October
The Encampment of Eternal Hope
A new exhibition by Zoë Walker and Newcastle University Fine Art lecturer Neil Bromwich is to go on show at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
The collaborative duo are renowned for their large-scale participatory events and exhibitions that invite audiences to imagine better worlds.For BALTIC, Walker & Bromwich will premiere The Encampment of Eternal Hope. The installation is a post-apocalyptic Garden of Eden, survival camp, field laboratory and evolving community, creating a communal space that evolves during the course of the exhibition. Part-tent part-garden, The Encampment of Eternal Hope is made up of natural and synthetic structures and inflatables arranged as an environment to seek out positive strategies for future living at a time of global uncertainty.
The exhibition is a participatory experiment which will involve the audience in a programme of events and bring together experts in the fields of ecology, economy and the arts to explore ideas for future survival. Speakers include physicist David Korowicz from The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, Dr Geraldine Wright from the Honeybee Lab, Newcastle University, Transition Towns and Heaton Herbalists, Newcastle.
Other events include survival exercise classes, around the ‘campfire’ discussions and soapbox opportunities, rehearsals for the dance of Eternal Hope, apocalyptic choir recitals and off-site visits including a field trip with a professional forager and a visit to Bill Quay Community Farm.
The events culminate in a two day festival The Festival of the Apocalypse on 21 and 22 December, which takes its starting point from the apocalyptic predictions for 21 December - the end date of the Mayan Calendar. The programme includes a talk and ceremony on 21 December by Mayan Priestess - Giovanna Miralles, a performance by John Kenny celebrating the new dawn with a selection of archaeological musical instruments from the Carnyx to the Conch and a Choir of Apocalypse performance.
The exhibition will take place beteen 5 October and 13 January and more details are available here.
Ends
Press release courtesy of BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
published on: 4 October 2012