HOST

4 October – 24 November 2016

 
 
4 October – 24 November 2016
Open Thursday & Friday 11am – 4pm, Saturday 1 – 4pm, (plus special events)
 

Co-produced by: David Lisser, Dinner _arty, DocYOUmentary, Hannah Marsden, HMO, Lloyd & Wilson, Painting for Fun, Shieldfield Forum Cafe, The Holy Biscuit staff team, and Winter Chapel Film Nights.

 
HOST was an experimental art programme of shared meals, discussion and communal activities designed to test out notions of hospitality. The aim was to open up shared spaces where we can think critically and creatively together about the role that hospitality might play in communal life.
Co-produced and activated by the community at Holy Biscuit, the project arose from a desire to better understand the gallery’s relationship to the people that use it as well as to reflect on wider social and political issues of the present moment.

Throughout HOST different groups connected to Holy Biscuit conducted practical exercises in hospitality to build a collective knowledge. A growing archive of drawings, photographs, diagrams, testimonies, transcripts and recipes, were be presented in the gallery as a record of our ‘acts of hospitality’ to make the learning visible as the project unfolded.

More details of this exciting and innovative project can be found in this menu of events

 
 

MENU

STARTER |Tuesday 4 October, 12.15pm

A meeting of the co-producers of HOST in Shieldfield Park and sharing some chips to mark the launch of the project.

STARTER: Chips in the Park, 4th October 2014

MAIN DISH |Wednesday 2 November, 7-9pm

We tucked into some food for thought provided by a new publication from artists Lloyd & Wilson and provocations from David Lisser.

8. Main Dish - Bread

PUDDING | Thursday 24 November, 6-8pm

An opportunity to share and celebrate as we brought together all aspects of HOST for a sweet treat.


COFFEE & CHOCOLATE |Spring 2017

After a period of digestion, a publication will be produced by the researchers of HOST as a legacy of the project


à la carte

Events specially programmed by HOST.


Art or Chips? | Sat 22 Oct, coach departs Holy Biscuit at 12 midday and returned at 2pm

£800,000 on the Angel of the North?! With that much money you could buy everyone in the North East a bag of chips!
A community coach trip to the UK’s most famous piece of public art to share a bag of chips and a conversation about the value of art in society. Free (£2 donation for transport).


Lunch Break with Painting for Fun| Tue 18 Oct, 1 Nov, 15 Nov, 12.15 – 1.45pm


Visitors took their lunch break at Holy Biscuit with members of Painting for Fun and Holy Biscuit staff team. Tea, coffee and soft drinks were provided. Visitors brought their own packed lunch and joined in the conversation.


Interventions by Mixing Bowl

Mixing Bowl is a mixture of people from different backgrounds committed to exploring what faith, art and shared life looks like outside of the traditional church context. Over the course of the project, Mixing Bowl organised events and interactions in and outside of the gallery that examined theirs and others’ ideas of hospitality.


Shieldfield Forum Cafe + David Lisser|October/November 2016

David Lisser is an artist based in Newcastle. He is particularly intrigued by technology and our notions of the future – how we might live, eat and work. During HOST, David spent time in Shieldfield estate exploring perceptions of hospitality. He used Shieldfield Forum Cafe on Wretham Place as a base for his activity and research during the programme and was part of developing the ongoing dialogue with HB and its geographical community. Some of his thoughts and provocations were in the gallery during HOST.

Shieldfield Forum Cafe opened in 2015 after residents of Shieldfield requested a safe, friendly place for local people and visitors to meet and engage with others. Run by volunteers, the cafe is open Mondays, Wednesday and Saturday 10am – 1pm.


Specials

Moveable Feast | 10 November, 9.30am – 5.30pm

Movable Feast was a travelling encounter with individual but connected practices to instigate wider discussion, questioning and critique on the role of hospitality in socially engaged art. Moveable Feast travelled between several sites of practice in Ouseburn and Byker all within walking distance of each other.

We sought to bring together people from within and outside the art community who could join the discussion at Breakfast, Lunch or Tea along the route and to contribute to the start of a conversation which had the potential to address complex challenges and deepen our community of practice. We were joined by critical friends from outside the city who helped connect the conversation with a wider context beyond Newcastle.