<< sva artist-led programme >>

John Clare and the Swing Riots
A poetic and historical walk with Stuart Butler
Tuesday 14th April 6-8pm
SVA, 4 John Street, Stroud GL5 2HA

A guided walk starting at the exhibition by Andy Holden at SVA, John Street followed by the Goods Shed with an explanatory, contextualising talk from Stuart Butler. The walk will then proceed along the banks of the Frome to walk up through Rodborough Fields to Rodborough Common, with poems in the landscape read by Bill Jones and Jon Seagrave.

Ricochet
Simon Ryder
Wednesday 15th April 7.30pm
SVA, 4 John Street, Stroud GL5 2HA

How best to explore the multiple identities of The Verne: part 18th-century coastal hilltop fort built to defend against the French; part 20th-century island prison (HMP); and in the process of becoming the UK’s latest immigration removal centre (IRC) for the deportation of illegal immigrants? That was the task set for the artist-in-residence, Simon Ryder, who will talk about his time in The Verne, and why he invited a team of squash players to come and ‘play’ the cells, corridors and underground passageways of this extraordinary site. Also about the significance of birds, in particular a Harris Hawk called Mable, in this complex and conflicted context. The talk will end with a showing of ‘Ricochet’, the film Simon made in response using heat-seeking infrared cameras.
Tickets: £4 on door

Doubly Closed and The Crowd
Hand in Glove
Saturday 18th April
Doubly Closed: 11.30-11.50am,
Subscription rooms courtyard, Stroud
The Crowd: 12.10-12.30am,
High Street and Kendrick Street, Stroud

Doubly Closed is conceived as a gestural ritual initiated by the passing of a small precious object. The performance focuses on contagious behaviour as an underlying thread in daily life; mechanistic, dynamic, bizarre and comedic qualities are woven into this fabric. Inspired by Elias Canetti’s Crowds and Power, The Crowd asserts the mysterious phenomena of crowd formation and its dispersal. A sense of non-determinate forces and a jettisoned plan broker the promise of a barely glimpsed event.Hand on Glove are: Jim Brook, Mark Unsworth, Uta Baldauf, Belinda Bel, Kirsty Limburn, Stuart Wilding, Caroline Tate, Mary Brazil, Liz Swift, Izabel Broad, Stephanie Parker, and Jane Garbetts.
Free

After the Animal
1st-30th April
29 High Street, Stroud GL5 1AJ

Is mankind’s fascination with all that is wild a focused way of understanding ourselves? An experimental project space in an empty shop in Stroud High Street provides the starting point for artists to explore this idea further.

We Are All Haunted Animals
Adam White and Amaury Blow
4th April-31st May
Ale House, 9 John Street, Stroud GL5 2HA

Giant innovative watercolours developed over 20 years by humble watercolourist Adam White and animal inspired sculptures pieces by Amaury Blow.