Bedford Voices
(last edited: 2021)
author(s): Demitrios Kargotis
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
In March 2015, two months before the UK General Election, the town of Bedford saw ten of its central commercial advertising billboards replaced with hard-hitting political cartoons. These were, in fact, a new artwork called ‘Bedford Voices’, which presented the ideals of seven Bedford charities, and community groups who wanted their voices to be heard. It was a collaborative project initiated by artists Dash N’ Dem (Demitrios Kargotis & Dash Macdonald), with leading political cartoonist Patrick Blower and top London advertising agency McGarryBowen.
Commissioned by Bedford Creative Arts the aim was to harness the power of billboard advertising and further the concept of public art. Made even more poignant as the country geared up to the general election, this project created the opportunity to explore, discuss, and co-produce people’s policies as an artwork for all to experience. It used political cartoons to pose powerful questions and thought-provoking messages that were intended to get people talking and engaging. Dash N’ Dem worked with the community groups in a series of workshops to develop their own political message. The research interest was in the political poster and how it has played a key role in the way political parties ‘speak’ to the people, both in the twentieth century and today, and how posters could enable community groups to voice what they wanted to say using the language and techniques of the political poster.
From 16 March to 12 April 2015, these peoples’ political posters were exhibited across Bedford town centre along with participatory event’s; walking tours and hustings with local MPs and councillors who gathered to discuss the issues raised by the billboards. The project had significant local impact, with audience impact estimated by Bedford Creative Arts at 1.232m and media coverage by BBC Look East, and the Huffington Post.
Tomorrow's Great Pageant
(last edited: 2021)
author(s): Demitrios Kargotis
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Tomorrow’s Great Pageant is the result of a three-month project initiated by the Post Workers Theatre and supported by Bedford Creative Arts, The Place Theatre and Arts Council England. The researcher’s work re-scripted the suffrage play, A Pageant of Great Women, written by Ciceley Hamilton in 1909. This allegorical work of political agitation featured the embodiment of Justice, Woman and Prejudice, with a cast of forty-five historic great women to promote a feminist perspective on emancipation.
The aim was to revisit the play’s original structure and intent, whilst updating its content and delivery. By working with Bedfordshire's LGBTQ+ community to explore what a post-gender future could look like, the researcher accomplished an empowering co-authoring of the script. The research comprised a launch event, six workshops, rehearsal and final performance reading. It engaged a network of diverse voices—over 163 participants—in debating and co-writing the new play that commented on gender and freedom today. The launch event brought together seven guest speakers to revisit the structure and values of the historic suffrage play producing a new platform for collective understanding, awareness and celebration. The outcomes of this debate informed the workshops and the new script that followed.
The workshops introduced experimental performance and co-production techniques to foster knowledge exchange. This was achieved by involving the participants in the analysis of social issues through the use of digital avatars as actors; forum theatre as a design tool; and debate structures as a means of co-authoring. Participants scripted their own concerns and hopes into a narrative that acts as both a significant social document for the time and highlights local issues surrounding the treatment and judgement of marginalised groups. The script was first shared on 6 April 2019 at The Place Theatre as a performance reading.