Before we move on to our upcoming Ignite (IGNITE IN NATURE), we wanted to update you and round up on our IGNITE DISRUPT event back in December. A variety of exciting and engaging speakers prepared poems, workshops and presentations in response to the theme of disruption, of challenging the norm, and together we enjoyed a stimulating afternoon of conversations followed by drinks and more animated discussions about how to change the world. Make sure not to miss the next one! Below are a few extracts and key moments from the session…
The Line Up
The Art of Disruption – David Christie – The Vanner Gallery
David beamed in by video link to talk about his successful ventures in disrupting established traditions of engaging with art, making contemporary art and gallery experience of art more accessible.
Putting dance back in the Colosseum – Victoria Charlton
Victoria quoted Oscar Wilde from his 1891 essay, “The Soul of Man Under Socialism.”
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue, it is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.”
Victoria had many vibrant stories to share about breaking past obstacles in both Russian and American bureaucratic systems. For example, she brought 162 dancers from Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet company to the football World Cup in Rome and tackled local bureaucracy to have them perform at the Coloseum.
How to spot a Disruptor – Lewis Plummer – Mostly Harmless Agency
Lewis captured our interest by opening his talk with the statement:
“I’ve built an entire career around disrupting. It’s also the reason I’m un-employable”.
Millie Woodrow – poet
Millie word associated to consider the word ‘rupture’:
“rupture and the idea of tearing a gap in the world as you see it and having to face that rupture.”
Disrupting Education – Chris McShane – Learning 3D – If you want to get there, don’t start here.
Chris opened with a story of his early experience of being disruptive in school and how this was handled by the teachers at the time. “Excuse me Sir. The Virgin Mary – how did they know she was a virgin?” The teacher priest’s furiously negative response, ended his relationship with the Catholic Church and started his ambition to disrupt the limitations of traditional education systems. He illustrated with a workshop, how he has been working to prove an alternative education model.
The Architecture of Disruption – Tim Scrace – Space to create
Tim looked back to a pivotal week when, putting all other priorities aside, he booked a studio purely to paint for a week. From that time on, he has literally ‘painted to see space differently’ – not only painting to produce a picture but to change his thinking.
Jamie Lingham AKA @caddiejay – Poet
Jamie asserted that “Being disruptive is influencing people’s decisions”. He read us a poem about his influence on his young nephew which included this vivid phrase at the start:
“A phonecall won’t resonate through the concrete helmet that surrounds my mind.”
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Join us at the next Ignite for more creative networking, workshops and inspiration.