Watermans River Weekender This Weekend

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An eclectic mix with hair sculpture, olfactory historian and spoken word

The fourth River Weekender (Fri 15-Sun 17 Sept) is a festival of the arts, inspired by the river and beside the river at Watermans.

Part of the Totally Thames Festival.
This year, the packed programme includes Barcelona-based Osadia who will perform their very own brand of theatrical hair sculpture – will you be a pirate or a mermaid?

Meanwhile, Watermans has partnered up with North London's ArchWay With Words Book Festival to bring Watermans With Words, an evening of captivating speakers and new writing. Iain Sinclair and Caitlin Davies present their latest books, and The London Sound Archive’s Ian Rawes plays vintage recordings of life on the river, while all around Watermans you'll find performances inspired by the Thames and its bridges, from MA writers at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and London poets.

And if all that’s making you hungry, Saturday evening sees award-winning food historian Tasha Marks  (Selfridges Bright Young Thing 2013, Young Foodie of the Year 2013) taking us on A Glutton’s Guide to the Thames: an olfactory and tasting tour of the River Thames through the ages - according to Vanity Fair it’s  ‘London at its crazy-best.’!

There’s plenty to capture your attention elsewhere with Maria Arceo’s Future Dust: an illuminated installation exploring the problem of Thames plastic waste; and new exhibition Working River (1-30 Sept). This is a new commission by Totally Thames, which explores the history of London’s boatyards, and looks at how many have been forced to close, told through oral history and the photography of Hydar Dewachi.

Families will love Mr Gumpy’s Outing from Artburst, an interactive journey down the river with the much-loved children’s character. Or introduce your kids to opera for the first time with Liquid Opera who will promenade around the building performing impromptu arias inspired by Thames flotsam – ending in a free 30-minute outdoor performance on Watermans’ Riverside Terrace.

The Riverside Terrace is also the location for two nights of Outdoor Cinema, showing Absolutely Fabulous The Movie (15) and Pink Floyd: The Wall (15). For just a tenner, grab a drink, draw up a chair (no sitting on the ground at Watermans!) and enjoy cinema as the sun goes down over the Thames beside you.

Entry is free to the river weekender with some events ticketed but the majority free. Book or view full listings.

Free events: Osadia Hair Sculpture, Working River Exhibition, Maria Arceo Future Dust Installation, Liquid Opera, Dudesta Marimba Group & Travel Unravelled Exhibition and drop-in creative activities for families, readings around centre as part of Watermans with Words.

Ticketed events: Watermans with Words theatre readings/talks, AVM Curiosities, Mr Gumpy’s Outing & Outdoor Cinema  on the Riverside Terrace.

Artburst presents
My Gumpy’s Outing – AGE 3-8
Sat 16 Sept, 10.15am, 11.30am, 1.30pm &
Sun 17 Sept, 12.30pm, 2pm, 4pm.
Tickets: £6 per child.
Studio 1.
Interactive storytelling, craft and art workshop

Make, paint, and ride the river with your little one! Start the 50minute session with interactive storytelling based on the much-loved tale Mr Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham, before things get messy with arts & crafts, painting and colouring! Take home your very own Mr Gumpy puppet at the end of the workshop and make sure you dress for mess (aprons are provided)!

Artburst is a member of the Communication Trust recognizing the impact workshops have on children with speech, language and communication needs.

 

Maria Arceo presents
Future Dust – all ages
Entrance Terrace. 10am-11pm. FREE. (15-20 Sept)

Since September 2016, Maria Arceo has been collecting plastic from over 40 beaches along the tidal Thames, from Teddington up to the Sea. Beachcombing, handpicking, identifying, and colour-coding found plastic debris, Arceo has created a final art piece that aims to visualise the sheer scale of plastic litter that is found along the shores of the tidal river, while also allowing the viewer to relate with these individual objects when examined in close detail.

The installation will be touring across different locations in London and will be illuminated at night. The light installation is designed by Dutch interactive light artist Tim Scheffer.

Talks by artist: Sat & Sun, 1pm on the Entrance Terrace.

Totally Thames in partnership with Watermans presents
Working River: Photographic Exhibition – ALL AGES

Riverside Gallery. 10am-11pm. FREE.
Uncovering the history of the working river over the past 60 years, spotlighting how many boatyards have been forced to close. 

The Working River project has documented stories of working lives in London’s Boatyards over the past 60 years, on the tidal Thames. Including the significant history of barge and boat building at Brentford Docks, and at Lots Ait, as well as yards from Toughs in Teddington, to Cory Environmental in Charlton, the project has recorded oral histories with key figures in London’s Boatyards, and the changes that have occurred over this time.

This exhibition highlights the photography of Hydar Dewachi, who was commissioned to document and respond to the working boatyards today. His photography and portraits hang alongside a documentary film about the boatyards, produced by Digital:Works, which will available to watch throughout the exhibition.

Travel Unravelled Summer Exhibition in the Gallery – ALL AGES
10am-9pm. FREE.

Come and look at the work of the talented children and young people who took part in our summer programme Travel Unravelled. Includes free drop-in creative activities.

 

Sat 16 & Sun 17 September
Osadia Hair Sculpture on the Terrace – ALL AGES
Riverside Terrace. Drop in to take part or watch, 12.30-2pm & 3-4.30pm. FREE.

QUOTE: ‘They create fantastically strange hairdos on willing and brave audience members’ BBC

Hairdressing becomes theatre in the barber's chairs of OSADIA. The audience becomes the central performer and is transformed on stage as styling becomes a showpiece, much to the enthralled rapture of the remaining audience. Will you be a pirate or a mermaid?

OSADIA creates original and provocative exhibitions of sophisticated make-up and hair art, set to fantastic music mixes. They are based in Barcelona.

This event is family friendly.

Sunday 17 September
Gestalt Arts present

Liquid History At Watermans

Sun 17 Sept,

Promenading Performances 1.30pm – 4pm

Free Performances on River Terrace at 4.30pm.

Opera, physical theatre and carnival collide in this brand new production that tells the story of London and the ebb and flow of its people through five found objects from the River Thames and from the Museum of London Docklands.

Liquid History sees the river brought to life through song and movement, telling these object’s stories through a mixture of opera, physical theatre and carnival.

The Thames, which is now often forgotten or seen as a leisure attraction, was once our gateway to the entire world and gave us opportunity and life. It is Liquid History. It was the making of the city and many of its secrets lie in fragments on river bed, waiting to be discovered.

Gestalt Arts bring this non-traditional opera to draw new audiences from all backgrounds. In addition to the performances the company will run family-friendly workshops using the river objects as inspiration to reflect upon what the river means to people today, and will pop up in locations around the venue.

September 11, 2017