Walking Sideways – 10 years from, 10 years on

1

Event details

Back in August / September 2012, a group of walking artists were sent to explore ‘path scapes’ in Belgium. It was styled as a ‘translocal, experimental festival for contemporary art and spatial research, exploring different paths capes in the northern region of Belgium. Artists and audiences were invited to question the past history, present use and future potential of paths, trails and other spaces of going, as well as our conceptions of landscape, time and movement.’

Join a discussion on themes from Sideways, its influence, and how walking art might evolve and be celebrated in the next ten years. We are bringing together a panel of walking artists and curators, prime movers in curating walking art exhibitions, festivals, residencies and symposia, over the last ten years. Panellists confirmed include Clara Gari creator of the Grand Tour, Dee Heddon from Walk Create and Misha Myers from The Walking Library, Geert Vermeire producer of Walking Art Encounters, Fiona Hesse curator of WALK! and Clare Qualmann, founder of the Walking Artists’ Network.

Sideways was a walking journey, west to east, that began in Menen on the 17th August, to Zutendaal, via Herzele, Brussels and Turnhout; threading its way through different landscapes and ‘situations’, with the multiple traces of this month-long modern day pilgrimage documented on a website and blog. At each of the five weekend halts, a knot of activity contributing to a festival programme that included a series of performances, eco-cultural walks, live art, workshops and site specific interventions. It was bookended by two symposia, one in Menen on the theme of “Setting Out” with a final symposia in Zudentahl on the theme of “Moving On”. Artists joining the caravan came from across the globe, with local audiences invited to join the passage for one or more days.

It was masterminded by Andy Vandyvere of Trage Wegen (literally ‘Slow Ways’), an environmental NGO that works for the conservation, revaluation and multifunctional development of footpaths, cycleways and back roads, in the northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.

It was a mammoth task to bring Sideways to fruition, let alone manage it as the caravan of artists moved forward. Many days of blistering heat, preparing food, finding somewhere comfortable to sleep that offered privacy, as well as creating walking art in the process. We are offering Sideways artists and members of the support team complimentary tickets (get in contact here), and to reflect and share their views on how walking art might evolve in the next 10 years.