Broad Meadow by Sylvia Rimat and Charli Clark

Step into the lost nature of Broadmead.

Imagine a colourful, tranquil wildflower meadow amidst the hustle and bustle of Bristol’s built-up shopping centre, Broadmead. With their new project Broad Meadow, artists Sylvia Rimat and Charli Clark are growing that very place.

Smell the sweet scent of flowers, hear the buzz of wings and submerge yourself in the lost nature of our city centre. You’re invited to take a seat and relax in a wildflower meadow installation that gives you a taste of what life used to be like in Broadmead.

Immerse yourself in the wildflower meadow installation and audio experience, addressing our intertwined relationship with the plant world and connecting us to Bristol prior to the 1500s, when Broadmead was a meadow, regularly flooded by the river Frome. The wildflower installation’s soil structure and plant species have been carefully chosen to mirror the meadow that once may have grown there.

The installation is made up of 55 wildflower boxes that have been planted in workshops with secondary school students across Bristol and with community groups. After the project ends, the boxes will be distributed to Bristol schools and communities to continue to thrive as mini meadows.

Broad Meadow is open until Thu 20 June.

Join us on Sat 25 May for free family fun activities for ages 3-10 with creative, nature inspired arts and crafts activities, playful storytelling and wildflower seed bomb making.

Everyone is welcome.
Drop-in between 11am – 3pm

Find out more about the workshops here: https://hdfst.uk/e105823

This performance is part of Mayfest: Bristol's international festival of contemporary theatre and live performance, curated and produced by MAYK. Check out the full programme at https://www.mayk.org.uk/mayfest, @mayfestbristol.

"As the centre of our city begins a decade-long transformation, the opportunity to pause, listen and reconnect with the nature that was once part of this urban landscape feels important. To remember past landscapes as the future accelerates." Kate & Matthew, co-directors, MAYK

FREE
Walk ups are welcome!
Age: 11+
Duration: 20 minutes
Access: The meadow will be accessible for wheelchair users.
You can find an Easy Read about this event on this link: https://shorturl.at/fUZ45

Please note you will need to bring your smartphone and headphones to listen to the audio piece. We will hold a few headsets and audio devices for people that don’t have access to a smartphone or who may find it difficult to download the audio work on their phone.

Credits
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery Players and Broadmead BID. Further support from Frances and Matthew Lindsey-Clark, Pervasive Media Studio, MAYK, Ashton Scaffolding Services Ltd, Bristol WORKS and Residence.

Cast and production team credits
Lead Artists: Sylvia Rimat and Charli Clark
Wildflower meadow concept and design: Charli Clark
Audio work concept and design: Sylvia Rimat
Audio work sound design: Sam Halmarack
Dramaturg: Gemma Paintin
Marketing consultant: Jo Richardson
Access Consultant: Joe Strickland

Sylvia Rimat creates original performances with a pinch of the surreal. They manifest in various formats, such as studio shows, one-on-one performance, encounters in public space, site-specific work and most recently an App. Characterised by playful audience interaction and strong visual aesthetics, her work deals with processes of the human mind (consciousness, memory and how we experience time), drawing on scientific research, personal experiences and our imagination, to ask big questions. Recent work explores our connectivity with the natural world, i.e. tree communication via fungal networks compared to neuronal communication in the human brain, as well as notions of care beyond the human species and climate action.


Born in Germany, Rimat is based in Bristol. Since 2008 Rimat has presented her performances throughout Britain and internationally, at more than 60 venues and festivals, including British Council Showcase Edinburgh, Barbican London in SPILL Festival, IBT Festival Bristol and at venues in Europe & Australia (Proximity Festival, Perth, 2014; Sydney Festival, 2015). Rimat is a Pervasive Media Studio resident and member of artist collective Residence, Bristol.

https://sylviarimat.com/

Charli Clark is an artist working across disciplines, drawing on her skills and knowledge as gardener and beekeeper to develop work in relation to, for and with the natural world. Through planting installations and community engagement she seeks to form relationships and reconnect with the more-than-human species. She works with a wide range of media including painting, film, performance, installation, socially engaged and living ‘biological’ art. Her most recent work (de)bordering, in collaboration with artist Paul Hurley, Brigstow Institute and Bristol University Royal Fort Gardens, saw the creation of two planted structures with embedded QR code conversations, tackling questions of immigration, politics and the environment.
Born and based in Bristol, Clark trained as a gardener in 2017 after creating an artwork for Kaisaniemi Botanical Garden, Helsinki and becoming fascinated by the world of plants. In 2015, Clark completed her Masters in Environmental Art from Aalto University of Art, Design and Architecture, specialising in Biological Art. Clark has produced work for a number of venues across the UK and internationally, including Arnolifini, Bowes Museum, Harp Art Lab (Sweden), and MUU Gallery (Finland), and has been involved in exhibitions, open studios, workshops and residences across Europe. She is a member of the Bioart Society and has been an Associate Artist with Melliferopolis – Bees in Urban Environments, MUU Gallery and Knowle West Media Centre.

https://charliclark.co.uk/

#Mayfest / https://twitter.com/mayfestbristol
@mayfestbristol / https://www.instagram.com/mayfestbristol/

Entry requirements: no age restrictions — Read more — Read less