created by Nina Perry for the dream(ing) field lab, rhythm of rest debuted at toynbee studios on 12 september 2021 as part of the immersive installation, another garden (will be our city) for the what shall we build here festival.

a crucible, a carnival, a sanctuary, an imaginarium

conjuring a present future where the ancestral wisdom of the African diaspora + the Black ecowomanism’s intersectional understanding of environmental + social justice are set to the beat of raging joy, this immersive installation is inspired by the dream(ing) field lab’s june retreat in rural somerset, where an intergenerational gathering of Black women + femmes danced freely under the stars, honoured ancestral ecologies + co-created a sanctuary in which to offer and receive nourishment from each other + the earth.

the dream(ing) field lab is a Common Ground commission by Season for Change, a nationwide programme of artistic and cultural events that celebrate the environment and inspire urgent climate action. Led by Julie’s Bicycle and Artsadmin, and supported by Arts Council England and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

rhythm of rest

created by Nina Perry for the dream(ing) field lab, what will i grow is a series of interviews recorded during a june 2021 retreat to rural somerset, + the work debuted at toynbee studios on 12 september 2021  as part of the immersive installation, another garden (will be our city) for the what shall we build here festival.

a crucible, a carnival, a sanctuary, an imaginarium

conjuring a present future where the ancestral wisdom of the African diaspora + the Black ecowomanism’s intersectional understanding of environmental + social justice are set to the beat of raging joy, this immersive installation is inspired by the dream(ing) field lab’s june retreat in rural somerset, where an intergenerational gathering of Black women + femmes danced freely under the stars, honoured ancestral ecologies + co-created a sanctuary in which to offer and receive nourishment from each other + the earth.

the dream(ing) field lab is a Common Ground commission by Season for Change, a nationwide programme of artistic and cultural events that celebrate the environment and inspire urgent climate action. Led by Julie’s Bicycle and Artsadmin, and supported by Arts Council England and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

what will i grow

Nina Perry's BBC Radio 3 composed feature A Song of Bricks and Mortar explores composition, the creative process and the art of making. It takes its inspiration from this quote by Benjamin Britten:

"Composing is like driving down a foggy road toward a house. Slowly you see more details of the house - the colour of the slates and bricks, the shape of the windows. The notes are the bricks and the mortar of the house."

Via a compositional road trip, artists in the process of creating and making give insight into their own personal creative process, and what drives them to create. Like a play within a play or a documentary that documents itself - this feature dips its toe into the infinite and timeless nature of artistic creativity as an integral part of being human.

The fear of new beginnings, the pleasure of being in flow, moments of illumination, and of being lost; the artists' relationship with the environment and their own interior landscapes are revealed by Sculptor Helaine Blumenfeld, Art Student Imran Perretta, Composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Choreographer and Artistic Director of Rambert Dance Company, Mark Baldwin; and a group of people with Dementia and memory problems at a Creative Arts Session run by the Arts development company Verd de gris.

Their insights are woven together with a metaphorical motorbike journey performed by violinist Oli Langford and a soundscape of specially composed music.

First broadcast 06/07/2013.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036hzcw

A Song Of Bricks And Mortar

Nina Perry

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