Written by Awate Abdalla

 

For over two years Counterpoints Arts have trialled and rolled out a series of successful and exciting events at the Southbank Centre in London, and also Dartington Hall in the South-West, which allow artists to share work-in-progress with their peers. These events are also a perfect opportunity to gain contacts, meet future collaborators, and build confidence by networking in a safe space for creativity, challenges and victories. This is the story of how it all started, what we’ve been doing, and what’s
next!

So, how did we get here? It began with an invitation to Oslo, Norway in November 2021 by the incredible folks at Tekstlab during their ‘Glokale Stemmer’ Festival (Glokale being a mix of ‘Global’ and ‘Local’). Along with two artists from BLKBRD Collective, we represented Counterpoints Arts as artists and workshop facilitators, and were included in a myriad of mind-bending talks, interdisciplinary performances, dinners and Scratch events.
The collaborative nature of the work of Shanti, the TekstLab Founder and Director and her team of artists, producers and technicians was a shock to me after the misery of the pandemic and lack of physical events and arts programmes in the UK. What struck me was the enthusiasm, support and paradigm shifting experimental work being displayed by a mostly young group of musicians, dancers, poets, rappers, painters, visual artists and everything in between. It really was like being soaked under a waterfall of new possibilities and ways of dealing with each other.

What took my attention the most was the regular Scratch events, usually run during the year as Tekstlab’s ‘Inkubator’ programme, that allowed these pioneering artists to try out new work in a room of other artists. After they performed, they were given an unusual flower stem, and were allowed to speak about their work, and answered questions from the audience about how they planned to develop the work, if they had overcome or foresaw any challenges, and if they needed support from anyone in the room. Creative problem solving… that was the spark!

So, it made sense that for the next Refugee Week hosted by our long-term and supportive partners at the Southbank Centre, we should invite Shanti and some of the artists from Oslo to join us as we took a step into developing our own Scratch event. For the first run, we had two events on the same day, which I hosted and curated at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. A call-out was made, and more than 20 artists applied for the 12 paid slots on the bill. The events were really wonderful, with many artists showing their music, comedy, documentary films, spoken word and other pieces in public for the first time. Susanne Xin from the Tekstlab crew blew people away with her unique way of deconstructing a grand piano with eerie/atonal sounds while weaving a compelling and emotional narrative about her family’s journey from Vietnam to Norway.

What followed was a request for more! People in the audience were emboldened to speak to the people next to them, as well as those who had performed, and we saw the beginnings of a network beginning to form. We programmed another Scratch event at a Counterpoints retreat in Dartington Hall in October 2022, followed by a series of events over the following months. Each time, the number of applications increases, and the appetite for more art forms and connections from the audience of mostly artists has pushed us to make it a regular fixture, with support from the brilliant team at the Southbank.

Based on this enthusiasm, we plan on expanding the Scratch events to other regions of the UK for forthcoming Counterpoints projects, while continuing to host events at our regular home at the Southbank Centre. There will be some additions in the form of a more robust means of networking outside of event days, and having special guests join us to share their work-in-progress in their respective fields.

I’ve loved hosting and curating these events, with such a supportive spirit from all of the people who help put them together, market and publicise them, and capture the performances and open discussions for us to share on Counterpoints’ social media channels.

Remember that if you have applied or plan to, and haven’t been selected, you must try again! These moments are about creative experimentation and support, and just being at one of our Scratch events will hopefully be inspiration for your next project, or encourage you to push a friend to apply. We’d love to have you join us and take a place at the table of shaping this wonderful space and network. See you soon – peers, artists, supporters and audiences!

Our next Scratch is at Southbank Centre on the evening of 15th December. More info HERE.

Image: Awate and Max Mulrenan at Scratch, Southbank Centre as part of Refugee Week 2023. Image by Paul Gilbey