Liberty Festival Programme Announced

This year’s Liberty Festival, on 4 September, will be a showcase and celebration of the artistic and sporting talent to be found within the Deaf and disabled community, according to London Mayor Boris Johnson.

The free event, running between 1pm and 5pm, will see Trafalgar Square animated with street arts, dance, aerial performance, comedy, cabaret and children’s activities.

Among highlights of an afternoon programme showcasing the best of disability arts and culture, Liberty will include an exclusive preview from Graeae’s new musical “Reasons to Be Cheerful” featuring the songs of Ian Dury, an aerial collaboration between Candoco and Scarabeus inspired by the myth of the minotaur, a showcase of exciting new musical talent from Heart n Soul and an array of cabaret artists, including Francesca Martinez, Steve Day and Liz Carr.

There will also be a specially commissioned sport and arts “face off”, bringing together artist Rachel Gadsden with athletes from Wheelpower, the sporting organisation based at Stoke Mandeville (the birthplace of the Paralympic Games). The award winning artist will capture the action live as players are put through their paces in Wheelchair basketball, tennis and rugby.

The idea is create an exhilarating fusion of sport and the arts resulting in the creation of life size visual pieces that will respond to the drama of sport and capture the inspiration, motivation and determination of the athletes. The creation of the canvases and the sporting action will be accompanied by music to heighten the theatrical context, with the resulting artworks becoming an artistic record of the Liberty festival.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “There are just two years to go to the 2012 Games and disabled people are central to their success, both in the sporting arena and through the cultural programme. This year’s Liberty festival has a fantastic line up, which showcases the dynamism and creativity of disabled people and will provide a tantalising taste of what’s to come in two years time.”

The Liberty Festival is funded primarily by the Mayor of London, with support from Unison,  Transport for London, Arts Council England. Several of the performances are being made possible thanks to an Arts Council grant, through the Lottery funded ‘Grants for the Arts’. Also involved in developing the festival are Attitude is Everything, Shape, Artsline, Independent Living Alternatives and Cooltan Arts

Amongst the other attractions will be an Aerial Performance area featuring Amici Dance Theatre and Cirque Nova, as well as the Candoco-Scarabeus collaboration, which is entitled ‘Heartland’.

The Street Arts zone will have a programme that includes ‘Brown Paper Packages’ by Kazzum, which will feature a large brown paper package from which performers emerge creating scenes, landscapes and puppetry in the style of a pop up book. Epic Arts will have a performance by Cambodian dance students with ’4D’, choreographed by Chisato Minamimura, and a dance duet by Jennie Ellis and Kathryn Langrish.

Rhinestone Rollers will appear in a new production created by Graeae Theatre and choreographed by Marc Brew and Rachel Bagshaw – a witty insight into dance through the ages with the help of costume changes to transform each dance routine sequence. Chutney – a form of popular music of Trinidad – is the inspiration for an exciting new street theatre performance led by acclaimed Bhangra producer Kuljit Bhamra. Extant will present ‘Tandemonium’, a new performance installation combining music theatre and choreographed tandems.

A Music Programme at the foot of Nelson’s Column will feature a range of performers, including: Yunioshi – electro pop and “robot funk”; young musicians from the Orpheus Centre in Surrey; funk/punk power trio The Fish Police; KDNA, with vocalist Kali Perkins, plus a unique blend of violin, keyboards, drums and voices; singer Lizzie Emeh backed by a seven-piece band, with songs from her album Loud and Proud; plus Graeae’s Reasons to be Cheerful.

The Cabaret and Comedy area will feature artists such as Francesca Martinez, Steve Day, Liz Carr, Keith Currie, Mackenzie Taylor, Blind Gurl and the Crips and Cooltan poets.

Emergency Exit Arts will be curating the Children’s Arts area, with an “up in the air” theme and an Icarus like character helping participants to harness the power of the elements as they enter a “Windy Wonderland” of wind machines, fabric and sound. There will also be art installations by disabled artists from arteast.

To complement the festival, attendees are also invited to visit the National Gallery, which will be hosting BSL interpreted talks, on Sir Joshua Reynold’s ‘Examination of Himself’ and Claude-Oscar Monet’s ‘Irises’.

This year’s Liberty is dedicated to the memory of David W. Morris, who was an advisor on disability issues at the GLA and LOCOG, and who died earlier this year. His life and work will be celebrated at the Red Jesus Chill Out Area, which is supported by DisLIB (Disability Listen Include Build). There will also be the premiere of David’s film Together!, produced for the UK Disabled People’s Council.

LIBERTY FESTIVAL

Trafalgar Square

Saturday 4 September 2010
1pm-5pm
FREE – ALL WELCOME
www.london.gov.uk/liberty