A few weeks ago, our Associate Artists Pat and Carl from Broken Orchestra were given the opportunity to be a part of a group of 19 emerging artists from around the world to go to Kosovo as part of the InSitu Hot House.
They have both wrote a brilliant piece about their experience to read below.
But first, a foreword from Mikey Martins:
We’re really excited to have been able to introduce local artists Pat and Carl of Broken Orchestra to the InSitu Network at this Hot House/Residential in Pristina, Kosovo. InSitu is an extremely valuable and important network in the field of outdoor/public arts. The network is the longest-standing large scale co-operation network in the Creative Europe portfolio and it’s great that local artists who we support can be invited into it to create new touring opportunities, gain expert advice and to build their own relationships with this exceptionally talented collection of artists, producers, experts and festivals.
We’ve always been proud of being one of only 2 UK partners in this network and to be able to introduce Pat and Carl into it, makes us even prouder. We cannot wait to see what comes out of this for them to grow their international work, expand their touring networks and for their creative ideas to flourish. Made in Hull, shown here first and then toured all over the world, that’s the kind of success stories we like to read about. A real legacy of our city of culture year back in 2017!
Pat & Carl's Trip to Kosovo
We were selected by Freedom Festival to be part of the InSitu network. In 2019 we piloted a GPS audio walk, along the River Hull, which had music at the heart of it and a spoken word narrative of Hull transitioning forward from Vicky Foster. We have always felt this piece of work can have more impact by exploring the theme of climate change and flooding. Hull lives below sea level with 90% of the city below high tide line, meaning 100,000 properties are at risk of extreme weather events. Only 2% of the city's properties are considered to be safe from flooding. Hull City Council identified this project to have semi-permanent status in Hull City Centre as part of Hull Maritime project, which will allow people to enjoy, be inspired by and be informed by this work.
InSitu is a European platform for artistic creation in public spaces. Hosted by ODA Teatri in Pristina, Kosovo, the Hot House gives a safe space for emerging European artists and programmers to discuss artistic works in progress. Bringing together the InSitu partners with associate artists, we were selected by Freedom Festival as emerging artists along with 19 other people/groups. Joining members from all around the world who are passionately working on projects and installations and touring internationally, we met up with the intention of discussing each other's work and supporting/helping one another through challenges we each face and give honest feedback and thoughts on how things could work or change or inspire each other. This year the focus was put on projects that are connected to the topic of climate change and sustainability.