The Science Museum in London has announced two new artist residences - a Writer in Residence and its first ever Dancer in Residence for its summer arts season.
New Writer in Residence, British author Tony White, and new Dancer in Residence, contemporary artist Athina Vahla, will begin their residences this month. Both White and Vahla will hold free writing workshops and dance workshops at the Museum whilst working on their own solo projects inspired by the Science Museum’s world-class collections, its extensive library and its latest contemporary art acquisition, Listening Post. The residences will culminate in new works to be unveiled in September and October 2008.
Tony White is author of several books including the critically acclaimed novel Foxy-T (Faber and Faber). He also recently published the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans. White is currently writing a libretto for an opera by composer Martyn Harry, commissioned by The Opera Group. Tony White will run two writing workshops at the Museum - one on 11 July to coincide with ‘London Lit Plus’, the open-source literary festival, and a session in late August open to 16-18 year olds.
Athina Vahla is a contemporary artist working as a choreographer and teacher and producing critically-acclaimed work across the UK and Europe. Vahla concentrates on epic, site-specific work taking a collaborative approach to create multi-media pieces. Previous works include House of Kutz, a promenade event for the Master Shipwright’s House in Deptford, and Wrestling an Angel which was performed in both the old operating theatre at St Thomas’s Hospital and a deserted abattoir in Clerkenwell. Most recently, she was commissioned to produce a large-scale installation Spaces Between for the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall in June 2007. Vahla’s residency, a co-commission between the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Chelsea Arts Service and Momentum, will include a five-day workshop from 18-22 August culminating in a public performance on the final day. Vahla’s solo work will be premiered at the Science Museum in September.
Author Tony White said, "This summer residency is a fantastic opportunity. A chance to begin some very interesting conversations, both in the public-facing parts of the museum and behind-the-scenes: I have no idea where these conversations may lead. A current pre-occupation of mine is the way that culture and society generally is responding to climate change - so I'm really looking forward to digging around in the archives for some fresh perspectives on that. Above all, this is a chance to explore and to experiment, using fiction as a kind of laboratory."
Athina Vahla said, "My work often evolves from a combination of research, education and artistic creation and I have a strong scientific bias in my work, particularly in relation to body/mind; so the Science Museum residency and Listening Post installation seem like fertile territory for exploring my choreographic preoccupations. It is a great challenge having to create a bodily response to Listening Post, a monumental work that is so self-contained in the way it expresses humanity."
Ruth Fenton, Arts Projects Coordinator for the Science Museum, said, "We are delighted that we can now add a writer and a dancer to a long list of artists who have contributed to our arts programme over the years: a list which includes Anthony Gormley, Marc Quinn and Yinka Shonibare. For our arts projects we invite exceptional artists to engage with our collections and offer us new ways of thinking about the impact of science, medicine and technology on culture and society. I am excited to see both Tony and Athina’s response to our wonderful collections."
Notes to Editors
Biographies
Tony White
Born in 1964, Tony White is a London-based writer and the author of novels including the critically acclaimed ‘Foxy-T’ (Faber and Faber, 2003), of which the Guardian said, “White joins a handful of contemporary writers who are proving that the novel has never been more alive. He is a serious, engaging voice of the modern city”. He has recently published the non-fiction work ‘Another Fool in the Balkans’ (Cadogan, 2006), co-edited the short story collection ‘Croatian Nights’ (Serpent’s Tail, 2005) and edited the ‘Britpulp!’ collection (Sceptre, 1999). In 2007, Tony White received a Grants for the Arts award from Arts Council England towards completing a work of fiction in progress and exploring creative writing in interdisciplinary research. Tony frequently collaborates with visual artists, and has produced works of fiction/prose with artists including London Fieldworks, Bob and Roberta Smith, Alison Turnbull, Stephen Hull and Chris Dorley-Brown. Tony is currently writing the libretto for a new Antarctic opera, ‘South’, by Martyn Harry. ‘South’ is commissioned by The Opera Group and is expected to open in the summer of 2009.
Athina Vahla
Athina Vahla is a London-based independent artist and teacher. Originally from Greece, she came to London in 1991, having won the Greek National Choreographic Award. In London, she was awarded two scholarships to further her dance studies at Laban (where she received the Bonnie Bird choreography award 1994) before undertaking an MA in interdisciplinary arts at Middlesex University. Since then, Athina has worked extensively as a choreographer, animateur and teacher and produced a steady stream of critically acclaimed work.
Since 2001, Athina has concentrated on large scale, site-specific pieces including House of Kurtz, a promenade event for the Master Shipwright’s House in Deptford and Wrestling An Angel which was performed in two sites - the Old Operating Theatre at St Thomas’s hospital in Borough and a deserted abbatoir in Clerkenwell. Most recently, she was commissioned to produce a large-scale installation Spaces Between for the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall in June 2007.
Athina’s work has a strong visual identity, is often site-specific, epic in scale, and aspires to create living environments for the audience to inhabit and explore. She has an interdisciplinary approach and works with a range of collaborators, resulting in multi-media pieces that are rich in symbolism and visual imagery. She is fascinated with the body and its physical limits, the manipulation of gesture and spatial design. She works with a range of professional collaborators as well as children, old people, martial artists, disabled performers and non-professionals.
Athina has been artist in residence at Greenwich Dance Agency since 2001 www.greenwichdance.org.uk and an Artsadmin Associate Artist since March 2007 www.artsadmin.co.uk
· Science Museum Arts Projects explores artists’ perspectives on the past, present and future of science and technology, creating new opportunities for encountering contemporary art. Projects by exceptional artists offer new ways of thinking about the impact of science within wider cultural contexts. The programme includes temporary and permanent works within the museum’s galleries, as well as one-off events, talks, research projects and art exhibitions.
· The Science Museum exists to promote the public understanding of the history and contemporary practice of science, medicine, technology and industry. It aims to inspire, educate and involve visitors. It achieves this by building, researching and caring for the national collections; and by interpreting these collections and engaging the public in the contemporary issues they raise. Visit www.sciencemuseum.org.uk.
