It was certainly a year of creative projects flung far and wide. But we did manage a quiet day or two in late December to catch up for chat and plan some NIA exploration for 2017. Keep watching this space! For now we thought we’d share a little bit of what’s been happening lately…
A busy few months now sees Gareth touring Wales with his first solo show (F.E.A.R.) – a one-man show about constructed fear.
The show examines the pressure society, religion, media and family place onto young shoulders. In this life story, that encapsulates early childhood memories and public information films, a clear and ever more fevered narrative unearths the fears of a middle-aged man plagued with the news of Islamic State attacks, the revelations of Edward Snowden, the rise of UKIP and of a growing concern of physical decay. Described as ‘a powerful blast of theatre’ (F.E.A.R.) allows the audience to witness the vulnerability of a solo male performer in full confessional mode.
Gareth is excited that this is showing across Wales in February and March, with an additional show at AMATA Falmouth. (F.E.A.R.) will be at The Riverfront from 22 – 24 March and if you remember his performance in NIA’s Beneath The Surface you will know that it’s going to be a compelling performance.
Time and Place created an opportunity for NIA’s Mosaic Artist, Stephanie Roberts to support local residents in re-connecting with a local environment through making observations of urban textures.
The project focused on collecting images gathered from the buildings, pavements and roof tops to draw on the individual attachment that connects us to an environment, therefore the story and subsequent emotion. Photographic images of detailed landscapes were translated into mosaic using the andamento, the movement of the tile, to re create the landscape and develop each individual character mosaic. A process of abstraction through repeating each design brought a unity of aesthetic to each piece and therefore creating, if you like, intellectual pattern or a ‘swatch’ of fabric design which relates to the original inspiration for the project at Cazer’s Menswear that hosts a multitude of mosaic art at its door.
Marega’s 2017 has started off by diving straight into a creative melting pot, with a collaboration between HiJinX Theatre and Frantic Assembly. Working with students, teaching physical theatre skills and devising techniques.
Along with her getting the marketing side of Mr and Mrs Clark’s (F.E.A.R.) tour under way, future projects in the pipeline include a further exploration into linking the world of drawing and dance. A meeting with the Riverfront in Newport, is planned to start a dialogue about how to put these ideas into practise, which will result in a performance later in the year. She’s hoping to work with Maja Palser ( yes, they are related! ) who composes music and sound composition.
Marega has also been invited to perform at a performance-based art event in Brighton which takes place at the beginning of March. This comes as a result of taking part in the Draw To Perform festival in London last year- a wonderful event if you like crossing art forms and getting messy.
Jo is on a journey with her documentary photo project about why people are Finding a Home in Maindee. It’s been a journey of sharing stories, many of these stories are hers as well as theirs, while she takes a look at why and how people came to live there.
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