3 minute read
Bristol Beacon unveils
The final expression of Bristol Beacon’s landmark ‘A New Song For Bristol’ project has been unveiled. The 42ft artwork that has been installed on the outside of the building, created by Bristol artist Parys Gardener, takes inspiration from the stories and artistic work submitted to the project. Bristol Beacon launched 'A New Song for Bristol' in 2020 calling on the public to convey their experiences of living in Bristol during the pandemic through words and music. It received hundreds of entries from Bristolians of all ages, communities, and backgrounds, from poetry and letters to fully fledged songs and music videos, spanning a huge range of experiences, topics and emotions. The result was a string of collabo rations between local artists and members of Bristol communities.
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These pieces have now inspired the huge artwork which has been applied to the glass frontage of the distinctive Bristol Beacon foyer building and will be in place for Autumn.
Bristol based artist Parys describes how she devised her final artwork to celebrate ‘A New Song For Bristol’: “For this project, I was visualising the stories I was being told. A lot of the pieces were vulnerable, and some were heavy and raw, so it was a real challenge and responsibility to find the joy, whilst recognising people’s real lived experience in what was a difficult time.” “I printed out lots of the written submissions and listened to audio tracks. Using highlighters and biros, I started drawing images in my head and created lots of mucky sketches. Over time I could see how to combine stories and bring everything together organically. That’s how I landed on the flowers. They’re organic and alive and beautiful.”
The 'A New Song for Bristol' project has brought about collaborations with a diverse range of Bristol artists and collectives, including Kayla Painter and KALA CHNG, This is the Kit and Bucky, Lady Nade, Javeon, Grove, and composer, musician and associate director of Paraorchestra, Lloyd Coleman.
Lady Nade created a piece called 'Bristol Is Our Playground’ with members of Mini Singers, Bristol Beacon’s choir for Key Stage 1 Children, while Grove wrote ‘Lockdown Riddim’ in collaboration with members of Hop e Creative, Bristol Beacon’s creative programme for children in care.
“This project is the first major artistic expression of Bristol Beacon’s Transformation promise, we announced alongside our renaming in September 2020, which sets out how Bristol Beacon strives to be a symbol of hope and community for everyone. “Last year marked the beginning of an extraordinary time for the whole world, but during this difficulty, people also rediscovered their sense of community, forged new ways of connecting, and renewed their collective spirit. That is what we want to celebrate in this project.” The variety of contributions reflections on the pandemic, while several explored themes surrounding 2020’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations and the toppling of the Colston statue.
Cathy Mager, Creative Producer of Bristol Beacon's Lantern Project, said: “From this project and with this huge artwork, we wanted to encourage everyone to express themselves through words, music or song and to share their experiences, ignite the fire of creativity in everyone and draw the city closer.
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24 EMERY RD BRISTOL BS4 5PF TEL: 0117 971 7880 FOR YOUR NEXT PURCHASE OF WINDOWS, DOORS AND ROOFLIGHTS WINDOWS | DOORS | ROOFLIGHTS "A New Song for Bristol is inspired by Bristol Beacon's long history of being a place for local communities to voice their views of the world and make music together. When you read about how the city was locked down at the outbreak of World War II and the entertainment ban, the parallels are striking between then and now. It was heartening to learn about how the venue and its team played such an important role in raising morale.”
The artwork is now installed on the outside of Bristol Beacon, and a celebration event takes place on Thursday 4 November with those who contributed to the project invited to attend.
All of the commissioned songs, along with the public submissions, can now be explored on a special website that has been created to celebrate the project. http://www.anewsongforbristol.co.uk/ The project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, PRS Foundation, Help Musicians, as well as the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
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