A Murmuration

2 – 24 May, Wednesday – Friday, 12 noon – 7pm, Saturday and Sunday, 11am – 6pm

ONCA Gallery, 14 St George’s Place, Brighton

A collaborative art project by artists Sarah Wood and Lucy Harris that responds to the Brighton Festival 2015 theme of migration by asking what freedom of movement and thought really means. In collaboration with writers Helen Macdonald and Olivia Laing. A Murmuration combines film, text, images and cross-artform dialogue to rethink how we frame the natural world, how we understand patterns and just how free is the modern gaze.

A Murmuration is part of Brighton Festival 2015.

Artist Story: Kate Genevieve

Wednesday 6 May, 7 – 8.30pm

An illustrated talk by Kate Genevieve whose art works combine moving image, sound and the human body to create immersive environments that explore the interaction between embodiment and perception. Her art practice brings together research in contemporary science and technology with performance and phenomenological methodologies.

Booking is recommended. You can book via Eventbrite, by emailing info@fabrica.org.uk or calling 01273 778646.

Emerging Empathies

Thursday 7 May, 7pm

Humans share many aspects of biology and behaviour with birds. Like birds we form social groups, build homes and in some cases mate for life. Like us, birds have very complex vocal communication patterns, even having varying geographical dialects within the same species.

Marcus Coates is a keen amateur ornithologist, naturalist and shaman and is especially interested in the ways in which humans regard and relate to other species, as a means of investigating how we see ourselves. A number of his works have investigated ‘being animal’, ie what forms animal consciousness can take and how it connects variously with the human. He is particularly fascinated by the idea that because of our human capacity for mimicry, the structure of human language may have been influenced by the complex vocalisations heard by our distant ancestors – such as those of birds. Marcus will discuss these ideas with David Reby, Reader in Psychology at University of Sussex, who’s research focuses on understanding more about the origin, structure and function of vocal signals in vertebrates, including humans.

Booking is recommended. You can book via Eventbrite, by emailing info@fabrica.org.uk or calling 01273 778646.

Dawn Chorus Breakfast

Sunday 10 May, 6am

Queen’s Park, Brighton. Meet at the clock tower in the middle of the park

A free event for early birds! Local nature expert Steve Gilbert (RSPB Conservation Programme Manager) will be on hand to help identify the birds we’ll hear, plus free coffee, croissants and a children’s nature hunt.

Please book to ensure we have sufficient breakfast and nature hunt materials. Booking is recommended. You can book via Eventbrite, by emailing info@fabrica.org.uk or calling 01273 778646.

In partnership with the RSPB.

Conversation Piece

Monday 11 May, 10 – 11.30am

Conversation Piece is a regular and relaxed discussion group led by artist Lorenza Ippolito. Inspired by the exhibition this event considers art inspired by nature. Lorenza will be joined by Brighton-based performance and installation artist CiCi Blumstein to talk about her Lucky Frog Log Project, an inter-species collaboration with the common frog, using digital technology.

Monday 11 May, 10am-11.30am. Free entry.

For more details and to book click here or call 01273 778646 for more assistance

RSPB Midweek Walk in Pulborough

Wednesday 13 May, 10 am

A walk in search of resident songbirds and summer visitors. Visit the RSPB website for more information.

Cost: Free to RSPB members (bring membership card). Non-members £5

Film Monthly – May

Thursday 14 May. Doors open 7.30pm, the screening begins promptly at 8pm

Boy Eating the Bird’s Food (2013, subtitled, 80 mins)

This film follows a 23 year old man caught up in the current economic troubles in Athens, in the throes of poverty and starvation. Unable to find employment despite a significant singing talent, he shares the birdseed of his caged pet canary and carries his few remaining coins in a plastic Kinder egg capsule. 

‘Papadopoulos gives a sensational and intimate performance. Together with Lygizos’s voyeuristic camera, it places alienation, hunger and psychosis at the heart of a universal story about unemployment. Its washed-out colours and soft focus on the antihero’s psychological straits make this low-budget picture a striking and often alarming highlight. – Georgia Korossi, BFI

Before the screening, we will have a taster of the Dawn Chorus films on show for the audience to enjoy.

£3 plus booking fee, (free for 60+, students, unemployed) – please be prepared to show proof of age/status. Pay bar.

For more details and to book click here or call 01273 778646 for more assistance

Sing Like a Bird with Marcus Coates

Public performance Friday 15 May, 7pm

Would you like to sing like a bird?

During May Marcus Coates is revisiting the method he first developed for producing Dawn Chorus by teaching six volunteers from Brighton & Hove to sing the songs of local and migratory birds in a similar way to the performers depicted in the exhibition. Rather than filming this new choral piece, it will be performed live at Fabrica, following an introduction to the technical process by Marcus Coates.

If you’d like to audition to be part of the chorus email info@fabrica.org.uk with your name and contact details. Participants must be available for rehearsal on the afternoons of 7 and 15 May and for the public performance 7-8pm on Friday 15 May.

In partnership with Brighton & Lewes Downs Biosphere.

Late night exhibition opening of Dawn Chorus

Friday 15 May, 8 – 10.30pm

Enjoy Dawn Chorus late into the evening.

Animals – New London Chamber Choir, conductor Matthew Hamilton

Friday 15 May, 9pm

All Saints Church, Hove. Tickets: £16

An a cappella menagerie is let loose by one of the country’s leading contemporary ensembles in this joyously original programme of choral singing. From Janequin’s 15th-century bird calls to Giles Swayne’s multi-language setting of William Blake’s most famous poem; from howls and yelps to whistles and footstamping, and from elephants to mice, the New London Chamber Choir uses the gems of animal-inspired choral works to bring a zoo-ful of animals riotously to life. Judith Bingham’s Unpredictable but Providential celebrates the spring arrival of migratory birds, while Madrigals from the Natural World by the Danish composer Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen take their inspiration from elephants, egrets and bat’s sonar. No less dramatic (and often no more polite), madrigals from an earlier generation demonstrate that composers and singers have long felt the need to release their inner beasts.

Tickets: £16 – book via the Brighton Festival website.

Sussex Wildlife Trust – Mole Valley Bird Race with Gatwick Greenspace Partnership

Saturday 16 May, all day finishing at 8pm

Organised by Viewpoint Optics, teams of birders and those interested in birds, will try to record as many species of bird as they can within the Mole Valley area in one day. If you think you’ve got what it takes to assemble a race-winning team or would simply like to register a team for the fun of it then visit the Sussex Wildlife Trust website for more information.

Going to See Culture Together

Tuesday 19 May, 7-9pm.

A monthly event that brings people together to discover new places, people and art in the city. Led by arts facilitator Jonathan Quarterman. For May’s Brighton Festival, the group will voyage ‘into a dreamlike world of flight and fantasy’ in a fusion of circus, theatre and dance!

The Forgotten: With extraordinary physical prowess, the company of six performers flies, glides and dives against an impressive yet stark theatrical landscape. Cleverly fabricating illusions from everyday materials, they bring inanimate objects to life and conjure scenery from thin air to create a parallel world of startling beauty.

Free entry but donations are welcomed.

Booking essential. For more info and to book please click here or call 01273 778646 for more assistance.

Second Sight

Thursday 21 May, 10.15am – 11.45am

Second Sight is a unique, sensory-based workshop that encourages us to experience Fabrica’s exhibitions in new and creative ways. Led by facilitator Hattie Lockhart-Smith, the session begins with an audio-described tour of the show, allowing participants to consider the relationship between the exhibition and gallery space in greater depth. This is usually followed by a hands-on activity and a discussion to investigate the physical experience and thematics of the artwork.

For this session the group will be considering birdsong and the human voice, as well as our relationship to wild and urban environments. Second Sight is particularly suited to the visually impaired, as well as those who wish to experience art through more than just the eye.

Free refreshments, comfortable chairs and easy access for people with reduced mobility ensures this a warm and welcoming event for all.

Booking essential. For more info and to book please click here or call 01273 778646 for more assistance.

Butterflies, Moths and Bugs

Saturday 23 May, 2 – 4pm

Booth Museum, Dyke Road, Brighton.

A chance to find out about moths and other flying insects, and make your own colourful creature. Visit the RSPB website for more information.

Find out about the Booth Museum.

Cost: £2 for materials.

Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, introduced by Ali Smith

Sunday 24 May, 8pm

Brighton Dome Corn Exchange.

For as long as we humans can remember, we’ve been looking up. What is this fascination we have with birds? Exploring their influence on human existence throughout history and highlighting urgent conservation issues, is bird enthusiast Margaret Atwood, author of more than forty books, including The Handmaid’s Tale, The Blind Assassin (winner of the 2000 Booker Prize) and the MaddAddam trilogy. She is joined in conversation by her partner Graeme Gibson, author of The Bedside Book of Birds and Joint President (with Margaret) of BirdLife International’s Rare Bird Club.

Tickets: £10 – book via the Festival website. NB: This event is sold out but returns may be available.