Abstract
Tales from Europe is a staged event hosted by Cullinan Richards, developed as part of Cooper Summer Residency 2016 in collaboration with Scotland's Jute Museum @ Verdant Works.
Positioning 20th Century Europe as its contextual lens, Tales from Europe stresses the presence of women at the centre of tales told both as the protagonist and the creator. Always complex and varied these female characters emerge as they are put into tricky situations in the shadow of the political scenes they naturally inhabit. Physically and mentally grappling with sometimes ridiculous surroundings, these feminine heroes appear as avenging survivors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 7 Sept 2016 |
| Event | Cooper Summer Residency 2016 : Cullinan Richards : Tales From Europe - Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordonstone College of Art and Design, Dundee Duration: 7 Sept 2016 → 7 Sept 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Media: PerformanceImpact: Cooper Summer Residency 2016 : Cullinan Richards
The annual Cooper Summer Residency invites artists, writers and thinkers to reflect upon and experiment with new ideas and strategies that extend or further explore their practice. It also creates a social and discursive situation for dialogues and debates to take place between residency artists, writers, thinkersÔÇï and interested publics, providing an alternative way to encounter, reflect and critique the plurality of contemporary culture.
For the 2016 iteration of the Residency we are delighted to collaborate with Scotland's Jute Museum @ Verdant Works to host artist duo Cullinan Richards, whose residency is integral to Cooper Gallery's forthcoming programme Of Other Spaces: Where Does Gesture Become Event?.
Responding to the context of Scotland's Jute Museum @ Verdant Works and the proud history of strong working women's culture in Dundee's jute mills of the early 20th century, the artists have devised workshops in this spirit for local Brownie groups including a screening, rope making using Jute from Verdant Works, choreographing a 'Mushroom Dance', and outdoor activities to explore ideas of collaboration, creativity, self-reliance and expressiveness. The workshops will take place at Verdant Works and Hospitalfield in Arbroath.
Juxtaposing selected scenes from Pedro Almodóvar's films alongside Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! by Russ Mayer, Tales from Europe invites you to witness and reflect on the feminine characters Almodóvar creates and stages within the backdrop and de-regulation of the Spanish media and the ideas of femininity that echo throughout all aspects of Almodóvar's creations; the production design, titles, screwball comedy and mania which are baroque, farcical, and ultimately tragic.
Lubricated by Campari sodas and especially composed refreshments, Tales from Europe is an inspired mise-en-scène that has ideas of femininity at the very centre of control.
Tales From Europe is a prelude to Of Other Spaces: Where Does Gesture Become Event?
Keywords
- Art and design