ELECTRIC MEDWAY

 
 

Electric Medway

‘Electric Medway’ was an ambitious 10-day arts programme that was held in a variety of locations, with free-to-see artworks and activities including virtual reality, streamed performances, animation, projection and sound. Further details on this co-commission are below.
A summary impact report is now available to view online.

View summary report

Creative Estuary Co-commissions is supporting a wide range of cultural projects with new commissions for Estuary-based producers and artists, from activity for emerging cultural activists to large scale commissions. Electric Medway is one such commission.

 

About the project
It’s back!

Electric Medway returns with an ambitious 10-day arts programme that will exist in different spaces, tell new stories, and nurture digital creativity.

Expect an exciting array of free works and activities including virtual reality, streamed performances, animation, projection, and sound.

Electric Medway is family-friendly with content for all ages.

MOONSEED
Long-term collaborators Luke Birch, Anna Braithwaite and Helen Lindon (all based in Kent, UK) joined forces with Canadian dance artists Olivia C. Davies and Daisy Thompson to research and develop new ways of collaborating remotely following the cycles of the moon as their guide.

MOONSEED is an art installation that synchronises simultaneous live performances from around the world with pre-recorded digital artefacts to create new rituals dedicated to the moon and its cycles. At a time when space travel has become the theme park ride of choice for oligarchs and the United States’ deregulated entrepreneurial activity threatens to strip the moon of her mineral assets, the MOONSEED Collective embark on an urgent attempt to reclaim the mystery, beauty and splendour of our lunar body.

Echo Exchange by Jane Pitt (UK) and Isabel Nogueira (Brazil)
Echo Exchange combines visual, digital and physical space in a large scale print & audio work; played out to the street via vibrating speakers on the large window at INTRA gallery. These two audio-visual artists from different countries and cultural backgrounds came together for Echo Exchange, as virtual ‘sonic penpals’ across time zones, to experience life & listening from each other’s perspective via a series of audio exchanges. Through their sonic dialogue, they discover the intersections, patterns, threads, connections, disconnections and boundaries they find in a world where we can no longer pretend to be separate

Echo Exchange

[[even a stopped clock is right twice a day]] by Sophie Stone and Michèle Saint-Michel
[[even a stopped clock is right twice a day]] is a collaborative multi-screen audio-visual work exploring the synchronisation of the artists’ experiences of everyday life through rituals and routines, such as walking, using social media, and selfcare.

The audience is invited into the work by solving the problem of how to best view both screens at once. The impossible task creates an opportunity to question why we feel the desire to take the work in as a whole and to check for synchronisation. This compulsive, sense-making process is one we’ve had to prioritise with the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

Even a stopped clock

Harriet Parker-Beldeau
A set of dance films performed on railings, exploring the everyday in-between spaces we inhabit and are inhibited by. Created by Harriet Parker-Beldeau, performed by Stella Papi and Harriet, filmed and edited by Jordan Mary and supported by Loop Dance Company.

Railing

Beacon of Hope by Kalikas Armour and Cybersaur Arts
Hidden deep in the heart of Medway is the Beacon of Hope, an ancient rock of magical and supernatural powers. It is said that this is the connection of primordial source energy, a lifeline from higher realms of the Universe to our Mother Earth…
With fashion at its core, Kalikas Armour and Cybersaur Arts present Beacon of Hope, an immersive space full of projection, set design and light. Created from observations during the pandemic, the work explores how people have relied on their unique practices of rituals to ensure stability and tranquillity within the chaos.

The piece will transport people on a mystical journey manifesting in golden light. The unpredictability of chaos can sometimes have powerful magical results…

Beacon of hope
Play

Ident created by Noad Animation with music by Rookie Music.

The people behind the festival

Electric Medway is produced by SparkedEcho, a grassroots organisation based in Chatham that delivers digital and site-specific work, using technology, music, and art to connect with communities.

SparkedEcho’s mission is to help people be more connected, healthier, and creative through new, experimental music activities in Kent and Sussex.

Visit the festival and find out more

Electric Medway is taking place from 21-30 August 2021 in various outdoor locations throughout Medway and online. The full programme can be found here: https://electricmedway.co.uk/programme/

For updates please visit the Electric Medway or SparkedEcho websites.

Insta: @electricmedway @sparkedecho