Exposition

Bedford Voices (last edited: 2021)

Demitrios Kargotis
open exposition

About this exposition

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.
typeresearch exposition
date04/02/2021
last modified12/03/2021
statusin progress
share statuspublic
copyrightDemitrios Kargotis
licenseAll rights reserved
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1148852/1148853


Simple Media

id name copyright license
1151428 Page1a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151429 Page1b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151430 Page5a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151431 Page5b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151432 Page5c Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151433 Page6a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151434 Page6b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151435 Page6c Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151436 Page6d Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151437 Page7a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151438 Page7b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151439 Page7c Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151440 Page7d Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151441 Page8 Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151442 Page9a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151443 Page9b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151444 Page9c Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151445 Page10a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151447 Page10b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151448 Page10c Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151449 Page10d Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151450 Page11a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151451 Page11b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151452 Page11c Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151454 Page12a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151455 Page12b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151456 Page13a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151457 Page13b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151458 Page13c Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151459 Page13d Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151460 Page14a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151461 Page14b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151462 Page15a Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151463 Page15b Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved
1151464 Page16 Demitrios Kargotis All rights reserved

Comments are only available for registered users.