Nottingham’s hugely popular Being Human Festival returns to the city this week with an exciting line-up of free events that will include cheese tastings, history walks and Viking poetry performances
The exciting launch event, Making a World of my Own: Writing and Experimentation, takes place on Friday 10th November at Nottingham Contemporary from 5:30pm. It will feature artistic virtual reality experiences, created by local women. Nottingham-based Digital Dance Artist Kerryn Wise will present FACADES – an Immersive Virtual Reality Dance Theatre experience, inspired by iconic moments from film. This surreal ‘VR noir’ presents hauntingly beautiful choreography from unique perspectives, inviting the viewer to look behind the scenes, move beyond the veneer and take a closer look. Nottingham-based poet, Lytisha Tunbridge, will present ‘A Journey Inside’ VR Poetry experience, inspired by the thoughts and feelings experienced whilst inside an MRI scanner, and local artist and health practitioner, Emma Wass, will present ‘MBW Connect’, which involves hand/body tracking technology that allows people to conduct their own immersive orchestra of audio-visual effects on screen
Guests can also enjoy creative activities, performances and readings – all of which have been designed to celebrate the achievements and legacies of local women. There will be an opportunity to meet published authors and join a discussion on the future of science writing, which will be led by the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize Chair of Judges, Alan Goriely, and two of this year’s shortlisted writers; Nicklas Brendborg, who is a PhD student of molecular biology at the University of Copenhagen, and Lev Parikian who has authored six books and regularly writes for the Guardian’s Country Diary, the Times Literary Supplement and Bird Watching magazine.
Dr Colette Davies and Dr Anna Walas, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Officers at the University of Nottingham, have created the programme of events. They say:
“The Being Human festival celebrates local people and places. This year’s event will bring to light the stories of once world-famous Nottingham medieval sculptors, pioneering Nottingham-based female science and science fiction writers, local Suffragettes, our lace-makers, 18th century protesters against the rising food prices, as well histories of local accents and the many languages spoken in Nottingham today. There is something for everyone and all of the events are completely free to attend
The Being Human festival celebrates arts and humanities research and shows how it is relevant to people’s lives and interests. It takes place across five UK cities from 9th – 18th November. The festival is led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and The British Academy. The theme this year is ‘Rhyme and Reason’, and it will be brought to life through theatre and poetry performances, walks and tours, craft activities, and history-themed food and drink events. Each session will consider how our understanding of reason and logic has changed throughout history, and how humans have used rhyme to express their experiences.
The full programme of events can be found here.
Posted on 06 November 2023
