21ST CENTURY CHISENHALE

Chisenhale Gallery director Polly Staple launches a dynamic new events programme “21st Century is a year-long research-based programme of talks, film screenings, publication launches, small-scale curated projects and performances.

Presented as once monthly evening events, it supports emerging artists, writers, critics and theorists, as well as offering more established practitioners the opportunity to present projects in an informal environment.

On 26 January, artists Manuela Gernedel and Morag Keil kicked off the programme. The event was great; about 70 people crammed into a small space, a good thing since the studio has minimal heating and it was freezing in London. Manuela and Morag are both ex-students of mine from the Chelsea Fine Art MA. I offered them the space for the night and they put together a programme of film screenings and performances by friends and associates: Anna McCarthy’s film ‘Bored Rebel in Oberpfaffenhofen’, 2009; a charming welcome speech by Hank Schmidt i.d. Beek accompanied by lute; a 1999 film from the legendary Glasgow female art collective Elizabeth Go; a selection of decorative pillows by Yngve Holen and Marlie Mul; and an accompanying text ‘I Need You Tonight’ by John Harrington, referencing the lyrics of INXS: ‘It’s just me, myself and I but three’s a crowd and all we got is this moment, the 21st Century’s yesterday. I need to work on the rest of the play but how do you create something from nothing, how do you invent an event?’ The evening culminated in ‘She do the policeman in different voices’, a stunningly raw performance by Cara Tolmie singing ‘Caledonia’.

In February Aleksandra Mir introduces a rare screening of her 2004 film ‘Organized Movement’.  Experimental art writing workshops will be led by Sarah Tripp, Will Holder and Melanie Gilligan, while participants from Goldsmiths’ MFA in art writing will present their work on 15 May.

The desire to initiate this programme was to be flexible and have a rapid response in contrast to the long-term planning of Chisenhale exhibitions. 21st Century diversifies what we do – it allows us to be light on our feet.”

21st Century, January-December, http://www.chisenhale.org.uk/events/21st_century.php