Get to this exhibition January 23, 2008

Here’s something you can do to get together and get out of the house:

Go and visit the exhibition coming soon (well, April 5th 2008) to the Science Museum in London, called Science of Survival. It looks into the future, to 2050, to explore how we will be challenged to live on our planet and it challenges us to make changes now to our lifestyle. More information on http://www.scienceof.com/?lid=283 

It will tour lots of cities around the world over 5 years, so it should make a big impact. Our company, Flow Associates, is designing and writing lots of e-learning materials to accompany the exhibition for schools and young people internationally.

“This exciting and empowering exhibition encourages you and your family to make choices about both future lifestyles and your individual impact on the environment. We take turning on the tap or going to the supermarket for granted but how could drinking and eating change in the future? How we travel to work and school or even how we spend out leisure time have unforeseen consequences. And what sort of neighbourhood do you want to live in?”

Buy Nothing Day November 20, 2007

This weekend, from 24th November, is Buy Nothing Day http://www.buynothingday.co.uk/ Of course, it doesn’t help much if you just put off the splurging until Monday. And most important is to consider what you buy, where it comes from and how long it will last, not how much. But anyway, I do think BND gets good publicity and makes some people think twice about consumerism. The perfect way to celebrate BND is to have a Power Party. Invite people round to cook up a feast from whatever food they have in the house. Or pool some craft materials and make some Christmas presents.   

Blackout Halloween October 15, 2007

http://www.blackoutbritain.org.uk/html/blackout_halloween_2007.html

The perfect Power Party. On 31st October, turn off all the power, light your candles & pumpkins. The official moment to black out is 4-5pm, but you may as well keep it going. Roast some tatties on a fire and put your facepaint on in candlelit dimness for that extra scary factor. Invite friends round to join in, and remind them to leave the power off in their houses.  

March 15, 2007

I was invited to write an article on Power Parties for the Green Girls Global site. Gloria read it and told me about Power Down. http://www.myspace.com/powerdownordie Speaking as someone who loves music but doesn’t go to gigs because of their loudness (too loud to hear it, too loud to talk over it), this is fantastic. The next one is on May 26th. “Power Down is the idea that modern citizens can have a night of musical entertainment without leaving a huge carbon footprint. That means no lights, no refrigeration, and most importantly…no amplification. An important aspect of this movement is to dispel the assumption that the only music that can be acoustically played is that of a bunch of miserable young men with acoustic guitars. We’ve all heard that, and it bores most of us to tears, and hence, you won’t find that at Power Down. Power Down aims to bring a large array of genres to an open minded audience, from Hip-Hop, to Jazz, to Pop, to yes, Folk. There is no reason why all of these different art forms, as dependent on electricity and modern computing as they seem, be stripped bare to their acoustic core. Present a musician with this task, and let’s see the result, who knows what it will sound like. Hopefully it will be intimate, intense and enlightening from the lack of barriers between the audience and the artist, air being the only remaining medium. “

LIFT New Parliament March 9, 2007

I went to an event this week, which included a presentation by LIFT about the LIFT New Parliament. http://www.liftfest.org.uk/newparliament/ This is a large tent-like structure that will tour London and the world from 2008. It will have a screen on one flat side, and a stage/meeting spaces on the other side. It will be the space for a programme of arts-enriched dialogue about the pressing issues of the day, at the top of which is climate change. The New Parliament building has a very light footprint and all events will be planned with sustainability in mind. I was really pleased to be able to take part in a workshop with LIFT on what we can do about climate change. I shared the Power Parties idea and there was a lot of enthusiasm. People said ‘I can’t wait to go to one’. Lots of ideas for different kinds of events were shared.

Plant exchange parties February 28, 2007

We’re planning a local event that will include a planting ceremony in our park to celebrate 200 years since the end of the slave trade. I had an idea that the planting day can include a plant exchange. We can invite people to bring plants (cuttings, seeds etc) from their gardens and offer them for other people to take. We can make sure that people write their names and addresses on the marker sticks as a reminder of who you made the exchange with. I like the idea that we all have each other’s plants in our gardens as a way of making links with your neighbours. It’s a simple kind of event that you can organise with just some local publicity and by providing some marker sticks. You could add a cake exchange too so you don’t go hungry.    

Hillabaloo February 20, 2007

Power Parties can happen every time you go out or invite a friend round. But, if you’re making an event of it, you could badge it a Power Party. This could mean just saying ‘This is a Power Party’ and linking to this site. Or you could design an invitation to make it really obvious. 

We’re planning a proper party that will be a Power Party. It’s called Hillabaloo. It celebrates views and visions of our community, Telegraph Hill. This hill used to be the site of an optical telegraph, passing messages across Kent’s hills from the sea to the Houses of Parliament. The centrepiece of the party will be Willett & Patteson’s Amazing Camera Obscura. Plus all kinds of activities to do with looking. Sun prints, photography, spot the ball, treasure hunts with magnifying glasses and binoculars, shadow chasing, watching the Earth turn and stargazing. More details to come when things are more sorted.