Art / Confluence
Confluence marks the end of its residency programme with final event ‘Body of Water’
Taking place in two phases and over two years, MAYK’s long-form residency programme Confluence asked two groups of artists to respond creatively to Bristol as a city in flux; “the ways in which we relate to a shape-shifting city”.
It posed the question: “What happens when the city itself seems to be undergoing a transformation?
“Over the next 10 years, large parts of Bristol will change beyond recognition. Loved spaces will disappear, new streets will appear, new ways of moving around the city, and new ways of living, working and playing.”
is needed now More than ever
Asmaa Jama’s work at the Confluence Phase 1 Wrap Up, December 2023 – photo: Paul Blakemore
Working across a diverse mix of media, from sound and video installation to sculpture and performance, the participating artists sought in their own unique ways “to understand, reflect and share how Bristol is changing”.
Asmaa Jama, Verity Standen, Ryan Convery-Moroney and Travis Alabanza joined the first phase of Confluence, producing performance, as well as music, film and photography surrounding Stapleton Road, Broadmead, Kerbside and – in Alabanza’s case – the locations of meaningful and memorable kisses around the city.
Their work was shown in a special wrap up exhibition in December 2023, with Dan Canham & Ania Varez invited to contribute a ‘hidden track’ to the proceedings.
Also participating in Confluence, and featuring in Mayfest 2024 were Kaleider, constructing a freestanding arch made from two thirds concrete and one third ice, and photographer Esther May Campbell, along with the young and enthusiastic members of Kitchen Table Photo Club – who created a guided woodland trail in Nightingale Valley, as well as an exhibition of work, 378,432,000,000 seconds of exposure, at St Anne’s House.
Artists invited to join the second phase of Confluence were Dhaqan Collective, Howl Yuan, Ramelle Williams & Fenton Fleming and Iman Sultan West. Again, the work produced was hugely wide-ranging and thought-provoking.
In Impossible Homecoming, Howl Yuan took people on a journey tracing 80 years of Taiwanese history, as well as aspects of his own story as a migrant exploring identity and belonging. Part-performance, part-exhibition, it began with a walk from Castle Park to Broadmead, taking in themes of “war and conflict, romantic meet cutes, and how we define home and family” along the way.
Impossible Homecoming by Howl Yuan 原承伯, Confluence – photo: @elljaybristol
Most recently, Fozia Ismail and Ayan Cilmi of Dhaqan Collective presented The People’s Carriage, an exploration of the fabric of Bristol through an immersive sound, light and narrative installation set in a stationary taxi on Redcliffe Wharf. “We’ve really tried to show the interior worlds of a taxi driver’s life”, they explain, “and to really centre them as a key part of the city.”
Now, as the project nears completion, one final, joyful event will reflect on the remarkable scope of the work created over its duration.
The People’s Carriage by Dhaqan Collective – photo: @elljaybristol
Body of Water x Confluence will see MAYK taking over an empty unit in Redcliffe for an evening of celebration, featuring a live performance led by Iman Sultan West, a poet and artist whose work follows the flow of the river.
Those visitors keen to extend their evening will be invited to hop on board a free ferry ride departing from Netham Lock an hour before the event itself begins; a chance to see the city in a different light, and as an ever-moving, evolving place.
Confluence Phase 1 Wrap Up, December 2023 – photo: Paul Blakemore
Body of Water x Confluence – an event to mark the end of the residency programme – is at 5 Redcliffe Street on June 25 at 7pm, with an optional free ferry ride (not wheelchair accessible) from Netham Lock at 6pm, arriving at Redcliffe Back for 6.45pm. The event itself is free, but ticketed via Headfirst.
Visit www.confluence-bristol.com for further details about the project, or follow @maykithappen.
Confluence is a production by MAYK, commissioned by Ginkgo Projects for Redcliffe Quarter with the support of Grainger plc.
MAYK is undertaking a major fundraising campaign to continue their work. You can donate here.
Main photo: Paul Blakemore (crowd watching Kaleider’s Arch at Mayfest 2024)
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