ARTIST CALL-OUTS

Choreographer Gillie Kleiman was looking looking for five people to be part of a special project with SPILL Festival called friend. Participants worked with Gillie to learn a new dance performance, to be performed  in their own homes to an audience of their friends. To take part, they could not be a professional dancer, and in fact they might never have performed before.

What did they do?

Participants were supported to learn and develop a solo dance by Gillie and her colleagues, and there were specially-created information packs provided to everyone who takes part.  They learnt the dance at the same time as other local participants and, if they chose to, joined them for a professional photo can join them for a professional photo so they could keep a memento of their experience. Everyone who took part received a stipend of £500.

On Tuesday 4th June, SPILL and Duckie hosted The Posh Club at Ipswich Town Hall. This event was a glittering posh knees up with classic afternoon tea, a spectacular variety show, social intercourse and a light afternoon discotheque for swanky senior citizens. We made a call out for four local dancers to get involved in the Cake Dance, a toe-tapping little musical number as we brought out the cake!

SPILL Festival looked for artists and/or creative practitioners with experience of creating community-centred artworks and/or heritage resources for a new project about the Ipswich Caribbean Association building (also variously known as the ICA and the Ipswich International Association) which formerly stood on Woodbridge Road.  The commissioned artist wilS work with a Steering Group and individuals and community groups associated with the ICA building, which was demolished in 2012, in order to explore its significant cultural and social impact, including its history, programmes, its architecture, and its importance to the many people and groups which used its services and facilities.

Alongside this new commission, SPILL’s Artistic Director, Robin Deacon, will be interviewing a number of people who worked, volunteered and played key roles at the ICA building before it closed. This new collection of oral histories will gather and preserve memories of the past, and to open a discussion about the possibility for future spaces to fill the significant gap left by the ICA.

ABOUT THE FORMER ICA BUILDING

The building opened as a drill hall in 1911 at 15-17 Woodbridge Road, Ipswich. Operated by the Ipswich Caribbean Association from the 1970s, it functioned as a space for music, martial arts, eating and conversation for many years. The building was closed in 2010, and was demolished in 2012. A car park currently occupies the former site. View the site on Google Maps.

Many in Ipswich have expressed their desire for such a venue to be revived.

A wonderful summary on the history of the Ipswich Caribbean Association by Imani Sorhaindo (one of the project’s Steering Group members) can be found here.

Suffolk Black Community Organisation recorded the impact of the closing of the ICA on its members through the ICE project. Now held at the Hold, this material also has some accounts which could inform artist commissions.

FEES AND PROJECT BUDGET

We had an artist fee of £6,000 for this project.

The work will largely be undertaken during Summer and Autumn 2024, with completion around New Year 2025.

A small materials and travel budget is provided.

The Ipswich Caribbean Association project is being funded by Historic England’s Everyday Heritage grant programme, celebrating working class histories.

We opened our White room space again for a series of artist residencies in July.