The Incredible Arcadia Spectacular, Boomtown Fair, Shangri La & Stage One tackle Sustainable Set & Stage Design!
We can't quite imagine having such powerhouses of ultimate, cutting edge, mind blowing creativity under one roof, discussing the issue of sustainability in the age of the seemingly out of control disposable consumerism... Well, we don't have to imagine, because it's happening on Tuesday at GEI9 in London!Organised by A Greener Festival in partnership with the ILMC this annual conference tackles issues of environmental and social importance for the festival and events industry head on. This is just one of the days sessions we have in store. PANEL: Sustainable Set & Stage DesignWith the competition to create sets and stages that are more impressive, more elaborate, and more expensive to build, maintain and shift, we’re asking how innovative approaches to extravagant stage and set design can be delivered without a jarring waste of the world’s resources?After a look at the future of event Special Effects, this Tuesday at GEI9 we’ll hear from these leading set and stage designers and builders about what techniques are being adopted to reduce the waste without losing the artistic impact - as well as insight to an artist’s journey to creating unique environments from events waste materials.Moderator - Chris Tofu, Continental Drifts / Shangri La (UK)Bertie Cole, Arcadia Spectacular (UK) | Andrea Carr, Artist (UK) | Robin Collings, Shangri La / Boomtown Fair (UK) | Tim Leigh (Stage One)If you don’t know already, here’s a bit about these amazing organisations, and the inspiring individuals behind them. MODERATOR: DJ Chris Tofu – CONTINENTAL DRIFTS / SHANGRI LA
Established in 1995 DJ Chris Tofu has become a pioneer of Vintage Remix and the UK Festival scene, sharing his obsession with all things remixed and raucous with jumping crowds across the globe! From Glastonbury to Istanbul this musical maverick is constantly exploring, discovering and creating new sounds and new experiences, mixing up the formula for good vibe pie!“I’m a true believer that DJ’ing is as much about “vibe” and communicating with an audience as endless technical skill. I just love music that remixes the ancient and the new. Sometimes that makes me really obscure, sometimes pioneering but whatever happens, the audience generally gets it.”Tofu has two lives; as a world renowned DJ and as the programmer and director of thousands of events and artists in some of the most legendary clubs and festival stages and even whole festivals, providing him with the canvas to try all these crazy new remixed discoveries. Enticing the crowds to jump over barriers (both physical and metaphorical) and get down to new and unusual sounds is the main Tofu goal.He has been involved in hundreds of festivals with the official title of Chief Vibes Master at the likes of Glastonbury (where he runs Shangri La and programmed for Lost Vagueness), Bestival, Edinburgh Fest , Sydney Festival, Revolution Festival, Boomtown, Lattitude, Lowlands, Wilderness, Shambala and Secret Garden Party to name a few… BERTIE COLE – ARCADIA SPECTACULAR
Baptised in a torrent of petrol and adrenaline, Bert Cole was riding motorbikes at the age of 6, welding by the age of 9 and at his first Glastonbury by the age of 10 where a perfect storm shaped his future path. By 2000, he was master of the world’s largest tent and after 5 years touring the world he returned to the UK where he founded Arcadia with Pip Rush.Arcadia fuse groundbreaking spectacle, cutting edge technology, sculpture, engineering, architecture, adrenaline and base in to vivid sensory experiences.Transforming recycled military and industrial hardware into dynamic sculptures and electrifying arenas, Arcadia appear in cities and festivals throughout the world. ANDREA CARR - SCENOGRAPHER & ARTIST
Andrea Carr is a scenographer, artist and performance maker. Co-founder Ecostage Pledge - promoting sustainablilty in the performing arts, launched at ArtCop21. Attendee at numerous Julie's Bicycle events, most recently Tipping Point, Doing Nothing Is Not An Option. Inspired by the connections she has been making, and in answer to the call for new narratives around the ecological crisis she co-founded Terabac Ensemble, previewing new material at Brighton Fringe Festival’17.This year her closed-loop design for Extant's The Chairs has been selected as part of UK contingent at World Stage Design Expo., Taiwan and her design for HOAX Stuck (made from festival waste), photo by Kasia Rucinska, has been selected for publication in The Aesthetica Art Prize Anthology.Recent projects include: DH Ensemble Nodus Tollens Liberty Festival, Olympic Park which used recycled / repurposed clothes and objects, Artists Against FGM After Little Stitches an artwork about FGM, exhibited Red Gallery, WOW Festival South Bank Centre with ForwardUK. Her work has been seen; Kew Gardens, Somerset House, Bath Theatre Royal, Riverside Studios, ICA, Lycée International Paris and international street theatre festivals. Working across a broad spectrum, which includes new writing, reinterpreting classics with Hull Truck, opera, dance, circus Ra Ra Zoo, and poet Roger McGough, Purcell Room RFH. As a designer and workshop facilitator on numerous participatory / education projects; ENO, ETO, Philharmonia, Gynebourne, HMDT, Opera North, @SouthBank Centre. ROBIN COLLINGS - SHANGRI LA / BOOMTOWN FAIR
As producer of, Shangri La, Glastonbury Festival's infamous night fields, Robin works alongside some of the most incredible people on the planet; creating, designing and delivering a constantly evolving, constantly experimental space.One of the great gifts of this project is that it allows, in fact, it demands creative and cultural risk taking and reinvention. Robin gets to take artistic risks that most producers dream of.At Boomtown Fair Robin production manages the arenas, stages and large-scale venues (about 30 in total) as well as all the scaffold / bespoke structures and street set / frontage builds across the whole site.Boomtown comprises 9 spectacular districts... each one an elaborate, deeply nuanced and to some extent real place in this temporary city... complete streets with shops and alleyways, rooftops and ghettos, hotels and diners, buskers and daring criminal heists... and of course venues... some of the most lavish and outlandish venues you will have ever seen. The whole thing is designed by some of the UK's finest Production Designers and no expense has been spared.Add to that a sub-culture music programme to rival any other festival in the world, 60,000 committed ravers with an elaborate costume for each day and a self-proclaimed position in the social structure and storyline of the festival, and you have a most profound and enlightening experience built on the foundations of an irrepressible community of anti-normal heroes. TIM LEIGH – STAGE ONE
Tim joined Stage One as Sales & Marketing Director in 2013. His background in the creative industries together with his extensive digital and experiential knowledge have seen him develop strong relationships with existing clients whilst also seeking out new opportunities. He has helped deliver successful projects across the world, including the multi-award-winning UK Pavilion at the 2015 Milan Expo, as well as major ceremonies in Singapore and Baku.Established for over 25 years, Stage One combines design, engineering and technology to deliver astonishing impact on a global platform. From launches to installations, from architecture to ceremonies, the company creates things that people remember forever. Their clients and partners are the world’s most creative minds and the best technical producers in construction, architecture, engineering, entertainment, corporate events and art. Needless to say, this is set to be an unmissable insight in to the minds and vision of the most successful and cutting edge makers of creative environments in current times.#GEI9 / #ILMC29@AGREENERFESTIVAL / @STAGEONE / @A_RCADIA / @SHANGRILA / @BOOMTOWNFAIR / @ANDREACARR / @ILMCagreenerfuture.com/geiGreen Events & Innovations Conference (GEI9) @RoyalGardenHotel London, Tuesday 7th March 2017