Partners
WORK is an arts project devised by Animate Projects. We partnered four other Midlands based arts organisations to commission four artists to make films that explore ideas and the realities of what ‘work’ means for the way we live today, engaging directly with the experiences of contemporary working lives.
Our partners are: Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, Junction Arts, Vivid Projects, QUAD Derby.
Artists were selected from an open call, inviting proposals in response to four specific themes/contexts: the impact of rural ecommerce distribution centres on rural landscapes and lives; the post-mining legacy of deindustrialisation and the different experiences of work/lack of work/unemployment across generations; contemporary workplace activism, workers’ rights, legislation and campaigning; workers in healthcare or wellbeing contexts.
The artists are: Dryden Goodwin, Jenny Holt, Esther Johnson, Adam Lewis Jacob.
You can hear more About WORK, and from the artists and commissioning partners, in this short film by Christopher Bevan:
There's writing about WORK here - two short essays by Helen De Witt and Adam Pugh; a report on how the artists engaged workers in their projectsby Vivienne Reiss, and Here are the words of the reading bank by Ian McMillan, written for Bolsover Reading Group at the Freedom Centre, Bolsover.
The WORK films premiered online on International Workers’ Day, 1 May 2020, earlier than planned, after the Covid-19 shut down put physical exhibition and screening plans on hold.
WORK was generously supported by Jerwood Arts and using public funding by Arts Council England.
CREDITS
For Animate Projects
Abigail Addison, Director
Gary Thomas, Director
Holly Turpin, WORK Engagement Coordinator
Vivienne Reiss, WORK Associate Curator
James Steventon, Fermynwoods Contemporary Art
Amy Smith, Junction Arts
Jemma Burton, Junction Arts
Yasmeen Baig-Clifford, Vivid Projects
Peter Bonnell, QUAD
Website and publication edited by Gary Thomas
Website and publication designed by Daniel Hawley-Lingham at Urban Fugitive. urbanfugitive.com
Supported by Jerwood Arts and using public funding by Arts Council England.
Thanks to Sarah Reed (Arts Council England), John Cairns (Arts Council England), Jon Opie (Jerwood Arts), Lilli Geissendorfer (Jerwood Arts).
Animate Projects
Founded in 2007, Animate is led by curator/producers Abigail Addison and Gary Thomas, working out of Folkestone and Derby. We work at the intersection of animation, visual art and film, supporting animators, artists and filmmakers to create extraordinary work, often in new contexts, and in new collaborative partnerships.
Fermynwoods Contemporary Art
Founded in 1998, Fermynwoods Contemporary Art supports life through art. This is achieved through commissioning innovative and meaningful ways for artists to engage with audiences in public spaces across Northamptonshire and online, through a wide range of temporary, socially engaged and education-based projects, linking culture to environmental sustainability and education, fusing urban culture with the rural landscape and bringing rural perspectives into the urban environment.
With an office based in Thrapston, Northamptonshire, Fermynwoods also run The Arches - a project space at Fineshade Wood, a natural habitat and ancient mixed broadleaf and conifer woodland, heritage site and leisure facility in Northamptonshire, 13 miles outside of Corby; and Sudborough Green Lodge, an outreach base set in a remote former hunting lodge in Fermyn Woods within the largest and richest biodiversity grassland in Northamptonshire.
Junction Arts
Established in 1976 and based in Chesterfield, Junction Arts helps communities facing social barriers such as poverty, poor health, and low aspirations to create a better future through the arts. Festivals, workshops, and events give people the opportunity to be creative, learn new skills and build stronger communities.
Junction Arts is committed to working with communities to co-create magical and memorable arts experiences that empower people, improve wellbeing and inspire change.
QUAD
QUAD is an international centre for engagement in contemporary art and film, based in Derby. Its programme includes major exhibitions, professional practice for artists, mass participation, commissions, independent film and the creative use of emergent digital technologies. QUAD established FORMAT International Photography Festival in 2004.
A focus on intercultural dialogue supports diverse audiences to engage, develop skills and contribute to contemporary culture, through participation programmes that involve people and communities locally and worldwide in innovative arts programmes.
Vivid Projects
Founded in 2012, Vivid Projects supports media arts practice, encouraging innovation, risk and experimentation. A commitment to interdisciplinary practice is made public through an ambitious programme of events and exhibitions at the company's Birmingham project space, online and off-site.
A strong curatorial emphasis on socio-cultural histories and identities has created new opportunities to access important regional archives. The annual Black Hole Club programme provides creative development and collaboration for artists and creative practitioners with a diverse range of backgrounds and cultural interests.
