Emergency 2019
DAYTIME: 12noon-4.30pm
The first half of Emergency 2019 is presented by Word of Warning with NIAMOS
Participating Artists (subject to change)
DAYTIME: 12noon-4.30pm at NIAMOS
Dip in + out of ongoing performances, installations + limited capacity experiences with:
Alex Bradley | Bill Duffy | Charlotte McShane | Emergency Chorus | Gillian Knox | Holly Spillar | Jade Williams | Janet Charlesworth | Kellie Colbert | Kelvin Atmadibrata | Kris Canavan | Maya Chowdhry | Peter Jacobs | Pierce Starre | rahtattoo | Ross Graham | Shkiesha | Tamar + Jo | Thomas Mayer | TomYumSim | Will Dickie
Followed by EVENING: 5pm-10pm at STUN + Z-arts
Venue + Booking Details, for DAYTIME
Date: Saturday 21 September 2019, 12noon-4.30pm (last show ends about 4.35pm)
Venue: NIAMOS, Chichester Rd, Hulme, M15 5EU
Tickets: NO booking required, Pay What You Decide in person on the day.
Entry: during the DAYTIME come and go as you please. Some works have a limited capacity with either sign-up sheets on the day or operating first-come, first-served.
Enquiries: 07488 308 111 (on the day) / 0161 232 6086 (during weekday office hours)
Access Information, for DAYTIME
Age Advisory: mainly aimed at adults, parental/guardian discretion is advised; some works are not suitable for under 18s.
Warning: some works may disturb; for specific content warnings please click here.
Access: uses a number of different spaces and formats — some seated, some standing, some spoken word, some visual, some limited capacity, some participatory.
We apologise but due to the nature of the NIAMOS building, only the following DAYTIME artists’ works have step-free access: Janet Charlesworth, Kelvin Atmadibrata, Maya Chowdhry, Peter Jacobs, Pierce Starre, Shkiesha, Tamar + Jo, Thomas Mayer, TomYumSim. The EVENING programme has full step-free access.
Specific age + access info: please get in touch with us by emailing info@habmcr.org or call 0161 232 6086 during weekday office hours.
Programme Notes, for DAYTIME
Download a schedule here.
Alex Bradley | Almost Everything is Black + White
A reflection + reaction to our deeply flawed relationship with the extinction of both ourselves, the species around us + our shared environment.
Alex has been working as an independent artist for over 20 years, practising across a range of disciplines; creating solo + collaborative works that push + blur the boundaries of sonic, performance + digital art; bringing an audience to works where the author seeks to engage them in subtle dislocation, causing a re-examination of themselves within the world. He has toured work both nationally + internationally, has been commissioned by significant UK galleries + festivals, + receives ongoing support from a roster of public funders + industry partners. His work has been described by audience members + critics alike as ‘disorientating + beautiful’.
See age advisory + content warning here.
alexbradleyuk.org
Bill Duffy | Scar Tissue / Symmetry
A raw, emotional piece of live art. Through sound + ritual the performer attempts to take control of their own mind + body. It builds a relationship of empathy between performer + audience by viscerally exploring family, memory, grief + failure.
Looking at the relationship of the body to memory, the performer will attempt to duplicate the scars on their body, creating symmetry + rewriting past trauma.
A musician + performance artist based in London + the North West, Bill has developed work as part of collectives across Western Europe + is now working on solo projects. His work is personal + uses sound + the physicality of the body to address both autobiographical narratives + more universal ideas.
See age advisory + content warning here.
Charlotte McShane | Tell Me Lies
From the big lies to the little lies, white lies to black lies, fake news to all out bullshit — where is the limit, why do we tell them, + do we feel any guilt about it? It’s not confession, you won’t be told to do any Hail Marys but you will be asked to confess.
A one to one piece questioning the audience + the artist about the lies we tell.
Current member of The Lowry’s Class of 2019, Charlotte is a performance artist working across theatre, live art + stand up. She has performed on stages, at conferences + in cupboards. Her work looks at what we don’t talk about in society + shines a spotlight on taboo + rather awkward issues.
See age advisory + content warning here.
insta /charlottekmcshane
Emergency Chorus | Mr Jet
Please stay seated. Unattended security guards may be destroyed. This performance contains flashers + nothing much else of interest. The emergency exits are located now, then, + whenever. Please ensure your devices remain calm.
Drawing from the language of customer service, public safety announcements + emergency protocols, Mr Jet reveals two ushers haunting the plush red seats of a disused theatre.
Created + performed by Ben Kulvichit + Clara Potter-Sweet.
Emergency Chorus (Landscape (1989), CELEBRATION) is an award-winning theatre company making performances which engage with the contemporary moment with energy + playfulness. They make work which feels urgent to them, exploring global issues in intimate ways + entertaining possible futures with optimistic longing.
emergencychorus.com
Gillian Knox | Everybody Always Tells the Truth
A performance that discusses parenthood, created from recorded conversations between mothers, slipping from the real to the unreal. Sharing intimate, often unspoken, aspects of parenting + the experience of motherhood, tea + cake are served throughout.
Supported by University of Leeds.
Gill Knox + Anna Fenemore are Manchester-based performers + theatre makers.
See content warning here.
Holly Spillar | Hole
Hi, I’m Hole. I imagine at least 50% of you are also ‘hole’. But are you Whole?
An autobiographical comedy about Vaginismus (a condition making penetrative sex painful or impossible). With larger than life characters, + some quirky loop pedal numbers, this solo show is for anyone who has every felt sexually awkward, frustrated or fed-up.
Holly has just graduated + started writing Hole during her last year at Chichester University. She hopes the show will help women, like her, see sex a little differently + encourage men + women alike to stop being so damn hard on themselves.
See age advisory + content warning here.
hollyjoysemails.wixsite.com/hollyspillar
Jade Williams | An Intimate Confession Cup
Gift yourself with the time to confess.
A Divergency micro-commission.
Jade is an emerging creative, dancer + performer. When she dances, the music + moves stir her soul. She’s on a search for greater human connection + understanding which begins with the creation of this, her first one to one piece.
See age advisory + content warning here.
Janet Charlesworth | Article 19
A table setting for an intimate experience with artist Janet Charlesworth. Take a little time to sit to contemplate human connection + the right to be included with equality.
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Manchester-based, Janet is a founding artist of Proud & Loud Arts; her previous work has appeared at Manchester Art Gallery, University of Manchester, Edge Hill University, + Tate Liverpool as part of DaDaFest International. Janet enjoys creating work that provokes a conversation + flirts playfully with feelings of discomfort + shame.
Kellie Colbert | Bad Feminist
I have something to say… to confess. I am going to tell you a story… a confessional story.
Three people are going to share this space + they are going to share the same body.
It’s time to confess + let me speak.
Kellie is a Leigh-born performance maker, who has recently worked alongside Jake Bowen in his piece Plea Bargain. She has collaborated with Eggs Collective on the-award winning Are You Still Watching + featured in their BBC Arts web series.
See age advisory + content warning here.
@imKellieColbert
Kelvin Atmadibrata | Forcing Hyacinth
One foot partially submerged in cold water, his other foot on the ground, struggling to keep his fulcrum upright. In his hand a familiar plastic milk bottle, filled with bubble liquid. Slowly he blows into a straw, hyacinth-shaped bubbles sprouting from his mouth. Forcing Hyacinth silently weaves a narrative that hints at the Greek mythology of the hyacinth flower + the botany process of forcing bulbs to flower — a commentary on the pressure, self-inflicted or otherwise, of growing up.
Kelvin (b.1988, Jakarta, Indonesia) channels super- + anti-heroes awakened by puberty, + adolescent fantasy to confront masculine stereotypes in Southeast Asia.
kelvinatmadibrata.com
Kris Canavan | Back To Basics
A citizen of nowhere followed blindly a yellow brick road + stumbled across a group of hooded individuals concocting a ritual with pigs heads… The citizen bowed their head + surreptitiously pressed on. After a short period they happened upon an abandoned farm with decaying fields of wheat + a sign that read: DREAMS DIED HERE; with a deep sense of foreboding, the citizen pressed on.
Finally the citizen reached a clearing + saw a man wearing the mask of a clown, holding his Johnson in a pair of garden shears, apparently preparing to castrate himself. Truly, the citizen thought, all roads do lead to shit.
Since 2001 Kris has used their body as a site to be manipulated, contorted, sculpted, pierced + mined for the creation of artworks. They see their methods used in the creation of artworks (by utilising their body + its resources) as a political ownership of their body, a rejection of the status quo + subservience that is expected of us by the state — essentially their works can be viewed as gestures of defiance + dissent.
See age advisory + content warning here.
@kriscanavan
Maya Chowdhry | DiGesture
This live art walk + talk explores the digesting of an idea, in this instance climate breakdown. In the walk you relate to an object in the cityscape, in the talk you process your feelings about it with the artist + find out how your body has responded emotionally.
A Divergency micro-commission.
Maya is an inTer-aCtive artist, poet + theatre-maker. Her work has traversed radio, theatre, live art + film — all of which influence her current creative practice. Recently she has used digital storytelling + interactive theatre-making to create immersive + democratic experiences for audiences, exploring climate justice, seed sovereignty + food justice.
Peter Jacobs | Hypertension (I’m over here, why can’t you see me)
I used to want to be a gogo boy but now I’m in my late-50s I can barely muster the energy to even think about going clubbing or to a dance bar.
“It would be too easy to say that I feel invisible. Instead, I feel painfully visible, + entirely ignored.” — David Levithan
I’m over here, why can’t you see me?
Peter is an experienced performer, model + artist. He started volunteering for public participation art events in 2009 + in 2010 took part in a photographic installation by American photographer Spencer Tunick, which led to an interest in nude performance. In 2014 Peter started to devise his own concepts, developing his own practice; his interests lie in exploring ideas of ordinariness + the choreography of everyday life. He is also interested in dystopian worlds, censorship, ageing, masculinity + male sexual identity.
peter-jacobs.weebly.com
Pierce Starre | Labels
Labelling is an evolutionary process utilised to reconcile feelings in relation to our understanding of the complex nature of our existence. The categorisation of facts + the description of emotion is an intrinsic component of communication.
However, as landscapes expand, many are moving away from the specific, restrictive pigeonholing a label can bring + merely tagging themselves “Me”. The artist explores the effects of labels by sitting, still + silent in the space, holding a roll of sticky labels. The viewer is invited to tear a label + to write a response about the individual they see in front of them. The viewer is then encouraged to stick the label onto the artist.
Pierce is a Liverpool-based artist + organises DRIP Liverpool’s Spill Yer Tea events.
See content warning here.
piercestarre.com
rahtattoo | Solvet et Coagula 22
A Sacrificial action that combines Tarot, Blood + Tattoo.
A self-funded project by rahtattoo, who slips into a winding + skewed road between visual arts, tattooing + the esoteric world.
See age advisory + content warning here.
Ross Graham | Making Histry
My name is Ross, I have a bad memory + I love crisps. Join me in crossing nearly 100 years of difference, + the invincible void of death, in order to meet the only grandparent I never knew. So I can ask them what crisps they like. At most, this performance will be a short-lived victory over my inevitable forgetfulness. But it might still be worth it.
Created + performed by Ross Graham; dramaturgical support from Clara Potter-Sweet.
Ross is a London-based performer + theatre-maker; as well as performing in his own work, he is a freelance theatre director + facilitator. His recent credits include: Portents at Bedlam Theatre, The Space Arts Centre; The Good Times at Sheffield Theatres; Immam Imraan with the National Youth Theatre; Illicit Signals: Bletchley Park at The Colab Factory.
See age advisory + content warning here.
Shkiesha | Con Verse Cups
An exploration of the emotional + complexity dynamics of navigating boundaries + gaining consent. It uses movements inspired by the interaction of matter guided by opposing forces to reflect on the common dynamics we all recognise in a relationship.
Created by Shkiesha + developed with Lyudmila. A Divergency micro-commission.
Tamar + Jo | Unseen Beings
A dance + costume duet based around women + the various ways they have been represented in popular culture. A powerful, playful, surreal + tongue-in-cheek performance inspired by backing dancers, female singers, classical sculpture, porn + fashion.
Made up of three, 5-minute pieces that are interconnected but can be viewed as stand-alone performances that occur independently of one-another.
Created + performed by Tamar Draper + Jo Ashbridge; costume by Sophie Donaldson; mentored by Lea Anderson. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England; + by Hull City Arts.
Tamar graduated Liverpool John Moores University in 2014, was winner of the Hull Dance Prize audience vote with LO:CUS Dance Company in 2015 + 2016, using the 2016 winnings for a mentorship with Lea Anderson; + has worked on large-scale, public performances with Protein Dance Company + Gary Clarke.
Jo graduated Liverpool John Moores University in 2006 + has been commissioned by New Work Yorkshire, the Turn Prize + produced Hull’s annual Danza! event. In 2018 she became Artistic Advisor to Hull Dance alongside Lea Anderson + Liv Lorent.
See age advisory + content warning here.
Thomas Mayer | Countless Lives
A video + sound installation. Using projection, video cameras, music, and his own body, the performer enacts a live recording loop of a movement sequence in order to create a video collage. The audience is invited to view this process + participate through interaction with cameras, microphones + typewriters. Each of the elements in the performance space is captured in the video, creating a unique visual image which will, in turn, shape future layers of the collage.
Music: Maxski.
Thomas is a Berlin-based performer + theatre-maker with a love for creating immersive + interactive installations which mix live performance with visual art, music + process work. Thomas is developing a unique + very personal artistic voice, incorporating his many interests + infusing his earnest inquiry into the human condition with humour + heart.
See age advisory + content warning here.
TomYumSim | HOTLINE
Ring my bell + call me on that HOTLINE! Call now for a good time.+
HOTLINE is a voicemail performance platform that subverts the need for tickets + theatres, giving the audience direct access to the show. HOTLINE harks back to late-night chat lines, rave location information services + a time when phone-to-phone communication ruled.
Grab your phone + dial to give you a smile: 0161 850 6739 or 0777 435 1868. Alter-natively, come by when I’m sitting in the phone booth + listen in to me taking calls LIVE!
+At least 30 seconds of good time guaranteed.
Tom Halls is one half of fantastical theatre duo, TomYumSim. His work centres on erasing the line between performer + spectator, + bringing the audience into the experience. Most recently creating the immersive work String Lines for Co:Lab Festival, TomYumSim can next be experienced in the TED Talk satire Nothing Special at Camden People’s Theatre 22-26 Oct.
tomhalls.co.uk
Will Dickie | b4 history
A first step in a new work. A pulsating body. Getting down getting high going in going off on one + not going anywhere. Speaking about divorce and abandonment + privilege. Asking if there is anything behind these histories we can hold together.
Will is an artist, performance maker + DJ based in Liverpool. His works have all toured the UK, + include The Rave Space, Team of the Decades + Memories of Suburbia.
willdickie.co.uk
Credits
Emergency 2019 is produced by hÅb; supported by NIAMOS, STUN (Sustained Theatre Up North) + Z-arts | Image: Kelvin Atmadibrata by Luana Logina