – these Circuit festivals will provide an even greater insight into just how talented 15-25 year olds can be when given a platform to express themselves.’
Circuit Programme National Lead, Mark Miller said: ‘Our young Circuit members have put an immense amount of effort into the programming of the upcoming Circuit festivals. Each contribution from each partner group has its own unique style; the young people involved have really captured the spirit of the places they live in, and are using art to both express them selves and create access to cultural activity for others. It’s been an inspirational journey so far; we hope you’ll join us to see the fruit of their labour at these large-scale Circuit festivals nationwide.’
Past Circuit festival:
Earlier this month Circuit: Unlock Cambridge took place in Cambridge and was programmed by the youth group Circuit Cambridge from Wysing Arts Centre and Kettleʼs Yard galleries. The event explored hidden and unknown spaces in the city with creative workshops and pop-up events and culminated in a closing party with performances from internationally recognised Hip-hop dance crews Elementz Entertainment and SIN Cru, award-winning poets and spoken word artists Nikki Marrone and Hannah Jane Walker and innovative electronic bands Lunacre and Kyriakides.
Circuit festivals to come:
Circuit: Affinity
FREE
6th, 7th November 2015, 12.00 – 02.00
Nottingham Contemporary
Weekday Cross, Nottingham NG1 2GB
Full schedule http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/affinity
Twitter @Collabor_8 / Instagram@Collabor_8 / Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Collabor-8-Collective-176782625707101/timeline/
#AffinityFest
DOWNLOAD images and a press release from Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x0vcsqmczkgz78e/AAA1lauMkSfFtjjqwvx-UaqSa?dl=0
Tate St Ives
17th, 18th June 2016
Firstsite
May 2016
The Whitworth
24th, 25th, 26th June 2016
MOSTYN
16th, 17th, 18th Sep 2016
Tate Modern
March 2017
