Last year’s acclaimed outdoor arts festival The Bristol Do (www.thebristoldo.com) are very pleased to announce that, in partnership with Theatre Bristol, they have commissioned three local artists to develop their work for the outdoors.

Folake Shoga’s piece ‘Lost photograph’ invites people to a special encounter where Folake recreates in discussion their lost photograph as a drawing.

China Fish is developing her fairy tale piece in her ‘Cupboard Under The Stars’ where many stories are told….finally

Once – Art and Ceremonies are developing their Table Top Theatre concept, inviting audiences to make their own intiriguing theatre for two on a picnic blanket in the middle of the festival.

The Bristol Do kicks off on 21st September with Blast Theory’s cycle epic ‘Rider Spoke’, a partnership with Arnolfini.

The main festival, which will feature 11 new pieces of work, is on the 26th and 27th September 2009 in Portland Square, St Pauls.

The Bristol Do is funded by Arts Council England South West, Bristol City Council, Cycle City and Legible Cities.

Previous Information:

Huge thanks to everyone who submitted proposals in response to the Bristol Do call for commissions. We’ll be doing our best to keep everyone up to date throughout the process, both in person and via the website.

The commissions panel will be meeting on Monday and Tuesday of next week (15th and 16th June), and by Thursday 18th June we will contact everyone who has submitted a proposal to let you know if your proposal has been shortlisted.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to meet the panel to discuss their proposal on Tuesday 23rd June 2009, and successful applicants will be notified by Tuesday 30th June 2009.

Theatre Bristol and Bristol City Council are working together to develop new performance work for the public realm. The Bristol Do is a major national platform for outdoor work and we are offering up to £6000 to commission one, two or three pieces of new work from Bristol artists to be shown at the Do at the end of September 2009.

We are interested in any form of live performance which has been conceived for a daytime public setting and a family audience. This includes work which incorporates: dance, live art, music, theatre, installation, digital media, and circus. If you are unsure whether your work fits the description please see below for more detail.

Here are a few guidelines to let you know what we’re thinking:

• We’re interested in work which is original, exciting and of the highest quality
• We’re interested in work which may be relatively new or unusual to the public realm but quality remains of overriding importance
• It needs to be achievable: be realistic about the time and resources you have and match them to your vision
• You do not have to bring any other funding to the project….
• but you can if you want to. If your project is also funded from other sources you must tell us where this funding comes from and, if this funding is unconfirmed, when you will have it confirmed
• This commissioning process is to develop new work, so the performance should not have had significant public exposure prior to its Bristol presentation
• It needs to be ready for public presentation on the weekend of 26th September 2009

We are expecting to commission between one and three pieces of work. Each commission will receive:

• Between £2000 and £6000
• The support of a Theatre Bristol Creative Producer
• A place in The Bristol Do’s programme

If you have any further questions, please email adam@theatrebristol.net