BeautifulMess back with new Brixton ‘provocation’

Action from BeautifulMess’ The Three Scavengers in 2014 – “a crazy music-filled street performance in Brixton with a fox, a bag-lady and a street sweeper”
Action from BeautifulMess’ The Three Scavengers in 2014 – “a crazy music-filled street performance in Brixton with a fox, a bag-lady and a street sweeper”

BeautifulMess return to Brixton tomorrow (24 August) with the first of a fornight-long series of free “art activism” labs.

They plan to stage “a physical-visual provocation” between KFC on Brixton Road and Argos on Atlantic Road “to explore our obsession with material wealth, the scarcity myth and the denial of the abundance in the world”.

“Let’s let Brixton know that WE ARE (ALL) ENOUGH!” says Kati Francis, founder of BeautifulMess, which was born on the streets of Brixton and performs “collaborative, inclusive, playful performance projects, in overlooked public spaces”.

The group’s most recent work in Brixton includes Beast of Brixton in Windrush Square and a cabaret about loneliness created with AgeUK.

BeautifulMess will be running free art activism labs over the next two weeks.

The first, tomorrow, begins at 6pm with rehearsal at the Brixton Community Base arts space on Talma Road, SW2 1AS.

Over three hours, say BeautifulMess, “We will meet, explore a relevant and important issue brought to the table by the Brixton community groups we have been working with through our creative advocacy workshops and together develop a piece of interactive performance to take directly to Brixton and share in a chosen public space.”

Anybody over 12 wanting to be part of The Great Escape should come wearing dull colours and bring any big shopping bags they have.

BeatifulMess say no performance experience is necessary – “We will develop basic ensemble movement to play with on the streets”.

The rehearsal ends at 7.30pm and the performance is planned to go on until 9.30pm.

See more at the group’s Facebook page.

BeautifulMess in Brocwell Park
BeautifulMess in Brockwell Park