What is Public?

This event is now fully booked

How do we maintain public creative practice when there is no public?

Northern Exposures – (Pinhole image) Robbie Coleman and Jo Hodges

This Culture Café is one of a series in which residents of the Creative Work Shop programme, produced by Findhorn Bay Arts, will share experiences of their residencies based on Forres High Street.

Creative Work Shop is a residency programme produced by Findhorn Bay Arts, which sees creative practitioners working with the local community to respond to themes of Place & Regeneration.

This Culture Café will be a chance for artists in residence of the Creative Work Shop, David Sherry, Robbie Coleman & Jo Hodges, to share something of their experiences of their residency through ongoing pandemic lockdowns.

During the artists residency period there have been various versions of ‘Lock-down’.  After a delayed beginning to their residencies they found themselves in an uncertain environment having to find ways of adapting and responding to ongoing and constantly changing restrictions. How can artists with a public /social practice work when the ‘public’ are subjected to a lockdown? Where is ‘public space’? Where are the public and how can artists engage?

This Culture Café will be an opportunity during the third lockdown, for creative practitioners to come together and explore how ongoing restrictions have impacted and continue to impact on practice, particularly when working in a public or social setting.

As we will all be at home, please come along, get yourself comfortable and join us with a cuppa. This event is now fully booked. We will contact you with access details if a space becomes available.

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Creative Work Shop is produced by Findhorn Bay Arts and Funded by Creative Scotland.


About the artists:

Jo Hodges and Robbie Coleman

Robbie Coleman and Jo Hodges are public artist based in Dumfries and Galloway. They have individual art practices but also work in collaboration on transdisciplinary public art works.

Robbie Coleman is an artist and curator with a background in sculpture and live art. He project manages large-scale public arts projects and is Co-Director of the D-Lux Light Festival and The Environment Arts Festival Scotland.

Jo Hodges is an artist, curator and producer with a background in Human Ecology, community development and social justice.

Jointly their work investigates ecological and socio-cultural systems, processes, relationships and change.

David Sherry

David Sherry’s work includes performance, drawing, video, and sculpture and making artworks that relate strongly to everyday life. Making works that are interdisciplinary influenced by my experiences and social surroundings. Questioning accepted ways of thinking, through performance.
Live performance is the focal point of his work, bringing together all the elements of his practice at one moment.

“I find performing extremely valuable as a form of research and as a creative experience. I have been making different forms of performance works for twenty years. 
For my residency with Findhorn Bay Arts I decided to make a number of performances on the Forres High Street. These performances were based around and informed by social engagement.”