From 13 September to 6 October, a brand new cultural festival centred around the subject of ageing and creative approaches to the issue of growing old will take place accross the borough of Lewisham.
With nearly seventy different events ranging from live music, theatre, dance, film and exhibitions, to discussions, pop-up choirs and large scale outdoor performances, Age Against the Machine ― Festival of Creative Ageing has at its heart a mission to open up the subject of ageing in our society. The festival is packed with events aiming to challenge perceptions and attitudes towards ageing, celebrate older people as artists and highlight the ways in which creativity can help us age well and make a radical impact on quality of life. The series of symposiums, talks and workshops will explore ways the arts can contribute to current debate and practice in care for older people. The festival as a whole addresses a subject and section of society that is often invisible in the public eye.
The festival is supported by a Cultural Impact Award made to the London Borough of Lewisham as part of the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture programme. Produced by south east London’s arts centre, the Albany and participatory arts company Entelechy Arts, Age Against the Machine ― Festival of Creative Ageing launches on September 13 with The Home. This radical, immersive and durational work, created by multi award-winning artist Christopher Green is set in a care home over 48 hours. It features a cast made up of older participants, professional actors of all ages and a support team of experts, activists and communicators in the field of ageing and residential care. The piece blurs the lines between theatre and audience. The Home will explore how we support and care for our older people and how we can reinvent practices to significantly improve quality of life.
Other highlights include a step-changing 21st Century Tea Dance (September 17) created with residents from Lewisham borough care homes and sheltered housing schemes.
A trail of outdoor events (September 28) includes international collaboration Bed and Upswing’s Catch Me. Bringing together performers from the Saitama Gold Theatre in Japan and Entelechy Arts, Bed will pop up in public places where older people seemingly abandoned in beds will share hidden stories of isolated older people. Catch Me is an energetic mix of dance and circus where an older woman and younger man balance, climb and jump across a stack of chairs.
Generating Rhythm (September 20) is an intergenerational collaboration between epic percussionists and writer-producers Charles Hayward and Kwake Bass that uses rhythm sound and tech to knock down walls and to build deep connections across age groups.
Work representing the older LGBTQ community includes Up Yours: An Evening with Lavinia Co-op (September 22), which sees sixty-eight-year-old drag legend Lavinia Co-op who has been raising hell ― and eyebrows ― for longer than she cares to remember, reflecting on queer life over the last half century. It takes in her lived experience of sexual revolution, the AIDS crisis, and the gay rights movement in which she was instrumental as an activist and artist.
Central to Age against The Machine will be the debate around societal approaches and attitudes towards aging and, as part of this, on September 20 it will host a cutting-edge international symposium entitled Creative Ageing and the City. Contributors from London, Manchester and Tokyo (and across Japan) will come together to share experience and aspirations and discuss best-practice examples of cultural initiatives that support a citizen-based approach to ageing. On the agenda will be approaches that champion agency, active participation and work led by older people themselves. Questions will include: how does cultural activity support the recently retired to become active and engaged citizens? How are the older generation supported to remain recognised and valued as contributing citizens. This event is co-hosted by the GLA and Baring Foundation and supported by the British Council.
The end of the festival will be marked with Grand Finale (6 October) - a joyous day of events celebrating the creativity of older people from across Lewisham borough at Trinity Laban. It will feature a specially commissioned music and dance piece, Finale, created by composer Liz Lane and choreographer Lizzi Kew Ross alongside Lewisham residents of all ages.
Crucial to the festival’s objectives are a series of closed events in care homes across the borough, which bring the festival to those who would not otherwise have access.
Around 30 festival events are Community Commissions, created by inter-generational groups across Lewisham borough, chosen through a process of supporting older people’s groups to work with artists to try radical new ideas. A rich programme of film, fashion shows and flash-mobs also add to the sense of celebration and intergenerational connection. Age Against the Machine is a ground-breaking and unique festival that will challenge perceptions and bring an often ignored part of our shared experience to the foreground.
Gavin Barlow, Festival Co-Director and Artistic Director and CEO of the Albany said:
‘’The festival programme builds on several years of work with the Meet Me at the Albany project promoting positive ageing through creative practice. It’s a brilliant showcase for the work so many inspiring community, creative and voluntary organisations are doing in the borough, and we’re excited to see what new relationships and partnerships might come out of it.’’
David Slater, Festival Co-Director and Artistic Director of Entelechy Arts added:
‘’The arts have a huge role to play in supporting older people to take centre stage in the ways we build healthy and connected communities. The programme explores some of the barriers and challenges to this and provides many opportunities for people of all ages to try something new, in most cases for free.’’
Mayor of Lewisham Damien Egan said:
“This festival celebrates the creativity of the people of Lewisham and some of our ground-breaking achievements in arts and culture over the last few years. It will spark debate, challenge perceptions, champion older artists and celebrate the positive impact of creativity on our lives as we get older.
Two of our key arts organisations, the Albany and Entelechy Arts, have worked with groups across the borough and beyond to produce the festival. Age Against the Machine is about communities coming together. We look forward to welcoming people of all ages to share some of the amazing moments we know this festival will create.’
Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, Justine Simons, said:
“Culture is in every corner of London and has the power to improve our health and bring people together. The Mayor’s London Borough of Culture initiative is all about celebrating the amazing art and culture that is in our local communities, and harnessing its potential to improve all of our lives.
“This is exactly what Lewisham’s Festival of Creative Ageing aims to do. Lewisham has put together a fantastic programme which will provoke conversation and explore the universal experience of ageing. The festival will celebrate the creativity of older people, take art and music into care homes and bring different generations together to create connections and shared experiences.”
Top image from AUDITION. Photo by Christos Symeonides.
