Articulation Director Angela shares her thoughts on Fresh Street #5, Circostrada’s international conference for outdoor arts.
CircoStrada’s International Conference for outdoor arts Fresh Street #5 came to the Out There Festival in Great Yarmouth for three days from 28 to 30 May and was hosted in the incredible Hippodrome Circus – the UK’s last surviving total circus building (dubbed one of the seven wonders of the British seaside). Speakers and delegates came from across five continents – and all over Scotland – with a contingent that included the recipients of the Creative Scotland Fresh St bursaries.
Day one of Fresh Street launched The Ice House, a Grade 2 listed building that was once part of the town’s thriving fishing industry. A multi-million redevelopment with support from a range of funders, including the National Lottery and Arts Council England has enabled Out There Arts to repurpose this historic building to develop an arts and circus training hub, transforming it into a National Centre for Outdoor Arts and Circus.
The second day explored the theme of People with Vicki Dela Amedume, Artistic Director of Upswing, an award winning contemporary circus company who tell new stories in extraordinary ways, celebrating the skills of diverse artists and communities. She spoke eloquently about how the arts do not exist in a vacuum and how creation takes place with other people, places and histories and through this the creative process deepens and the purpose sharpens.
Day three explored the theme of Future – revered musician, producer and activist Brian Eno delivered the final keynote speech, in his all-encompassing and inimitable style – exploring what it means to be an artist in these turbulent times. Stating that the arts cannot “put out the fire” but what they can do is start them, sparking emotional change and cultivating the soil of our culture. Fresh Street #5 enabled a deep-dive into the important theme of outdoor arts’ role in placemaking and was full of discussion, debate and celebration. The conference segued seamlessly to the Out There Festival’s innovative programme of street art, circus and performance that is at the heart of the development of Great Yarmouth. Fresh Street #5 was an inspirational conference, hosted at a pioneering festival that is a testament to the power of outdoor arts. Well done to the Out There Arts and Circostrada teams. I’ll sum up with a quote that is equally true for outdoor arts and spectacle as it is for circus, by Vicki Dela Amedume, “…Circus creates a democratic space to explore the extraordinary qualities that bind not divide us.”
