Joe GallopCulture secretary Oliver Dowden has announced 10 creative teams from the UK that will develop a series of events, public engagement programmes and virtual projects as part of Festival UK* 2022.
The teams have been tasked with developing “showstopper national moments” that will involve science, technology, engineering, arts and maths. The ten projects will be designed to showcase the UK’s creativity on a global scale.
The teams were selected from 30 shortlisted projects that took part in a paid research and development phase, followed by an assessment.
The UK-wide £120m event organised by DCMS has been dubbed the Festival of Brexit but will be given an official name later this year.
Dowden said, “Alongside the Commonwealth Games and Platinum Jubilee, the project will make 2022 a year to remember, bringing the nation together as we build back stronger from the pandemic.”
Festival UK’s chief creative officer is Martin Green, who was perviously head of ceremonies for London 2012 and director of Hull City of Culture 2017, said, “We asked 500 of the best creative minds in the UK to tell us what a festival of creativity could be. What they came up with has exceeded our expectations, and then some, which made deciding which 10 teams to commission very difficult.
“We believe the extraordinary breadth of talent, their thrilling ideas and geographic spread, will be ground-breaking, inspiring and exciting for millions of people across the UK and further afield.”
The 10 chosen creative teams are:
- 59 Productions Collective
- Approxima Arts Collective
- Assemble + 8 Collective
- Collective Cymru led by National Theatre Wales
- Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios Collective
- Nerve Centre Collective
- NEWSUBSTANCE Collective
- Storyfutures Collective
- Trigger Collective
- Walk the Plank Collective