A blog by David Slater
Last week I participated in an extraordinarily illuminating and eccentric event curated by Chrissie Tiller and the Participatory Arts Lab to both celebrate and mark the sad demise of the MA in Participatory and Community Arts, at Goldsmiths. Participation on Trial was, to quote the blurb, a Dada-esque, playful (but serious) critique of participation in the arts.… Continue reading An Act of Treachery
Around the year 2000 the shopkeepers in the town centre of Fujinomiya, under the shadow of Mount Fuji had a problem. It’s a story that UK high streets have been very familiar with. Out of town competition by national chains with a buying power that they couldn’t match were taking away their trade. A large… Continue reading ‘Arts and Dementia’: responding to the challenge of the Fujinomiya Shopkeepers.
Founded in 2006 by the internationally renowned theatre director Yukio Ninagawa, the Saitama Gold Theatre was born ‘out of a desire to search for new form of theatre based on the personal histories of people of age’. There were extensive auditions with a desire to find people who were not professional performers. Nigagawa was keen… Continue reading Back to Shakespeare
I’ve finally taken up time travelling and I don’t think it’s just the effect of the jet lag or the mesmerising shadow of the cherry blossom gently wavering outside my hotel bedroom window. I’m in Tokyo with colleagues from the UK arts and cultural sector, guest of the British Council, on a weeklong study tour:… Continue reading Japan
Entelechy Elders company member Sybil Reid reflects on some of the reactions on the street to their latest performance event ‘Bed” performed on the streets of southeast London in September 2014 A lot of people didn’t want to look. They didn’t want to see it because that could be them in a few years from… Continue reading Invisible in plain view
Half past ten at night. We’re on the corner of Douglas Way and Watson Street, Deptford, southeast London, waiting for a cab. It’s becoming a familiar pattern. The cab firm has gone digital and their drivers have been asked to subcontract part of their thought processes to a new company GPS system. Only problem is… Continue reading Ripple Effect
‘Sometimes you’ve got to take risks for the unknown. You don’t know what you are going into but you’ve got to take that risk.’ - Gwen Sewell, Entelechy Elders Company It’s lunchtime on Wednesday afternoon. A teenager stands in the foyer of the theatre with her two friends. They are in school uniform. Collectively they… Continue reading BED
The Office for National Statistics recently reported that many British inner cities are becoming ‘no-go’ zones for older people. Dr. Kishore Budha from Leeds University has talked of a “structural shutout” in cities that just don’t cater for the needs of older people. Today in the our office, Entelechy participant and trustee, Kurban Haji, was… Continue reading The Art of Circulation
It wasn’t until after the invitation to speak at a symposium of open spaces and well-being, curated by the Garden Museum that I realised how much of our work at Entelechy has been in and around green spaces either working in hidden gardens or within the incursions of wilderness in the city. Roger Deakin reflected… Continue reading In the garden
We’re sitting in the late afternoon sun propping up the stone wall of the nineteenth century mill owner’s house that is now home to the Ukrainian Community Centre in Bradford. It’s a break between a final snatched movement rehearsal and lights up for the opening night of the Freedom Studios, Entelechy Arts co-production of Home… Continue reading Full Circle
Creativity, Arts and Older People 