We thought it was about time that we let you in on a Brainchild secret or two. We have been working to create some projects you may not be expecting… Read on to find out what we’ve cooked up.
FIRST UP: WOOM.
WOOM is a brand new small choir made up of Izzy Risk, Alice Barlow, Lara Laeverenz and Ella Rimmer, who have been playing at Brainchild over the years in under their own names and with Thidius, Jerkcurb and Hester.
They’re leading a singing workshop at the Minty Cabin, with voices of all abilities welcome. This will be a great way to start the festival, warm up those vocal chords and meet new friends. You will them at 2.30pm on Friday at the Minty Cabin. And for the night owls amongst you, WOOM will also be doing a dead of night 1am performance guaranteed to transport you to new realms of etherealness. Meet us underneath the central tree for something dreamy.You will be invited to join in on some of the songs, so catch their workshop earlier in the day to learn those harmonies.
INTRODUCING THE MINTY CABIN
Leading on nicely from the info about WOOM, let us introduce you to a strange and exciting new space we have at Brainchild this year. Created by architect Egmontas Geras, the cabin is a minty-fresh space designed for people to come and hang out amongst real growing mint.
Eg’s proposal suited us really well as we were looking for a space we could dedicate to impromptu things – jamming, conversations and short talks. On Saturday and Sunday afternoon we’ll enjoy short talks from people with something interesting to share from dissertations or research they’ve done. The talks will span topics from DIY Creative Culture to The Progression of Queer Spaces. There’s a couple spaces left so get in touch if you want to do a talk.
We also want the space to be open for people to jam across the weekend – so feel free to rock up with your instruments (acoustic) and play to your heart’s content, there’ll be a sign-up board outside for you to nab a time-slot. There are two sets lined up already, one from our stage manager queen Beth Roberts’ new band Hands of the Heron, and the other from Errol Linton and Adam Blake playing us unforgettably brilliant blues – Adam is our creative director’s dad, and has been playing at Brainchild every year since we started! It’s his first time coming with Errol though, we can’t wait – watch this for a taste of their Blues Vibe.
ELSA HEWITT x SAM BOULLIER AUDIOVISUAL JAM
Join Brownswood Bubbler Elsa Hewitt & artist/filmmaker Sam Boullier for an audio visual jam in The Cinema on Friday night from 21:45 – 22:15. This meeting of creative minds promises to be an explosively special collaboration. Elsa Hewitt’s work has a supernatural essence, fusing tender moments of sincere lyricism embedded with twisted pulses of UK dance currents, meditative sub frequencies, and lofi, textural ambience. Meanwhile Sam Boullier is a filmmaker and artist whose work is a personal exploration of love and loss through experimentation with language and light.They’re longstanding collaborators and friends and we can’t wait to see what they make together.
IDEAS LAB SESSIONS
On the Saturday afternoon at the Kiosk, we are running ideas labs for the very first time. The sessions are an opportunity to chat with producers from the media, arts and festival worlds and brainstorm your own creative ideas. So if you’ve got a great idea for a show, a night, business or a film, but you’re stuck on how to develop it or get it off the ground, then join these sessions for advice and group brainstorming. Even if you’re just wanting advice on navigating creative projects and your time/money balance – join the conversation and sign up at the Kiosk on the Saturday morning.
FEELING BLUE COLLECTIVE
Returning to Brainchild for the second year, Feeling Blue Collective are bringing a taste of their most recent show/installation ‘Get in the Sea’ to our cinema space. Feeling Blue are four artists collaborating across the disciplines of moving image, installation, dance and music. Join us in The Cinema on Saturday at 19:45 to immerse into a world of reality vs. escapism, dissociation, relationships and mental health through dreamy, glossy, immersive performance.
THE BEN HAUKE LIVE SCORE EXPERIENCE
Most honourable sound master, DJ and producer Ben Hauke will perform a DJ set and soundscape to accompany classic Soviet silent film Aelita Queen of Mars. The cinema doors will be open from 21:45 on Saturday night.
HATCH @ BRAINCHILD
From 9:30pm Sunday evening ‘Hatch’ (our multimedia, mixed bill scratch night at Platform) takes over the Forum to bring you exciting and experimental performances, celebrating works in progress and new ideas in theatre, spoken word, comedy and music.
It’s a supportive space for artists to test their fledgling creative projects in front of a friendly audience. For our Hatch @ Brainchild takeover, we’ve got Isobel Roger’s ELSA, Wondering Hands, Roya Shadmand and Jodie Mitchell. We’ve left one 10-15 minute set open as an open mic, so get involved if you’d like to perform something you’ve written. The final slot is going to be a Brainchild exclusive performance, with creative forces Cecilia Knapp and Laura Misch coming together to create a one-off collaborative set for the festival. Cecilia is a resident artist at the Roundhouse and a writer, performer, campaigner and poet, and Laura Misch is a multi-instrumentalist and producer. Expect dreamy sounds from Laura’s sax blended with Cecilia’s stories and poems as they explore and improvise with the magic made between them.
DON’T PROBLEM x THE YONIS
We may all be tired on the last night of the festival, but there is dancing to be done and we will by no means be ready to call it a day. We’ve asked a contemporary dance collective called the Yonis to create a performance as part of Don’t Problem’s closing set on the Sunday night at the Steez Café. Keep and eye out amongst the crowd! daIn this spirit, It is the last night of the festival and there’s still some serious dancing to be done!
PPL PWR
Our friends at PPL PWR, a collective of university graduates and students celebrating their research in the area of sustainable technology and innovation, will be returning to Brainchild this year with talks and demonstrations. They will power their way through the weekend on their own Green Stage, demonstrating their hydrogen fuel cell as well as running series of workshops, demonstrations and talks about DIY renewables. These will be tips and tricks into self sustainable approaches and “cell”-ebrating approaches for a cleaner and greener environment.
WELLBEING BOOK PROJECTS
One of our new areas for the festival this year is our Wellbeing Space – a hub for relaxation and learning ways to tackle the mental well being. Plus it will be filled with blub! Around a series of talks and workshops, there is a bookshelf where you can pick up handcrafted book marks with personal recommendations of great books to escape into once you have left the festival.
Now that the secret’s out, share it around!