On the 24th March 2016,we had our first Quarry forum at the New Art Exchange, Nottingham.
After running a successful pilot programme in 2014/15 this was the first time we had all the main players together to discuss the 2016 programme and the work of the first two artists to visit Quarry in February and March, and to look at ways forward.
Invited guests arrived to the beautiful music of Maia von Lekow, a singer songwriter from Kenya who visited Quarry last year, and a display of collaborative paintings made by Sardul Gill and Roy Pickering. And drinks and nibbles of course!
The forum was introduced by Skinder Hundal, CEO of New Art Exchange who welcomed everyone, and went on to explain the concept and how Quarry came into being.
The forum, expertly chaired by Dr Lisa Mooney, was introduced by Roy Pickering, who gave a slide presentation showing the Quarry site and some of the work by visiting artists.
Flautist Fayrouz Kaddal gave a short talk about her visit in February, and went on to explain her ‘Sunken villages’ project in collaboration with fellow musician Daniel Merrill. Fayrouz spoke about the history and culture of her native Nubia. During her visit Fayrouz composed a short piece of instrumental music (with just a little assistance from Roy) which they then performed accompanied by Josh Osoro on guitar.
Next we looked at the paintings made by Sardul Gill and Roy during Sardul’s March visit. This turned into a lively discussion, about the work initially and the nature of collaborations, and then widened into a discussion about next moves, new ideas and new partnerships.
Also in attendance were representatives of our main partners – Philippa Speory from Nottingham Trent University and John Ludden CEO of the British Geological Survey.
Mark Rawlinson, senior lecturer from the University of Nottingham also came along, and has now agreed to become an official advisor to the project.
Two more artists are booked in for May and June, and this will be followed by the the second forum in late June or early July.
