Salford art experts Walk the Plank have been chosen to develop a UK-wide ‘festival of creativity’ launching next year.
Currently known as ‘Festival UK* 2022’, the event will celebrate the UK’s creativity and innovation by providing opportunities for artists who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Walk the Plank, whose involvement follows rigorous R&D and assessment processes, will create a ‘UK-wide moment of inclusive mass participation’ with partners including Siemens and National Parks UK.
John Wassell, creative producer and co-founder of Walk the Plank, said: “We’ve been working in public space worldwide for thirty years, from our base in Salford, making work that connects artists and communities.
“This project offers an amazing opportunity to bring together the skills of artists and engineers, technicians, and thousands of participants across the UK.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Walk the Plank and our partners to create something amazing.”
We’re delighted to be one of the 10 teams announced as part of this £120m project … we trust that the work, and the process, will speak for itself https://t.co/4bmuG8HJD9
— Walk the Plank (@walktheplank) March 24, 2021
Ten teams from across the country have been selected to participate in director Martin Green’s Festival UK* 2022.
Walk the Plank’s project will be ‘an experiment in lighting technology, environmental science, geo-tracking, mass participation, exploring the beauty of the UK outdoors and asking questions about access, taking part, landscape and the future of public spectacle’.
Alastair Barber, Head of the Communications Unit at National Parks UK, explained: “We want to make our landscapes – nature relevant to as many people, and as many different types of people as possible.
“That’s exactly what this project does.
“We hope this project will reveal new truths about our relationship to land and what it means to us in 2022.”
Robin Phillips, of Siemens, added: “We are delighted to have the chance to spotlight engineering and innovation as part of a nationwide event that will highlight the talents of a team that mixes young engineers with the experience and skills of a world leading company that is unafraid to research, develop and test bold new ideas.
“We first worked with Walk the Plank when employees from our Manchester HQ took part in the Manchester Day Parade in 2010, and we are excited about the scale of this new project which will reach across the UK in 2022.”
Like the event’s official title, further details of Walk the Plank’s commission will remain a secret until later this year.
Updates about Festival UK* 2022 can be found here, as well as on Walk the Plank’s Facebook and Twitter.
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