Plans for 2021..?
It goes without saying that 2020 was an unprecedented year for everyone, and so far 2021 is continuing in the same vein. It feels impossible to plan anything at the moment. Making plans, be they work, social or artistic (or all three) only to have them cancelled/postponed/rescheduled/abandoned can feel draining and demoralising. It is of course important to focus on the positives at the moment and count all of life’s small blessings…but it is hard not to worry. In the spirit of letting them off my chest, here are two of my current worries…
I worry about the longer term impact of the pandemic on arts and culture in the UK. I’m not just referring to the current closure of our theatres, galleries and music venues (though of course, that is tragic), I’m worried about the impact it will have on our national portfolio of work. Following the last recession in 2008, the Arts Council’s budget was drastically cut in 2011. This limited the risks they were able to take on new artists and companies. I strongly believe that a healthy arts scene is like a healthy eco-system. You need the new, green shoots/ideas for the arts in communities to truly thrive. This is not an economist’s argument. It’s an argument based on the belief that the value of artistic expression is not just monetary. Good art is not just a distraction; it feeds us, surprises us, challenges us and restores us. When it is reduced exclusively to a ‘bums-on-seats’ mentality, the portfolio stagnates.
I worry about the impact of Brexit on arts and culture in the UK. In this new ‘independent’ era for Britain, cross-cultural collaboration with Europe has become much harder than it was before. To give an example, the UK government has recently refused a proposal for VISA-free travel to Europe for touring musicians, despite much lobbying from the Musicians Union. This will likewise apply to touring puppeteers, theatre practitioners and visual artists, and the same will apply in reverse: visiting European artists will now need a VISA to visit the UK. I find the government’s reasoning (or lack of it) hard to fathom. Cross-cultural collaborations are vital for diversifying our cultural portfolio, our arts ‘eco-system’. Some of the best gigs, theatre shows, exhibitions and puppet shows I have seen came from visiting European artists. Thanks to Brexit, cross-channel collaborations have been limited to the wealthy, not to mention the income lost for those artists dependent on the European touring circuit.
I realise that I am having a ‘rant’, so at this point, I will outline my tentative plans for 2021, in an effort to focus on some positives…
A short film of ‘Flying with Strings’…
Thanks to a small grant from the Golsoncott Foundation, the Devon Guild of Craftsmen has commissioned me to put together a short puppetry film called ‘Flying with Strings’. The film will feature my hoopoe, bee-eater and swallow marionettes and will combine puppetry with original music, composed and performed by my partner Louis Bingham. It will be installed at the Guild’s upcoming exhibition, Art, Craft and Imagination: a peep into the world of puppets, which will open in the aftermath of England’s current lockdown. Filming is exempt from current lockdown restrictions, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck into a collaborative project!
A full length puppet show, ready to tour…
I am also applying for a National Lottery project grant from Arts Council England, to fund rehearsals for a full length puppet show of ‘Flying with Strings’. While live performance still feels like a far-off dream in the midst of the pandemic, Covid-safe rehearsals feel like a more realistic mid-term goal. If my bid is successful, I will use the grant to commission a script-writer, engage a puppetry director, and R&D live-feed and projection elements. I want to create a multi-disciplinary, multi-media puppetry feast!
For the full length show, I will continue to collaborate with musician Louis Bingham. In the spirit of looking outwards towards our neighbours in Europe and beyond, the piece will take inspiration from both the ecology and music of the Celtic fringes and the Iberian peninsula, down to the the Mediterranean coasts, North and sub-Saharan Africa. The story will follow the migratory paths of some of Europe’s most charismatic birds.
A refreshed jewellery portfolio…
Just as it’s always good to stretch yourself and dream big, it’s also good to keep yourself grounded in the familiar. I will therefore be continuing to develop my portfolio of jewellery pieces, with an aim to get some fresh and exciting new work up in my online shop for the spring. I am currently working from home and, while this presents some challenges, my jewellery projects are small enough to ‘hot-desk’ where-ever space becomes available!
A new tutorial series…
Having only just uploaded the last two videos of my Carve a Puppet Bird tutorial series, I’m already dreaming of the next one! However, given all my other ambitions, this one will need to stay short and sweet. Ideas are developing for a new carving kit - more news soon!