Timeless Encounters

‘Timeless Encounters’ is a workshop run by dance-circus company Joli Vyann aimed specifically at representatives from local environmental groups. The session will be run on July 28^th in the immediate build up to Joli Vyann’s performance of Timeless in
George Square on the weekend of July 30^th& 31^st  at the Merchant City Festival 2022 and will represent a forum to explore
both artistic and practical ideas around the show’s environmental themes.

Timeless is about the passing of time and the fear that we as humanity are literally running out of it. Joli Vyann uses their unique and dynamic style of dance, circus and theatre on a 7m high rotating hourglass, to tell the story of civilisation as we know it and its fragile relationship with time and nature.

In the aftermath of COP26 less than a year ago, many issues around the environment and Scotland’s relationship with it are still to be resolved. Whilst Timeless represents a public artistic forum for exploring these ideas, Joli Vyann are keen to leave
a lasting social impact on their audience and so are keen to invite Glasgow-based environmental groups to come to attend the session in order to learn more about their practice, how the piece was crafted and the messaging behind it. In return, groups will be invited to come to George Square before for the show and speak to audience members at the end of the performance about the work that their organisations do and how they can get involved.

In setting up the workshop, Merchant City Festival is creating a space for the artists to meet the activists. This session will represent an opportunity for people who are passionate about the environment to explore ideas about how to motivate fellow citizens towards action. Around a subject with no easy and obvious answers, creative offerings will engage with practical solutions whilst new relationships are formed and potential new collaborations established. This is an opportunity for anyone who is interested in exploring where performance and environmental activism can cross over and inform each other.

This workshop will take place at The Old Sheriff Court, 105 Brunswick Street, Glasgow, G1 1TF from 1-5 on Thursday July 28^th. In order to reserve your free slot, email [email protected].