WORDS FOR THE LIVING, 2021
Live Performance | Beth Derbyshire | WERK
Words for the Living is a live performance in which an individual speaker, communicates a series of words and phrases through a megaphone in public space. The words are commemorative excerpts by loved ones for so many of the key workers who have tragically passed away from Covid 19. The poignant and celebratory recital of words is a living memorial, describing the qualities of these incredible people who lost their lives whilst saving others and is intended to pay homage to loss, whilst inspiring the living through their bravery. The performance will be filmed and presented in the digital space of Into the Parade.
Into the Parade is an online web encounter and live project that explores how arts organisation and practitioners across the Midlands are engaging civically. The digital ‘Civic Centre’ is both tangible and metaphorical concept to explore the role of cultural practice in a civic context. Into the Parade is a cultural intervention that undertakes projects that have online and real-world anchors points and has been initiated by Beth Derbyshire and developed with students from the MA Arts and Project Management course at Birmingham City University.
BETH DERBYSHIRE
My current role at the Birmingham School of Art, (Birmingham City University) are as Course Director for MA Arts and Project Management. The course is designed for those who wish to pursue a career in arts management to gain expertise the requirements for managing arts organisations, festivals, cultural spaces and arts projects. This course enables people to develop professional and practical skills to managing and promoting arts events that are instantly transferable to many career paths in the arts, producing flexible, responsive and imaginative cultural practitioners
The course features seminar series The Arts and Society. This seminar series responds the power that Art has to shape places and society and the growing requirements for arts producers, practitioners and organisations to be accountable to the public and their partners. This seminar series explores the civic and social role of the Arts and the delivery of public engagement and cultural value.
More information can be found out about the course here
and here
https://www.bcu.ac.uk/art/about-us/meet-the-postgraduate-team/beth-derbyshire
and more about my work at Birmingham School of Art can be found here
https://www.bcu.ac.uk/research/our-people/a-e/beth-derbyshire
I work with partners to develop platforms that can take the form of a exhibitions, pop-ups, and festivals to showcase research and work from students and staff. The projects reflect on diverse narratives within contemporary issues, heritage and history and function as teaching and research tools providing live platforms for public engagement activities. Students from across the School of Art and sometimes faculty gain live professional experience as well as being able to reflect and refer to the events/projects as part of their assignments and research papers. An essential component of this research is to foster an interdisciplinary cultural and public practice for the school by working and “broadcasting” across the Arts to reach diverse audiences through cultural intersections. These collaborations forge strong links across education, the cultural sector and industry to offer students and staff (from all institutions) exciting opportunities to flourish and share their research with external partners and communities.
To this end, I have strong relationships with Selfridges Birmingham, The Longbridge Light Festival, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham Museums Trust, WERK, Warwick Arts Centre and Tate Liverpool. Examples of these projects can be found in this section of the site.