Ruth Ewan: 10 Ventôse CCXXIII
Saturday 28 February
1.30 – 5.30pm
Celebrating the French Republican Calendar’s Sanculottides (complimentary or festival days), Ruth Ewan invites guests to respond to the days – Virtue, Talent, Labour, Conviction, Honour and Revolution with an afternoon of discussion, performance and magic.
Speakers and performers include Dr Sanja Perovic, senior Lecturer in French at Kings College London introducing the Sanculottides; writers and anarchist bakers Molly Conisbee and Ruth Potts of Bread, Print & Roses who will present Virtue and Labour; Socialist Magician Ian Saville as Talent and Practice Based Researcher, Sophie Hope on Conviction. Ruth Ewan also presents her performance work A Child's Catechism in response to the day Revolution.
London-based artist Ruth Ewan brings to life the French Republican Calendar in a new work made for Camden Arts Centre’s Gallery 3. In use from 1793 until 1805, the calendar temporarily redefined and rationalised the Gregorian Calendar, stripping it of all religious references in post-revolutionary France. Months and weeks were restructured and seasons and days renamed in collaboration with artists, poets and horticulturalists to reflect the seasonality of nature and agriculture. For Ewan, the Republican Calendar is an inspiring and innovative example of collaboration between artists and the state. Ewan also presents two other projects in sites around Camden Arts Centre, including her ongoing work A Jukebox of People Trying to Change the World (started in 2003) in the Café. The CD jukebox invites visitors to choose tracks from its growing catalogue of over 2,200 politically and socially motivated songs.
Tickets
Full price: £10
Friend and concession: £8
Tickets include a complimentary drink.
The space is wheelchair accessible. Please contact us if you have additional access requirements.
Dr Sanja Perovic is Senior Lecturer in French at Kings College London. She researches 18th-century literature and thought with a specific focus on the relations between the Enlightenment and Revolution. Recent publications include The Calendar in Revolutionary France: Perceptions of Time in Literature, Culture, Politics, 2012, Sacred and Secular Agency in Early Modern France: Fragments of Religion, 2011 and Death by Volcano: Revolutionary Theatre and Marie-Antoinette, 2013.
Molly Conisbee and Ruth Potts formed Bread, Print & Roses, a radical collective that explore new thinking and fresh approaches to living. They publish seditious pamphlets, lead and promote radical walks, host workshop in practical skills – from anarchist baking to community, organising and creating spaces where people can come together and make change happen.
Ian Saville is a socialist magician. Shows and plays have included Brecht on Magic and Getting Nowhere – Again, Left Luggage and Honorable Flags.
Sophie Hope’s practice-based research investigates the relationships between art and society. Current work includes hosting dinners about art and politics in 1984; exploring physical relationships to immaterial labour and mapping inceptions of socially engaged art. She teaches in the Film, Media and Cultural Studies Department at Birkbeck, University of London.
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