Lancaster University’s Institute for Contemporary Arts is set to launch a new and innovative project at the start of the summer term. The new initiative Curate the Campus will involve several outdoor and site-specific art exhibitions and showcases around the Lancaster University campus. The 11-day long event, taking place between May 19-20, will feature flashmobs, woodland musicians, human jukebox performances and even a miniature circus. Furthermore, the University’s Nuffield Theatre and Dukes’ theatre will team up to co-produce the award-winning Edinburgh fringe show Running on Air, a show set to take place entirely inside a vintage Volkswagen camper van.
Building on previous LICA commissioned projects, including Quarantine’s The Soldiers Song, Proto-type Theater’s Fortnight and Rajni Shah’s Glorious, Curate the Campus is part of a wider project, undertaken by both students and staff, to make Lancaster University’s artistic and cultural appeal wider in scope and focus. A rich and varied display of work will be on offer, ranging from More Music artist Pete Moser, who will be performing 24 songs in 24 hours in Bowland Tower, and a campus wide orchestral flashmob.
Alongside this will be the Acrojou Circus Theatre, the UK’s leading German wheel duo, who promise to blend acrobatics, dark comedy and design in their highly original and captivating show within a wheel. Their performances have been described as “spectacular” and “mesmerising”, one of which features an entire room set up within a moving German wheel. Another highlight is set to be Invisible Flock, an art collective based in Leeds who have promised to utilize games, as well as, live performance and installation in their unusual “subversion of social space.”
Matt Fenton, Director of Live at LICA says about the project: “Normally we’re known for showcasing the best international artists, performers and orchestras within the University’s Great Hall, Nuffield Theatre and Peter Scott Gallery. Curate the Campus is designed to take some of that work outside of the building, but more importantly to provide artists with the time and space to develop new performances and artworks in a range of site-specific or outdoor locations.”
Entry to most events is free and open to the general public, however tickets to the Running on Air performance will start at £7. In addition to this separate performances are due to take place in Williamson Park and The Platform. More information on Curate the Campus can be obtained via the Live at LICA website which can be viewed at www.liveatlica.org
