Josie Long, Brighton Festival 2021 c. Giles Smith
On Monday 24 May, Abigail Conway’s The Candle Project opens at The Spire in Kemptown. An ancient ritual for our times, participants can make their own candle with a message inside, to be added to a large installation. At the end of the week, a spectacular livestreamed lighting ceremony will feature soundscapes with contributions from local choirs.
Robot Selfie arrives in Brighton on Friday 28 May. At Greater Brighton Metropolitan College, a wall drawing robot will create a giant mural on an outside wall, using selfies which can be submitted by members of the public from Wednesday 26 May.
John Newling
Dear Nature by John Newling is on May 24 in Brighton Dome Concert Hall, lasting approximately one hour and 40 minutes, with no interval – an appeal for a new state of mind for the future, rooted in hope, balance and respect.
The starting point were the 81 letters Nottingham-based John wrote over 81 consecutive days three years ago – letters that confront our ongoing relationship with nature; letters that question, confess and address.
Together they form a poetic manifesto for our relationship with the natural world. Part impassioned plea, part exercise in truth and reconciliation, they are written frankly and intimately as if to a loved-one, attempting to forge a closer, more fruitful relationship.