Dis-ASSEMBLY, Friday 1st December from 7.30pm

N-E-W Dis-ASSEMBLY – Artist and creatives social 2023

Friday 1st Dec from 7.30pm – FREE ENTRY/DONATIONS BUT BOOKING REQUIRED –

Please visit Ashburton Arts for tickets

Ashburton Arts Centre, 15 West St, Ashburton TQ13 7DT

Calling all artists and creatives to assemble for a @n_e_w_ashburton party – our free social and networking evening for 2023 at Ashburton Arts Centre. This is a chance to meet other artists, groups, musicians, writers, poets, designers, filmmakers and more to share ideas, swap tips or just say hello.

• ASSEMBLY DOCUMENTARY – premier of a short documentary film by up and coming Exeter film-maker Matt Ryder of recent collaborative, intergenerational project ASSEMBLY
• THIS AINT JAZZ ft Andy Stacey – new collaboration from this young hip-hop band and artist
• THE UPLIFTER – unique DJ set by Tom Earwaker with “bass in the driving seat, live drums at the helm.”
• WALLS OF WONDER -you are invited to bring a poster to share with others what you are up to – a project, a drawing, a text, leaflets…

Dis-ASSEMBLY is the closing event of N-E-W ASSEMBLY, an audience-powered exhibition that re-imagined educational and social systems…

 ‘Assembly’ ran from 15^th and the 17^th of September 2023 at St. Lawrence Chapel, Ashburton, as part of Little Big Town festival.

“The idea that localised power structures are the key for flourishing communities is one of the key ideas behind the ‘Assembly’ project. Conceived and curated by Rob Manners, ASSEMBLY is a creation of the contemporary arts collective N-E-W, supported by the Arts Council England. Using a passage from ‘The Total Economy’ by Wendel Berry as a seed for dialogue, ‘Assembly’ invites various local artists and groups (including a school) to bring together their creative practises and observe the spontaneous emergence of connections – and community.

The exhibition venue itself, the historical St. Lawrence Chapel, invites questioning over education and hierarchic power structures. Now a heritage, cultural and community centre, the Chapel building was a grammar school for over 600 years; the wooden tables and benches where former students carved out their names as ‘graffiti’ are a permanent installation on-site, keeping alive stories of non-compliance. ‘Assembly’ will add to this, re-imagining the space and adding to the dialogue through projections, sculpture, painting, music and performance.

Aside from the stand-alone exhibition, the project will host a variety of interactive events. On each exhibition day the audience will be invited to join the ‘Assembly’ (please see times below). Prepare for a lively, non-hierarchical discussion and presentation of ideas where the boundaries between improvised performance and dialogue are blurred.

Friday Assembly 3.15pm (Sept 15^th)

Assembly is a performative exhibition – a work in progress. Taking a text by American writer, farmer and activist Wendell Berry as a starting point, artists including Sophia Clist, Alex Murdin, Robert Manners and students from South Dartmoor Community College have collaborated to re-imagine and re-awaken the Chapel as a site of community education. Come along, see the work unfold and contribute to its development.

Saturday Assembly 4pm (Sept 16^th) – OPEN FORUM

We invite you to join us to reflect on Berry’s text, contribute your ideas and take part in the ASSEMBLY. An opportunity to discuss the unique place we live in, its community, our dreams for it and how to make it better for all, for now and for the future. This is a place to share ideas around education, collaboration, creativity and neighbourhood.

Sunday Assembly 3:15pm (Sept 17^th)

Sound-based and performative responses to the text, around ideas of education and place, crowds and murmurations, courtesy of This Ain’t Jazz and Steve Dow & Andy Stacey. Immerse yourself in a different form of Assembly, in this ancient and extraordinary place of study, knowledge and learning.”