Edgelands

11am – 7pm
Hosted by Forest Fringe. Tickets by donation only, buy here.

Artsadmin is one of many organisations supporting Edgelands, curated by Andy Field and Hannah Nicklin and made possible through the partnership of The Arches, Artsadmin, The Basement, Bristol Old Vic, Colchester Arts Centre, Fierce, Forest Fringe, Inbetween Time Productions, The Junction, LIFT, Live Art Development Agency, the National Theatre of Wales and Slunglow.

Edgelands is a new kind of conference for the arts. A space forged in the midst of the Edinburgh Festival for people from across the arts to come together to think about the world we inhabit and how we might help change it. Bringing together a remarkable community of partner organisations, we’ve created a conference that will combine open space conversations with provocative and imaginative bursts of ideas from a range of speakers alongside longer dialogues, performances, workshops, installations and short films.

Edgelands is also a conference for those who can’t make it to Edinburgh. It is a space online for people to talk and share ideas. To contribute to the conference and to the festival as a whole regardless who they are or where they are.

All these people will be brought together around four key questions that we will explore over the course of the day and hopefully continue to think about in the weeks and months following:

•    What is digital innovation in the arts and why is it important?

•    How can we stop making Capitalism?

•    Artists. Audiences. How can we do this better?

•    Why have we failed to convince people the arts are important? Are the arts still important?

The people we will invite to respond to these questions and begin the conversation will be announced as they are confirmed. Already they encompass brilliant range of artist and producers including Chris Goode, Tim Etchells, joint artistic-directors of Fierce Festival Laura McDermott and Harun Morrison and poet and founder of the Forest Café Ryan Van Winkle.

This day is not about railing against authority or the great institutions of the arts. It is a day for everybody to gather at the edges of those big institutions on equal terms. To ask daring questions and suggest implausible answers. To share a spirit of generosity and a galvanising sense of hope; that despite or perhaps because of the political, financial and environmental circumstances in which we find ourselves, the arts can and will play a part in imagining and realising a better possible future.

We hope you’ll be able to join us.

All tickets are by donation only. To book a ticket head to our eventbrite site.