Fuse Medway Festival gives opportunities to local artists
Fuse Medway Festival, the free, outdoor arts festival for the people of Medway and beyond, supports local talent by providing an opportunity for artists to be part of the Festival and to develop their work.
As preparations get underway, Fuse is announcing three new ‘Spark’ commissions for the 2012 Festival – one of up to £5,000 and two of up to £2,500, for ‘home-grown’ outdoor performers who are the best in their field.
The ‘Spark’initiative is open to new, developing or established organisations and individuals living or working in Medway. Last year the three commissions were given to Loop Dance from Chatham, for their evocative piece Promenade Dance to the Riverside, new local company Big Bubble for the fun and quirky Smile, their very first ‘performance’ as a professional company and Moogie Wonderland with Matt Ashdown from Rochester, for Greyscale World.
Applicants are welcome from any art form but they must be based in Medway and their work must be designed for the outdoors, take part during the Festival and involve the community in some way.
To link in with Medway’s bid for City Status in 2012, this year’s Fuse Medway Festival will have a river theme. With this in mind, projects that link to the theme will be given special attention.
Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Services Cllr Howard Doe said: “We are hopeful that Arts Council England will once again support Fuse Medway Festival, which has quickly become one of the biggest cultural events in the south-east. And as Medway bids to become a city in 2012, the river by which it is named will be a perfect theme for this year’s new events.”
Interested artists should apply by post (to Fuse Medway Festival, The Brook Theatre, Old Town Hall, Chatham, Kent ME4 4SE) or email fuse@medway.gov.uk at 12 noon on Monday 23 January 2012
FUSE 2012 will take place from 15th to 17th June, preceded by Lighting the Fuse between 11th and 15th June. For more information about Fuse Medway Festival visit the website at www.fusefestival.org.uk, or join them on Facebook or Twitter.
