17 Artists Announced for WITHOUT WALLS

The 17 artists featured in this year's Without Walls programme are set to delight audiences throughout the UK with innovative creations of Outdoor Arts making vital work for the public space. Following the announcement in March, shows from the 17 artists will tour concurrently this summer to the organisation's incredible festivals partners which include Brighton Festival, Hat Fair, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Salisbury International Arts Festival part of Wiltshire Creative, Timber Festival, Certain Blacks - Ensemble Festival, Just So Festival, DaDa Festival and Greenwich+Docklands International Festivals (GDIF) with support from 101 Outdoor Arts.

The programme brings together some of the most exciting new companies and street artists making vital work for the public space.

With advances in outdoor arts every year, the programme has brought together some of the most innovative new companies and street artists. As we move out of the Covid-19 pandemic, the group of organisations forming Without Walls continues to enforce the importance of this artform in restoring audience confidence and breaking artistic boundaries. This year's programme explores themes of digital art, nature, mental health and wellbeing, climate change, black excellence, family and community. Many of the shows featured in the Without Walls programme will travel to multiple festivals during the summer.

Maggie Clarke, Director of XTRAX, comments: It is a joy to see the vast amount of work from these talented artists touring the UK so extensively. Without Walls continues to be committed to supporting the outdoor arts and more than ever during such difficult times it is brilliant to see the excitement around experiencing the innovative programme. Without Walls has strived to feature diverse voices to increase visibility for communities whose stories aren't always heard. We hope that the themes within the commissions speak to audiences across the country and it brings people together to see some remarkable work!

The incredible Timber Festival will take place across a weekend from 1st - 3rd July to invite those attending to celebrate, debate and reflect in the National Forest in Leicestershire. The Without Walls programme includes a towering interactive installation of gentle giants made from fabric and air: Unfurl from Air Giants; Timeless, which sees a 7 metre high rotating hourglass as a sensitive representation of the ambiguous nature of time and the threat of irreversibility of climate change from Joli Vyann; Big Gay Disco Bike which will use glitter, confetti, power ballads, and explosions of queer joy to get communities up on their feet for from Fatt Projects; Look Mum, No Hands! uses a combination of theatre, movement and acrobatics to highlight one of the character's use of a wheelchair as a creative advantage, creating new acrobatic shapes and choreographies from Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre and Lives of Clay created by Vidya Thirunarayan, which combines her expertise in Bharata Natyam dance with her skill as a potter in a unique theatrical event from The Clay Connection.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival is the flagship arts festival in the East of England. For 17 days each May, the Festival transforms public spaces, city streets, performance venues, parks and beaches, bringing people together to experience brilliant and inspirational events. The world-class programme spans music, theatre, literature, visual arts, circus, dance and free outdoor events. This year the Festival is celebrating its 250th anniversary and the full programme runs between the 13th - 29th May, including the Without Walls programme. Peaceophobia, an immersive piece set in a carpark, is an unapologetic response to rising Islamophobia around the world from Fuel and Commonwealth; Unfurl from Air Giants; The Album: Skool Edition celebrates the joy and innocence of making up dances in interactive, outdoor dance show from SAY; Timeless from Joli Vyann; Big Gay Disco Bike from Fatt Projects; Look Mum, No Hands! from Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre; fully BSL integrated and using dynamic movement and acrobatics FLOOD from Theatre Témoin and Community Chest is a participatory interactive art installation that aims to bring people together through cooperative treasure hunting and puzzle-solving from Matthew Harrison.

Salisbury International Arts Festival is part of Wiltshire Creative, a diverse organisation that brings together the energy and ambition of Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury International Arts Festival and Salisbury Playhouse. The festival will be taking place between 27th May - 18th June and their Without Walls programme features Timeless from Joli Vyann; Big Gay Disco Bike from Fatt Projects; Look Mum, No Hands! from Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre; and No Man's Land from Collectif and Then as part of the City Encounters events series. Plus, Lives of Clay from The Clay Connection and Scrum uniquely overlaps live performance with virtual reality from Avant Garde Dance as standalone events.

Just So Festival is an outdoor extravaganza for children and their families with world-class literature, arts, theatre, dance, music, comedy and creative pursuits. The festival takes place on 19th - 21st August and the Without Walls programme featured includes Big Gay Disco Bike from Fatt Projects; Look Mum, No Hands! from Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre; The Album: Skool Edition from SAY and Community Chest from Matthew Harrison.

Brighton Festival returns with a joyful celebration of arts taking place across the city between 7th May - 29th May. The Festival's A Weekend Without Walls series of events is largely free to audiences and includes: Scrum from Avant Garde Dance; Eau De Memorie, a 'perfumance' using fragrances to represent memories of a place and a moment from Francesca Baglione, a.k.a Miss High Kick; Lives of Clay from The Clay Connection; Born to Protest dismantles presumptions about the black male and female figure based on intimidation danger and isolation from Joseph Toonga; Look Mum, No Hands! from Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre; Peaceophobia from Fuel and Commonwealth; Middle Child will present a brand-new hip-hop musical for families called There Should be Unicorns ; Final Farewell is an audio walk experience that offers a moment of contemplation and collaboration from Tara Theatre; and FeelPlay invites an adult-only audience to rediscover a playground especially made for grown-ups, in a joyful look at mental health from Christopher Green.

Stockton International Riverside Festival (SIRF) is an outdoor arts and street theatre festival which returns for its 35th year of the festival and will take place between 4th - 7th August. The Without Walls programme featured include Lives of Clay from The Clay Connection; Timeless from Joli Vyann; Community Chest from Matthew Harrison; Look Mum, No Hands! from Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre and FLOOD from Theatre Témoin.

Certain Blacks will present performance, live art, music and theatre and the creative voice of our diverse society and will take place on 23rd July. The Without Walls programme featured include Lives of Clay from The Clay Connection; Timeless from Joli Vyann; Look Mum, No Hands! from Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre; Big Gay Disco Bike from Fatt Projects and No Man's Land from Collectif and Then and Final Farewell from Tara Theatre.

Without Walls leads excellence in outdoor arts and annually invests commissioning funds into a programme of new outdoor shows that go on and tour across the UK and internationally. This process ensures an influx of new shows for the outdoor arts sector and helps nurture the talent and skills of those working in the sector. These works range from the intimate to the epic, aiming to create high-quality arts experiences accessible to all regardless of personal, social or economic circumstances. With the arts sector still struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, Outdoor Arts remains paramount in restoring audience confidence in attending live events.

Without Walls will announce more details on further festival dates for the programme from Hat Fair, Greenwich + Docklands International Festivals (GDIF), DaDa Festival, as well as the Blueprint R&D programme with the aim to support the rehearsal and development costs of new outdoor touring work. Blueprint R&D programme is designed to celebrate talented artists who are creating innovative and looks to expand the possibilities of what outdoor arts can be.

For more information visit: https://www.withoutwalls.uk.com/

Without Walls

Without Walls are a consortium of over 30 festivals and arts organisations that brings fantastic outdoor arts to people in towns and cities across England. Since its formation in 2007, Without Walls has developed and toured over 200 new shows by UK companies and supported the Research and Development of over 70 projects. Without Walls, commissions have toured widely both in the UK and internationally across 22 countries.

The Without Walls artist programme includes:

Air Giants - Unfurl
Avant Garde Dance - Scrum
Christopher Green - FeelPlay
Collectif and then... No Man's Land
DaDa and Black Gold Arts - Strollers
Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre - Look Mum, No Hands!
Fatt Projects - Big Gay Disco Bike
Francesca Baglione / Miss High Leg Kick - Eau De Memoire
Fuel and Common Wealth - Peaceophobia

Joli Vyannn - Timeless
Joseph Toonga - Born to Protest
Matthew Harrison - Community Chest
Middle Child - There Should be Unicorns
SAY - The Album: Skool Edition
Tara Theatre - Final Farewell
The Clay Connection - Lives of Clay
Theatre Témoin - FLOOD

Without Walls is managed by XTRAX, one of the founder members of Without Walls that specialises in the international promotion and showcasing of outdoor arts work. XTRAX has extensive experience of working in the Outdoor Arts sector on complex partnership projects and works year-round to promote Without Walls and represent the consortium at industry events globally.

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