Artists needed for Inter-Island castle lock-in

Monday 02 March 2015

The race is on to find good sports for this year’s NatWest Island Games to lock up for ten days at Elizabeth Castle - all in the name of art.

The Jersey Arts Trust wants one artist from each of the 24 Islands to work together on the theme of “Islandness” while being cut off from the rest of the world.

The idea is to get musicians, dancers, writers, film-makers and performers mirroring the cooperative ethos of the Games.

Jersey Arts Trust Director Tom Dingle said: “The aim of the project is to bring people of different cultures, languages, experiences and backgrounds together in a spirit of creativity and cooperation, forming closer ties with our fellow Islands.

“As an Island off an Island, Elizabeth Castle is the perfect location for such exploration to take place. For up to 12 hours a day it is completely cut off from the mainland of Jersey and contains a myriad of interesting spaces and structures to inspire collective work.”

The Artists won’t be able to leave the Castle at all from Monday 22 June until Thursday 2 July when they will showcase their joint project at the end of the lock-in.

The residency project in association with Jersey Heritage and WildWorks – the renowned international theatre company – and will be run by its Associate Director Sue Hill, who also worked at the Eden Project.

Mr Dingle said: “We’re delighted to be working with Sue again, who is simply unrivalled in her levels of energy and enthusiasm. With her at the helm, the Artists are in for a real treat!”

It's not the first time Jersey Arts Trust has locked in artists at the Castle - they last did it in October 2013 with a group of artists from Jersey, Iceland, Malta, Denmark and London who took up residency to create work together inspired by their surroundings.

If you are interested in representing Jersey you have until Friday 20 March to download an application form here or pick one up from the Jersey Arts Trust offices at 3 Charles Street and submit it in with some examples of your work.

The 2015 NatWest Island Games kicks off on 27 June.

(picture courtesy of Fenby Miskin)