Art is at the heart of Bristol Temple Meads with the launch of major new creative project
Wednesday 30 January
Bristol Temple Meads has unveiled two new artworks by internationally renowned Bristol artists and launched an open call to artists to create a gateway to Temple Meads on Monday 28 January as part of the launch of a brand new creative commissioning project for Bristol Temple Quarter (BTQ) Enterprise Zone.
Bristol-born artist and curator of See No Evil, Inkie has produced a new artwork entitled ‘Bristol to Brooklyn’, unveiled on Platform 3 by Bristol City Council cabinet member for culture & sports, Cllr Simon Cook, Arts Council director, Phil Gibby, and Enterprise Zone business owner and founder of the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Network (TQEN), Jonathan May.
First Great Western’s Retail Manager for the Central Region, Mike Holmes, said:
“Bristol is a vibrant city with a fantastic cultural heritage. At First Great Western we are committed to supporting the communities we serve – over 10 million people a year pass through this station and this project is a great way to involve local artists and improve the station environment for all.”
A ten metre high inflatable artwork created by Bristol street artists, Filthy Luker and Pedro Estrellas, was also inflated for the first time and revealed outside Brunel’s Old Station.
These installations are part of the BTQ Commissions project and aim to provide a better welcome to the city from Temple Meads and raise awareness for Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.
A competition was also launched at the station by Bristol Festival of Ideas director Andrew Kelly to help visitors learn about the area and guide them on their way. Proposals could include short films, posters, cartoons, essays, short stories, street art or drama performances.
The Creative Gateway competition will give ten awards of £500 for project proposals to be developed. An overall winner will be announced at the Festival of Ideas awards evening on May 21, with a prize of £2,500.
Cabinet member for culture and sports, Cllr Simon Cook, said:
“I am a strong advocate for cultural activity as a generator for wider development, as we have seen locally with the developments at Harbourside and in Bedminster. High profile creative projects such as BTQ Commissions can help us to raise the profile of Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and indeed the wider city region, ensuring that we position ourselves as a city that does things differently and where talented people and businesses want to be.”
Arts Council England’s Director for the South West, Phil Gibby, said:
“Arts Council England has invested £300,000 to develop cultural activity in Bristol Temple Quarter. This investment gives Bristol based arts organisations the opportunity to champion new talent and to create cutting edge cultural experiences. Bristol’s cultural identity is vital to promoting the city and attracting businesses to the area.”
Andrew Kelly, director, Bristol Festival of Ideas, said:
“Temple Meads is a key gateway to Bristol and an important landmark in the city, but parts of the station and some of its approaches are confusing and lack interest. This gateway competition will encourage the development of ideas for projects that would provide a better welcome to the city. There is a wealth of talent and creativity out there and we’re looking forward to seeing what ideas are put forward.”
Jonathan May, managing director of Sponsorcraft and founder of the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Network, said:
“As a new business in the Enterprise Zone, it is great to see so much cultural activity going on in Temple Quarter. We need creative projects like this, which help to raise awareness and make it a desirable place that people want to come to for both work and play. At the moment, Temple Quarter doesn’t really exist as a destination in most peoples’ minds, so this type of activity will help create an identity and draw people in.”
BTQ Commissions aims to ‘animate’ Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and bring in new audiences through a whole series of pop-up cultural and creative experiences designed to surprise, question and delight. It is a new collaborative initiative co-ordinated by Watershed with funding from Arts Council England. The lead producing partners are Watershed, Knowle West Media Centre, MAYK and Bristol City Council.
The first project to be commissioned was City Running, which took place at Paintworks on 30th November 2012 and saw 34 artists spend an evening running around the Enterprise Zone and creating instant artworks at the end of the night, watched by an audience.
The next project taking place will be ‘We See Fireworks, from 14-17 Feb in Brunel’s Old Station. Find out more about BTQ Commissions and some of the forthcoming projects at http://www.bristoltemplequarter.com/the-zone/animating-the-zone/
