The Moving Out Symposium, as part of the Surge outdoor arts festival on Saturday 4th July, attracted 26 inspirational speakers and an on-line audience of 151 to discuss strategies as to how producers, artists and performers could make and present work during and beyond Covid. Here is an excerpt from my introduction.
“Covid 19 has had a dramatic impact on our work , our play, our families, our friends our physical and mental health. Our ability to make work, to travel, to engage with our companies, our fellow performers and artists and our audience. It is a plague that has caused death and illness at a level that is almost impossible to comprehend. We have yet to grasp the long -term impact on our economy, our politics and the culture we hold dear. And all this within the context of the climate emergency, the consequences of Brexit and the rise of nationalism across the globe.
Yet we come from a cultural sector that thrives on flexibility and adaption. That is responsive to its physical environment and to an audience that choses to stay with us or not. That works outside the established framework of fixed venues and so is acutely aware of the health and safety of our performers and audience. In short a sector within the arts that is perhaps uniquely suited to adapting to the changing and unpredictable world into which we have been thrust by Covid- 19. There is a lot to talk about and much to learn. The key must be to share and test knowledge and to support each other as we navigate our way through this rapidly changing world. ”
One outcome of the symposium is that we need a platform and more time to talk. If you attended the symposium I will be writing to you with some ideas as to how we might do this. If you didn’t attend but would like to be part of the discussion please email me.
In the meantime many thanks to Surge for all their support in hosting the symposium and making it work technically and our sponsors Outdoor Arts UK, Glasgow Life, Articulture and the Federation of Scottish Industry.
neil@neilbutler.org July 2020