A celebration of the British weather and the largest grow-your-own food project of modern times will be among the events being staged for a nationwide festival of creativity aimed at bringing the UK together in 2022.
Organisers of the £120m festival, commissioned by Theresa May’s government and supported by Boris Johnson, announced 10 teams who had successfully pitched ideas.
The festival remains a divisive one. In some eyes it is a politically motivated “festival of Brexit”, but its supporters say that is the last thing it will be. Its chief creative officer, Martin Green, said it was about bringing people together and celebrating creativity in events that are “open, original and optimistic”.
Others balk at the cost, while supporters point to the work it brings to creative freelancers ravaged by the pandemic. “Don’t write it off,” argued a Guardian editorial in September.
It has a working title of Festival UK 2022, but that will be replaced with a better name before the year is out.
On Tuesday 10 teams were named, chosen from 30 that had taken part in a three-month paid research and development process. The idea is that the successful teams give a flavour of what their project is about, but the public will have to wait for full details.
A team led by the Glasgow-based Aproxima Arts will offer “a unique approach to community growing celebrating music, future food technology and sustainable festivals.” Part of that will be the “largest grow-your-own project of modern times”.
Angus Farquhar, the creative director, said the plan was to empower as many people as possible to grow their own food and would involve spaces being reclaimed to allow that. But he added: “I’m conscious of giving too much away.”
That “wait and see” element is true for all the teams, including one led by the Leeds-based events studio Newsubstance, which is promising “a physical manifestation and celebration of the British weather and UK coastline” involving “a large-scale installation that addresses global questions, encourages playfulness, elicits joy and presents an experiment in change.”
All the teams are strikingly mixed in terms of specialisms and may include poets, film-makers or mathematicians. Other groups in the Newsubstance team include Dose of Society, a video platform for unheard voices; the British Antarctic Survey; and the kinetic sculptor Ivan Black.
The Turner prize-winning architecture collective Assemble are leading a team promising “an immersive experience exploring the wonder of the human mind through architecture, neuroscience, technology, light and sound.”
The Salford-based Walk the Plank, known for outdoor spectaculars, head a team exploring the outdoor beauty of the UK and asking questions about “access, taking part, landscape and the future of public spectacle.”
The festival has been cursed by the “festival of Brexit” label since the start, which may well have prevented some people and organisations taking part.
Claire Doherty, an associate creative director of National Theatre Wales, another team leader, said the process had been “incredibly open and transparent … We trust Martin [Green]. Our team said how can we use this investment to help recovery after the pandemic, how can we make sure this project … really looks at who is under-represented and overlooked and listen to those voices.”
Green, whose CV includes the Olympic ceremonies and Hull city of culture, said the festival was one of a number of big events due to take place in the UK in 2022, including the Queen’s platinum jubilee and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The festival is funded by the UK government but Green said the devolved governments were fully onboard.
Scotland’s culture secretary, Fiona Hyslop, said it had been inspiring to see creative and Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) sectors working together to share their talents. “This is an important opportunity to support freelancers and organisations in these sectors as we begin our recovery from the pandemic,” she said.
