Come Rain or Shine
I did the first of a series of walks with people that will happen over the next two years yesterday. It was quite gorgeous, light and yet in depth. If you‘re interested in joining a walk, read on.
Come Rain or Shine.
Putting time aside to connect
A different kind of wealth
Hello.
My name is Jo and I would like to invite you for a walk, a wander, a meander - a step in the direction of how does it go from here?
Where’s it start?
Underneath these words
- CREU GWIR FEL GWYDR O FFWRNAIS AWEN
- IN THESE STONES HORIZONS SING
Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff Bay.
When?
11am on Wednesday 30th March, 2022
How long will it be?
One hour
Who’s invited?
This walk invites anyone who is interested.
Does it cost anything?
No
Why do I walk?
I walk when I meet someone new
when I get stuck
to clear my head and get real
to see nature
to get a sense of where I live
to get a feel for the big picture
to hear more and maybe learn a thing or two
to take the long route and hang out in the unsolved
to throw about a social issue
to take up space and imagine it all belongs to everyone.
to cultivate trust
for pleasure and ecstatic [well] - being
for exercise
to be with people
to spark a new friendship
to turn over a confusing, frustrating, infuriating mess
to see if we can unblock something
to protest
to calm down
to join stuff up
to have an epiphany or three
Or simply, to put one foot in front of the other
My name is Jo Fong. I am an artist and newly appointed Creative Associate at WMC.
I will be walking at 11am every last Wednesday of every month from June 2021. These walks have no expectations and there is no evaluation form at the end. I don’t mind if there are 2 people, 20 or 200, there is much to gain, yet with little effort.
Please do share.
AND so you know, there is no need to book a place, just pop it in your diary and turn up. If you have particular access needs you’d like to be known please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Regarding COVID. We will be outdoors the whole time and we want everyone to feel comfortable and be safe. Please keep this in mind.
Look after yourselves and the people around you.
www.jofong.com
www.whatwillpeopleneed.com
www.patreon.com/posts/published
Vitlycke Centre for Performing Arts
Jo and Sonia are planning a trip to Sweden to perform Neither Here Nor There at Vitlycke in Sweden. All being well performances will take place on the 2nd and 3rd September 2021. For more information on the centre see the LINK
WMC – Creative Associates
The Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay has introduced its first cohort of 8 artists.
Find out more about the artists and the two year programme HERE
First public performances of 2021!
We’re going for it
In August I’m heading to Findhorn once again.
Rise Festival at Dance North is usually in May, this time they have an artist visiting each month.
First will be me and Eddie Ladd sharing Neither Here Nor There on the 14th and 15th August then the following weekend on the 21st and 22nd Anushiye will arrive and we will present Marathon of Intimacies for the first time with a live audience.
Keep up to date with the whole festival HERE
Our Land – Estuary Festival 21
Artist Jo Fong, Sonia Hughes, Lisa Mattocks and Andrew Westle have come together to collaborate on a new work called Our Land. Its one of over 90 artworks and events along the stretch of the Thames Estuary. For details click HERE
Estuary 2021 is the second edition of the large-scale arts festival that celebrates the lives, landscapes and histories of the spectacular Thames Estuary.
Taking place on the river itself, and along the 107 miles of South Essex and North Kent coastline, contemporary artworks, discussion and events explore and respond to powerful themes resonant to the estuary.
Artworks set in the landscape, online and within Covid-safe venues, explore the estuary through the lens of contemporary concerns, including climate justice, protest and rebellion, imperial legacy and the rich, often overlooked stories of its diverse communities, bringing new audiences to a deeper understanding of the estuary.
Estuary 2021 is led by a partnership between estuary-based arts organisations, Metal (South Essex) and Cement Fields (North Kent).
What will people need?
Commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre and Here and Now Jo has been collaborating with four local conversationalists.
So far, we have come into conversation with a celebrant, counsellor, charity worker, gardener, protestor, mother, clown, a duty manager and many more
All care takers in their own way.
There will be a planting day at BAC on the morning of the 1st May 2021 to remember the people we have lost.
To find out more and contribute your voice to this archive of voices for this time click HERE
We’re definitely not through this and there is no doubt that there are more difficult times to come.
Though we live in and out of hope, the seasons keep coming, the small things keep us going and then there are other moments where we need to stand our ground or travel against the flow of powerful voices and decisions.
What is success? Getting to 2022 with grace perhaps? Or can we do this together? Or are there things we will need to start again and do it differently?
What will people need? is a project that invites us to join the conversation, look gently to the future and acknowledge what and who we need to remember.
Marathon of Intimacies
Photography Noel Dacey
2021- Still Arting
Anushiye Yarnell and Jo Fong
Jo and Anushiye have begun working together on a new performance and short film called Marathon of Intimacies
Created and performed by Anushiye Yarnell and Jo Fong
Marathon is a word associated with endurance and winning
Intimacy is overused in describing performance
These two words marathon and intimacy don’t fit together
All the intimacies that have been part of our lives, could they be with us while we're dancing.
Jo
“For me, this film with Anushiye emerged from our walking in parks and talking about race. White rooms, family, shame, power, being heard, justice, presence… in these last months I’ve been searching, looking everywhere around every corner for how my nearly 50 year old body can be a part of the conversation. In 2020, I’ve been practicing saying the truth and with Anushiye I felt I was able to learn to speak the truth.
The strategy at the moment is small, safe, hyper-local and with purpose.
And the question I’m holding closely is, “What is unburdened arts practice for women of colour?”
Anushiye
“Getting what you need... it’s not necessarily what you think you need.
There is a kind of recognition, arriving at the beginning again, which involves not knowing.
I’m interested in being in the margins- the margins within myself and in life.
This is something that I’m sharing and treasuring with Jo
Our margins meet as a gentle micro riptide. Going out coming in.
Shedding shame,
We are both getting what we want from it.
Resonance and difference.
The complexity, sensuality and movements of consent.
Non destinational care without compromise - a kind of survival.”
Further Credits
Filmmaker and photography by Lara Ward
Commissioned by Surf the Wave and supported by Chapter, Penpynfarch, Arts Council of Wales and Groundwork Pro
To Tell You The Truth,
A series of new films created with artist Sonia Hughes for Dublin Theatre Festival
At the heart of the festival is the city of Dublin – its people and its stories – and a commitment to contributing to the vibrant social and cultural life of the capital.
28 Sept - 3 Oct 2020
See the FULL programme HERE
Some things have happened in our lives that make us think that this is how things go.
Jo Fong and Sonia Hughes are middle-aged artists who live in Marsden, Yorkshire and Cardiff in Wales. They’ve invited six people who live in Ireland for a one-to-one conversation. The questions are deceptively simple, the answers are incredibly complicated.
It all takes time. Complexity takes time, it requires multiple voices, many levels of expertise and patience in the unspectacular.
Each day a short film will be released of these fresh, unfettered conversations.
To Tell You The Truth is based on Jo and Sonia’s live show Neither Here Nor There.
Venue
Date(s)
28 Sept - 3 Oct, 1pm
Duration
18-30 mins.
