YOUNG ARTISTS TO TRANSFORM NOTTINGHAM IN THE FIRST UKYA CITY TAKEOVER – A MAJOR BIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART AND PERFORMANCE

UKYA CITY TAKEOVER: NOTTINGHAM 19
250 ARTISTS. 25 COUNTRIES. 100 EVENTS. 7 DAYS
7–13 FEBRUARY 2019

UKYA City Takeover: Nottingham 19 will bring together over 250 national and international artists from 25 countries. Organised by national charity UK Young Artists (UKYA) – who champion the next generation of creativity by supporting and developing the careers of artists aged 18-30 – the first UKYA City Takeover will immerse visitors in an array of extraordinary, innovative and contemporary work. Visual arts, theatre, live art, music and spoken word will animate cultural spaces and unusual places across Nottingham.

UKYA City Takeover: Nottingham 2019 will be one of the largest biennial events to be held in the UK with over 100 free performances, exhibitions and participatory events, plus five new public engagement commissions.  Highlights include unique performances and interventions on public transport, performances within Nottingham’s famous underground caves and churches, and a nonstop 12-hour event.

On the eve of the UK leaving the European Union UKYA City Takeover: Nottingham 19 will present a provocative and exciting survey show of international contemporary art, performance and music.  Artists featured include visual artists Bernhard Buff (Germany), Iolanda Di Bonaventura (Italy,) Nika Kupyrova (Ukraine) and Thodoris Trampas (Greece); musicians Camille Christel (UK) and TrueMendous (UK); live performances by Red Pig Flower (South Korea), theMiddletonCorpus (UK) and Yu-Hsien Wu (Taiwan).

UK Young Artists has for the last 10 years championed young artists and performers through festivals, events, talks and workshops both in the UK and internationally. The charity encourages artistic development with a focus on cross art form practice. Alumni who have benefited from the support of UKYA include Rachel Maclean who represented Scotland at the 2017 Venice Biennale; Hetain Patel whose acclaimed work mixes visual art, dance and performance; and award-winning poet and playwright Toby Campion.

Nottingham has a rich cultural heritage and a tradition of artist led projects including the influential Midland Group (1943 to 1987), which was committed to  the presentation of ‘progressive and experimental visual arts in Nottingham’. The opening of Dance4, an international centre for dance development, and two public galleries, Nottingham Contemporary and New Art Exchange, has helped cement Nottingham as a centre for the arts.  More recently The New Midland Group, comprised of three independent artist studios, Backlit, One Thoresby Street and Primary, have built on the legacy of the Midland Group, seeking to further develop the promotion of visual arts and artists. UKYA City Takeover: Nottingham 2019 will continue this tradition of bringing international artists to Nottingham and draw focus to the dynamic arts scene in the city.  

Michelle Bowen, Director, UK Young Artists
“For the last decade UKYA has sought to discover and develop new talent, celebrating the best young creatives here in the UK and internationally.  UKYA City Takeover: Nottingham 19, our most ambitious project to date, takes place on the eve of the UK leaving the European Union. It presents a powerful survey show by a generation of politically and socially engaged artists, from all nationalities, seeking in uncertain times to respond to and also reimagine the future.”

A major part of UKYA City Takeover: Nottingham 19 will be five new public engagement commissions created in partnership with arts organisations and charities.  These include a ‘Hip-Hopera’ created by young people with Community Recording Studio and the Renewal Trust; a project with City Arts and Nottinghamshire CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Support); an artwork created by Backlit Gallery and Nottingham Refugee Forum’s youth group; a performance developed with local youth groups and Nonsuch Theatre; and a new site specific public artwork created over the duration of the City Takeover and commissioned in partnership with Nottingham Trent University Lace Archive.

New Collectives 2019 is the first ever ‘Fringe’ event to run alongside UKYA’s City Takeover.  Groups of artists made up of students from UKYA’s partner universities: De Montfort University, Nottingham Trent University, University of Derby and University of Lincoln, will plan, produce and deliver their own events as part of the City Takeover. These might take the form of exhibitions; performances; fashion shows; zines; workshops – this is left entirely up to the student groups. At the end of the process, the New Collectives will reflect in conversation with The White Pube – “the world’s freshest, funniest art critics’’ (DAZED).
New Collectives 2019 is supported by Leftlion.

UKYA’s Instagram is highlighting an artist from the City Takeover everyday until the opening in February @ukyoungartists

Full programme of events to be announced in November
www.ukyoungartists.co.uk 

As a National Portfolio Organisation for Arts Council England, the City Takeover is funded and supported by Arts Council England, as well as De Montfort, Nottingham Trent, Derby and Lincoln Universities. The City Takeover is made possible through the support of partners in the city, including Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Transport and Intu Nottingham.

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