North West | Artists taking the lead

Shortlisted:

Tony Trehy

Building on the ideas behind the international Text Festival in Bury, Tony Trehy proposes to develop an international language festival featuring many of the world's leading poets, sound and media artists. Held in Manchester in 2012, The Language Moment would be the largest ever celebration and dialogue of language in the arts. The festival would establish the North West of England as a global centre for linguistic art and poetry practice supported by an enhanced capacity to publish, produce and drive the continuing international dialogue.

Ben Long

Ben Long proposes to rework the archetypal bandstand by constructing it entirely from highly burnished brass, creating a monument to this iconic and municipal British structure that was once at the heart of civic life. On approach, the viewer will be confronted by many dazzling surface reflections; infinite mirroring between the floor and ceiling and reflections caused by the bandstand’s immediate environment. Brass Bandstand will be a fully usable piece of architecture as well as a sculptural object, staging live music and performances to audiences which will inspire people to actively participate in cultural celebration. The artwork will be sited within Birkenhead Park, the first publicly funded park to open anywhere in the world and forerunner of the Parks Movement.

Kully Thiarai / Philip Osment

Kully Thiarai and Philip Osment propose to make an epic visual narrative to tell a universal story for our time combining elements of opera, Greek tragedy, gospel music, quawalis, choral singing and dialogue. Requiem for Change asks the audience to lay to rest visions of youth as dangerous and out of control. A haunting and uplifting piece that breathes life into a new vision: a world where the young are cherished rather than demonised, saluted rather than stigmatised, respected, seen and heard.

Soup Collective

Transmissions proposes to stage a spectacular live event to plot the course from the maritime beginnings of radio transmission through to the nationwide shutdown of analogue television signals and the advent of our ever-widening digital existence. Live performance, choreography, film, animation and archive material will tell this story, utilising holographics and immersive cinema using the unique waterfront skyline adjacent to MediaCity as an evolving backdrop. A programme of participatory work with local communities and artists will take place, creating the development of a living archive that will leave a lasting legacy. This collaborative project will combine Soup Collective's history of film-work and live visual projects in collaboration with The Lowry, Imperial War Museum North, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, MediaCityUK and the University of Salford.

‘Projected Column’ is a landmark project that will act as a symbol of the Cultural Olympiad and a beacon for the North West. It will be monumental and spectacular, and will attract audiences from far and wide. Through contributing to the regeneration of the area, ‘Projected Column’ will act as a catalyst for change and like the Games themselves, will create a legacy for the region and the UK.

Geoff Wood

Geoff describes his practise in the following words "For 20 years I have striven to integrate art into the working lives of towns and cities in England and Wales. Still some way to go."

Benji Reid

one of the UK's pioneers of hip-hop theatre. He is Artistic Director of Manchester based Breaking Cycles and a highly acclaimed creative producer, devisor and director.

Naomi Kashiwagi

awarded the Best of Manchester 2008 and art08 Individual Artist Award. Naomi's exhibitions have included Notions of Drawing at CIP House, London, Wind-Up at The Barbican and The Intertwining Line- Drawing as Subversive Art, Cornerhouse, London.

Stephen Snoddy

Director of The New Art Gallery, Walsall, he has worked for over 20 years in England at Arnolfini, Cornerhouse, Southampton CAG, MK G and Baltic.

Sally Lai

Chief Executive of the Chinese Arts Centre, the national centre for the promotion of contemporary Chinese art. She has worked as a curator and consultant and was a Clore Fellow in 2005/06.

Tanya Bryan

Visual Arts Officer: Design & Public Realm for Arts Council England, North West. Prior to this she worked at Arts Council's national and East Midland's offices as well as the Manchester Art Gallery, Castlefield Gallery, Cornerhouse and the Henry Moore Institute.

Debbi Lander

Debbi is the creative programmer for London 2012 in the Northwest and programme director of WE PLAY - the four year cultural legacy programme running from 2009 – 2012 in the Northwest.