GIFT – Gateshead festival keeps on giving
Fancy a peat bog opera or a lesson in dandyism?
Performances, creative workshops, exhibitions, installations and conversations are on offer at the 15th edition of GIFT – that’s the Gateshead International Festival of Theatre – taking place over the weekend of May 2-4.
Theatre’s a broad church, as the festival created in 2011 by Kate Craddock demonstrates every year.
It can accommodate a West End musical, a Shakespeare tragedy and the experimentation and collaboration championed by GIFT, described as “a supportive platform for artists to come together and push the boundaries of their practice”.
Exemplifying all that is Art Business Ltd whose Work Party for Cheats is a communal space for getting stuff done that you can’t get done.
During previous Work Party sessions, according to Bristol-based artist Rachael Clerke (brains behind Art Business Ltd), participants have helped with proofreading, writing a budget, finishing a painting, toilet training a puppy and making a birthday card.
To take part, take an unfinished or unresolved task, plus anything you think might be useful in resolving it, to Orbis Community West Street, Unit 9, Interchange Centre, West Street, Gateshead, NE8 1BH between 2pm and 4.15pm on Sunday, May 4.
And feel free, say Art Business Ltd daringly, to bring something even if you think it’s impossible to be solved by “collective cheating”.
Introducing this year’s festival, Kate Craddock says: “During its 15th year I am reflecting on the evolution of GIFT and its agility, perseverance and strength in adapting to the changing landscape of Gateshead, the arts, and the world we live in.
“I am proud that GIFT offers an invitation for artists and audiences to connect with different themes each year, and a welcoming environment for them to explore various locations around Gateshead in a way that they might not otherwise.
“As a festival, it opens up an invitation for audiences to have a genuine exchange with artists, and I’m excited to see people connect and engage with artists from across the UK and Canada this year.
“GIFT has developed a reputation amongst artists as a place to experiment and test out new ideas in front of a supportive festival community, echoing the festival’s ethos of exploration, exchange and experimentation.
“I’m excited to see the programme embraced during its anniversary year.”
From Canada comes In A Strange Place, a video installation and social engagement project initiated by Mia & Eric, from Calgary, who have presented works about ecology and biodiversity across the world.
Their film, featuring “improvised choreographies” by foresters, ecologists, activists, conservationists and land keepers from England, Germany, Norway and Canada, can be seen at Gateshead Library, Prince Consort Road, from April 26 to June 23.
There, from April 28 to May 3, you will also find artist Kate Daley making a book of fiction shaped by answers library visitors give to a set of questions.
Every morning and afternoon the questions will change, moving through the classifications of the Dewey Decimal system and including History, Geography and Computer Science.
On the final day, the finished book will be added to the library’s collection as an alternative portrait of the place and the people who use it.
Kate is a member of Quarantine, a Manchester-based ensemble of artists, and this project is called Building of Spines.
There you might also run into Jo Hellier (artist, performer) and Yas Clarke (composer, sound artist) who are resident at this year’s GIFT and are making an experimental opera called Bog.
“In Bog,” they explain, “three performers take an ecstatic, erotic journey through the hot, wet, ancient matter that makes up a peat bog.”
A workshop for 12 volunteer participants is scheduled for Friday afternoon at the library before an evening performance in the Caedmon Hall.
A different kind of workshop activity is offered on Saturday by Payal Ramchandani, a Newcastle-based dancer and choreographer specialising in Kuchipudi, a South Indian classical dance form.
Open to adults and young people aged 10 plus, it offers an insight in to the dance form and will be part of Payal’s Just Enough Madness solo dance theatre production.
Head for The Glasshouse, meanwhile, to see RADIOMATON, an immersive and participatory installation blending dance and digital arts.
You’re invited to step into a photobooth-like cabin and repeat aloud words from a live radio broadcast while mimicking tele-prompted gestures.
Explain co-creators Marie Béland and Simon Laroche: “By exploring themes such as the construction of truth, media influence, the spread of ‘fake news’ and the role of the body in perceiving and transmitting information, RADIOMATON places participants in a state of cognitive overload.
“This reveals the vulnerability and authenticity that emerge when social filters dissolve.”
Ziza Patrick will be at the Shipley Art Gallery on the Saturday afternoon to explain and maybe demonstrate How to Become A Dandy In A Day while in the evening Scott Turnbull and Tessa Parr will be at Station East, Hills Street, Gateshead, NE8 2AS to perform Something Unexpected In The Bagging Area.
GIFT 2025 is funded and supported by Arts Council England, Gateshead Council, Newcastle University, Quebec Government Office in London, High Commission of Canada and Canada Council for the Arts.
To see the full three-day programme, go to the GIFT website and peruse its many wonders.