May 2009 | Couscous Global Lab
A Lab in collaboration with the Couscous Global team from Holland which brought together young UK-based artists, community activists and journalists from diverse backgrounds to explore ‘global intimacy’ and ‘opposites’.
It was inspired by the experiences of a group of young people who began meeting together in a low-budget art project in a high school in Amsterdam in 2001. These first dialogues in Holland went on to become a festival, then a popular national TV series, Couscous & Cola, which was also broadcast worldwide by Al Jazeera and nominated for an Emmy Award.
The Lab set out to explore possibilities for developing the concept of global intimacy by filming enquiry and debate, which would stimulate artistic responses to ideas generated by all the Lab participants. Engaging artistic practice with a philosophic approach to debate, participants worked together over six days, new ideas, collaborations and partnerships emerged between UK participants to develop further work in Europe as well as the Middle East and China.
Read the CousCous Global Lab Evaluation
Lab Director
Maartje Nevejan
Participants
Mohsin Abbas - Director, Artsversa UK
Shahida Ahmed - artist / Director, Hoopoe Club, Creative Colours and Raang Community Arts
Alexandra Baybutt - movement artist
Susan Benn - PAL Artistic Director
Peer van den Berg - theatre practitioner
Judith Bovenberg - actor / trainer
Valentina Ceschi - theatre practitioner
Iris Chan - dance artist
Zainab Daniju - campaigner
Thomas Eccleshare - theatre practitioner
Ben Freedman - Co-Artistic Director, Look Left Look Right
Janine Harrington - dance artist
Alwine van Heemstra - filmmaker
Jeni Howland - Lab co-ordinator
Sholeh Johnston - project officer, Visiting Arts
Miriam Kybird - Manager, Creative Partnerships, South West Area
Rogerio Lira - designer
Nigel Nyumbu - photographer
Kathy Pimlott - Lab co-ordinator
Mimi Poskitt - Co-Artistic Director, Look Left Look Right
Quest Rah - Hip Hop artist
Romana Qureshi - artist / Ulfah Arts
Kevin de Randamie (aka Blaxtar) - Hip Hop artist
Aimée Wilson - East Lancashire Community Action Project
Zhao Xue - journalist
Visitors
Cathy Bereznicki - PAL
Bert van der Bosch - Driebit
Isaac Huilink - Driebit
Rebecca Lipkin - Executive Producer, Programming Europe, Al Jazeera English
Bob Lockyer - PAL Trustee
Shonagh Manson - Director Jerwood Foundation
Rehana Mughal - Creativity Culture and Education
Caro Nevejan - PAL Research Associate
Joanna Reesby - PAL Trustee
Juan Toledo - Connect Youth, British Council
Funded by
European Commission, Youth in Action
British Council
Creativity Culture and Education
