Enemies

Lightwave: New Performance in Lithuanian Literature

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Lightwave-performers_Free-Word-Centre-2017-03-15-1440x890

Wednesday March 15th / 6:30pm doors for 7pm start / Free Word Centre
60 Farringdon Road. EC1R 3GA : Free Entry but online booking requested here
A unique event celebrating Lithuanian’s new generation of literary artists, featuring brand new readings and performances by Gabrielė Labanauskaitė-Diena, Žygimantas Kudirka and SJ Fowler, a British poet connected to their innovative, collaborative practise.
Both Labanauskaite and Kudirka have carved out reputations across Europe for remarkable writing and live performances to match. This is a rare chance in London to witness poets who are breaking ground in the new European scene.
From Lithuania’s powerful lyrical and formal tradition has grown a culture of experimentation and in this event curated for the London Book Fair, the Lithuanian Culture Institute brings to light the best of Lithuania’s new generation of poets and performers. More here.

The North by North West Poetry Tour

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The North by North West Poetry Tour features over sixty poets collaborating in pairs to produce brand new collaborative works for performance, commissioned for each event, over six nights in January and February 2017. Poets local to each of the six venues will perform on each night alongside a core group of touring poets, who will perform at every venue. All events are free. More here.

Kakania in Berlin

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Kakania at Lettretage, Berlin – October Tuesday 11th 2016: 8pm. Free entrance http://www.lettretage.de/ Mehringdamm 61, 10961 Berlin, Germany. Supported by Österreichisches Kulturforum Berlin.

New performances & poetry from:

  • Lea Schneider on Bertha Eckstein-Diener
  • Kinga Toth on ‘Sissi’ Empress Elisabeth of Austria
  • Rike Scheffler on Marie Pappenheim
  • Günter Vallaster on Raoul Hausmann
  • Fabian Faltin on Ernst Mach
  • Norbert Lange on Rainer Maria Rilke

There has been no one city’s culture, at one singular time in modern history, more widely influential on contemporary thought than that of Habsburg Vienna a century ago. A time so densely constituted with intellectual revolution in fields as diverse as poetry, fiction, journalism, music, composition, philosophy, psychology and art, that it seems it can often only be evoked through a wistfulness that belies the melancholy, the energy and the seismic change that constituted it.

But in the Kakania project, sentimentality is set aside for radical new works by contemporary artists, each responding with a new performance or reading that celebrates or commemorates a single figure from the era in question. After 7 events and a symposium in London and Berlin, from the Freud Museum to the Österreichisches Kulturforum, and two exclusive publications, Kakania returns to Berlin at Lettretage for a night of newly commissioned avant garde live artworks. More here.

 

‘My Century / Mój wiek’ at the Miłosz Festival 2016: Krakow

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June Friday 10th 2016

An innovative poetic performance responding and retelling the extraordinary interview and memoir of Aleksandr Wat, conducted by Czesław Miłosz, for the 2016 Miłosz Festival supported and commissioned by UNESCO City of Literature: Krakow, featuring Polish and British poets and text artists in collaboration.

In My Century the great Polish poet Aleksander Wat provides a spellbinding account of life in Eastern Europe in the midst of the terrible twentieth century, an account at the end of his extraordinary life that couldn’t have found such iconoclastic form without it being led and coaxed by his friend Czesław Miłosz. A document of history, but also a profound collaboration.

For the 2016 Miłosz Festival, poet and artist SJ Fowler, founder of the Enemies Project, which pioneers collaborative poetry practise across the world, leads a group of four contemporary avant-garde poets in making a brand new work, commissioned for the occasion. Featuring Weronika Lewandowska, Tom Jenks, Fowler & others, this will be a reforming of Wat’s story and myths – a piece of experimental literature, faithful to its source in it’s experimentation.

More here.

The South West Poetry Tour: Call for Poets

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The Enemies Project, in partnership with Singing Apple Press, presents a brand new collaborative poetry initiative across South West England. The proposed South West Poetry Tour will take place in the first week of August 2016. It will include 6 nights of collaborative poetic performance from poets across the region, moving through Cornwall (St Ives & Falmouth), Devon (Dartington), Dorset (Lyme Regis) and Somerset (Bruton & Bath).

Poets local to the area are asked to produce new language works, in pairs, for performance each night. This innovative and exciting model of new writing has been pioneered by The Enemies Project across the UK and the world, with over 600 poets in 21 countries participating so farwww.theenemiesproject.com Beyond producing some wonderful nights of collaborative poetry, the aim of the tour is to forge creative links between poets, artists, arts organisations and audiences locally and regionally.
This is an open call for poets, local to any of the above areas, to be involved in the project. Over 100 poets will participate in the tour. The only requirement will be that you work with an assigned collaborator to produce a poem or language-based performance (experimentation is welcome), lasting no more than 5 minutes, at the venue most local to you.

Please send two poems or pieces of language art (links or attachments – pdfs rather than word docs are preferred), your address and a short bio to info@singingapplepress.com The work you send can be in any form and experimental or avant-garde poetry is encouraged. Our aim is to be inclusive.

The provisional schedule is:

St Ives 1st August
Falmouth 2nd August
Dartington 3rd August
Lyme Regis 5th August
Bruton 7th August
Bath 8th August

NB these dates may be subject to change. Deadline for applications 31st May 2016.

The South West Poetry Tour is curated by Camilla Nelson and SJ Fowler and supported by Arts Council England, Tate St Ives, Falmouth University, Schumacher College, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, The Clearing, Trail Mix, SoundArt Radio and Francis Boutle Publishers.

More at the Enemies site.

European Poetry Night

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European Poetry Night 2016 in London. May Saturday 14th: Rich Mix
7.30pm – Free Entry. 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA
http://www.richmix.org.uk/events/spoken-word/european-poetry-night

 Vanni Bianconi & Billy Ramsell
Alessandro Burbank & Alexander Filyuta
Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir & SJ Fowler
Ulrike Ulrich & Jen Calleja
Nurduran Duman & Jonathan Morley
Christodoulos Makris & Martin Bakero
Niillas Holmberg & Peter Sulej
Efe Duyan & Livia Franchini
Tomica Bajsic & Colin Herd
Ghareeb Iskander & Ahsan Akbar
Ariadne Radi Cor & Iris Colomb
Ana Seferovic & Agnieszka Studzinka
Rufo Quintavalle & Ian Monk
The Enemies Project presents London’s first ever European Poetry Night as part of European Literature Festival in 2016. An opportunity to see some of the most exciting contemporary poets from all over Europe, as over 20 poets travel to London to share new collaborative poems, premiered on the night, in pairs, across languages, styles & nations. These are some of the most dynamic literary and avant-garde poets of the 21st century, from Iceland to Turkey, from Ireland to Russia, from France to Slovakia, all presenting brand new works and performances. Curated by SJ Fowler.

The Essex Camarade

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At the Essex Book Festival – March Sunday 20th 2016, First Site Gallery – 1pm to 3.30pm – Free Entrance

The Essex Camarade will see a series of brand new collaborations written by poets in pairs, from the Essex area or attending the festival especially, featuring:

Anna Townley & Lawrence Bradby
Simon Everett & Ben Shillito
Matthew Sheppard & James Tague
Justin Hopper & Lucy Greeves
SJ Fowler & David Berridge
Mark Waldron & Rebecca Perry
Carole Webster & Emma Kittle Pey
Vicki Weitz & Isabella Martin
Tim Atkins & Jeff Hilson
James Davies & Philip Terry

As part of the Camarade, SJ Fowler & David Berridge will also be launching their collaborative poetry collection 40 Feet, published by Knives Forks and Spoons press. More here.

Cemetery Romance

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Czech artist, writer and dramatist Miloslav Vojtíšek was joined by a series of contemporary British poets for a unique literary tour of the magnificent Kensal Green Cemetery. S.d.Ch. who has worked for many years as a grave digger will explain the art of exhumation, while other artists including Emily Berry, Alex MacDonald, James Davies & Tom Jenks presented their work each next to the grave of a famous figure (William Thackeray, Isambard Brunel, Harold Pinter, JG Ballard), throughout the beautiful Gothic surroundings of one of London’s magnificent seven cemeteries. More at the Enemies site.

Day of the Deaded films

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Held on October 31st 2014 at the Rich Mix Arts centre, Day of the Deaded celebrated the Mexican festival of Dia de Muertos in London with 7 original readings and performances firmly rooted in the European avant garde tradition. Part of the Enemigos project, Day of the Deaded was produced by www.weareenemies.com Films from the event are now online, including this from Sarah Kelly. Full list as follows:

MercedesAzpilicueta & Ohad Ben Shimon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kklJhkLWCCg

 

The Enemies project presents: Slovakian poetry in collaboration

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Wed 5 Nov 2014, 7:00pm, Free entry: The Freeword Centre – Lecture Theatre
For the second year running, The Enemies project presents some of the most exciting contemporary poets from Slovakia collaborating to read original works of avant garde / literary poetry with British contemporaries. Joined by a host of London based poets, this will be a unique night of original European poetry. http://weareenemies.com/slovakiaii.html ​​Featuring:
Erik Simsik & Marcus Slease / ​Juliana Solokova & Meike Ziervogel /Maria Ferencuhova & Prudence Chamberlain plus Stephen Watts, Fabian Peake, Ollie Evans, Ana Seferovic, Michael Zand & more​​​​​​
Supported by the Centre for Information on Literature in Slovakia & Arts Council England

Day of the Deaded

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Rich Mix Arts Centre : Friday October 31st : 8pm : Venue 2
Come & spend your Day of the Dead, October Friday 31st, with the Enemies project at the Rich Mix Arts Centre, for a night of Día de Muertos in London. Featuring original performances and poetry from Mark Waldron, Tom Chivers, David Berridge, Ohad Ben Simon, Mercedes Azpilicueta, Mary Paterson & more, this unique evening is part of Enemigos: the enemies project Mexico and a rare chance to gather your friends to remember the dead in the most imaginative of ways. http://weareenemies.com/dayofthedeaded.html

zimZalla at The Hardy Tree

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Films from the opening night of the zimZalla exhibition at The Hardy Tree gallery in London, co-curated by SJ Fowler’s Enemies project, are now online. The event also celebrated Mark Cobley’s The Red Ceilings Press. Tom Watts is seen above, with more here.

The next event is October Monday 27th at the Hardy Tree with readings from the TRYIE Collective (Zuzana Husarova, Olga Pekova +), Tom Jenks, Lucy Harvest Clarke, Kim Campanello, Ryan Van Winkle, Iain Morrison, Christodoulos Makris.

zimZalla at the Hardy Tree

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In approaching five years of existence, zimZalla has now published 25 objects. To mark this, there will be an exhibition of all of the objects so far at the Hardy Tree gallery near King’s Cross in London, running from 18th – 30th October. In collaboration with SJ Fowler’s Enemies project, there will be two events during this time, the, first also featuring writers from The Red Ceilings press, on the evening of the 18th and a second event on the 27th.

Hidden Door films

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Films from SJ Fowler’s Enemies event at the Hidden Door festival in Edinburgh are now online, including this performance from Jow Lindsay and Samantha Walton. Full list below:

Graeme Smith & Anthony Autumn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x178S_I8mS8
Daisy Lafarge & Anne Laure Coxam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKJRX-hTeXQ
Greg Thomas & Lila Matsumoto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7J2491JF-0
Ryan Van Winkle & Sarah Kelly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNI5bAl5R-8
nick-e melville & Ross Sutherland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3shpmr-hCKA
The Walking tour

 

Enemies reviewed

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“This is a compilation of some of the collaborations which Fowler has undertaken with over 150 artists, writers, sculptors and musicians in a project funded by the Arts Council and the Jerwood Foundation. The scale of the work has been enormous and is a testament to Fowler’s commitment as a kind of impresario of the avant-garde (or vanguard, as he prefers to call it): alongside this anthology, numerous discreet publications have emerged with small presses.”

Read the complete review of SJ Fowler’s book of collaborations at Sabotage.

Enemies: Slovakian poetry

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Videos from the recent Slovakian poetry event at the Rich Mix arts centre are now online:
Sarah Hesketh (&Cristina Viti) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpLyGuU2kic
Mark Waldron & Martin Solotruk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84klLN9kNXc
Peter Milcak & Stephen Watts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhCVTxaNEPo

Complete Enemies exhibition films

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SJ Fowler’s epic Enemies exhibition and series of events at the Hardy Tree gallery has now drawn to a close, with the following films online:

Closing night – July 20th

Ensemble reading of everyone in attendance & goodbye http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6yJ3m5x4rs
Sandeep Parmar & James Byrne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUhLczT7Wl4
James Davies (& Tom Jenks) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUyGoEE94UQ
POW – July 18th
Ensemble reading of Antonio Claudio Carvalho http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8GSWh1v-s8
SJ Fowler & Ryan Van Winkle cover Chris McCabe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpXH9y9_GVA
Contemporary Poetics Research Centre – July 15th
ensemble cover of Will Rowe  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSC0pYb_iLc
ensemble cover of Carol Watts  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPXx0m84PSI
Voice art – July 8th
Quite possibly the most intense event I’ve been a part of. Truly amazing pictures of the event can be found here, by Alexander Kell http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenjfowler/sets/72157634618118551/
SJ Fowler: Apologia for St Christopher http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff5E-MfmiOw
Emma Bennett: Call song alarm  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnRxiqQJ80A
Holly Pester: Cross stitch  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAq41X5zQmk
Dylan Nyoukis, Ben Morris & SJ Fowler: Everybody’s people  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pABB6cMDqxQ
Opening night – July 6th
Here’s a gallery of photos I managed to take during the exhibition events http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenjfowler/sets/72157634726704534/