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Our inaugural #KArtsCon2022 took place from July 11-13 at the historic Corn Exchange in Rochester, on the banks of the Medway River. It was the first year after the COVID-19 pandemic where we returned to a face-to-face setting. In any event, the conference was a success – especially in terms of making new friends and supporters of the KArtsCon family. This year, we were fortunate enough to have both financial and logistical support from Medway Council, Child-Friendly Medway, The Halpern Charitable Foundation, Nucleus Arts, and Kent Creative.
KArtsCon directors and hosts Dr Julian Ng and Dr David Stokes welcomed everyone to the conference. The conference kicked off with an inspiring keynote by Luna Zsigo who had painted the beautiful mural at the entrance of the Corn Exchange called “The Conference of the Birds”. This was followed by Bill Lewis, one of the original Stuckists from Medway, who read through a selection of his poems and prose before surprising everyone with some hearty singing. Edwina Jaques then entranced us with the ‘Hidden Women’ of history and their brave stories.
Dr David Stokes talked about the importance of professionalising the arts in health and mental health services, and how it can be used to bring about more positive changes for sufferers and carers alike. Valeriya Korchagina brought us back from lunch with a dissection of high-end video effects using the recent Godzilla films and the Witcher TV series as examples. Dr Maria Dremina logged in from Russia to demonstrate the positive and effective results of her ‘neurostyling’ method using the arts as a way to jumpstart creativity and brand development within a business context.
The spectre of COVID-19 still looms over this year’s KArtsCon. However, it did not daunt the next few presenters. Ire Ogueche Chinasa challenged the audience about how African god icons were being used as ‘souvenirs’ by tourists and asked if this sat well in the current climate of political correctness. Gouhar Pirzada logged in from Pakistan to ask what makes unexpected art. From Switzerland, Hugo Hemmi presented on how art is used as a freedom strategy within Swiss prisons. Dr Victoria Sonstegard wowed everyone with her four waves of feminism through art in America and copious amounts of Wonder Woman imagery.
Markus Feichter of WOB International Academy in Bolzano showed us how to have a green and sustainable education. Later, one of his students, Sophie Tscholl ended the first day of KArtsCon2022 with a live performance of two songs: You’re Amazing (written by Dr Julian Ng) and Nothing Compares to You (written by Prince).
Day 2 began with an energetic presentation about unexpected art by Daniel Bernstein and the work done by his group, Emergency Exit Arts. As a great double act, Maxine Chester and Beverly Hayward presented on surrealism and serendipity through a feminist lens.
Elizabethan drama expert Dr Ildiko Solti told us stories we would never expect to hear about the staging of shows during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Julie Atwal went on a dragon journey with us, literally, and made us all gooey inside with her stories of overcoming self-doubt and the crippling effects of menopause. This was followed by a very enjoyable art workshop led by Luna Zsigo which got people moving, excited, and motivated to create.
The afternoon sessions proved to be highly interesting as well, with Dara Sabeti from Paris talking about the trend of blockchain and NFTs (non-fungible tokens to those less tech-inclined) becoming the new blank canvas for artists. Dr Pamela Hatton told tales of the unexpected involving plants, flowers and strong-willed women who refused to give up. Danielle Williams is inspired to sketch to live music performances, and she even got Toby Wolfe in to perform an original song just so she could show off her artistic muse.
Toby Wolfe performed an original number during KArtsCon2022. Award-winning miniature artist Lana Arkhi shocked everyone with her detailed artistry at a minute level, but then pulled out some fantastic painting out of her hat. Peter Hodges presented an alternate historical take on Christopher Marlowe, assuming he did not die in 1593 as widely-assumed. He staged a brilliant reading with local actors of the first act of his off-West End play “Marlowe’s Fate” based on his book “Marlowe’s Complaint”.
The final day of the conference was put together mainly by Medway Council with Creative Medway. Dr David Stokes emceed the day, which started with a speech from a Medway Council representative and a panel on how to reach new and diverse audiences featuring Tracy Blunt (chair), Gurvinder Sandher, and Christopher Sacre.
Kevin Grist gave the participants ideas on how to create digital work for and with communities. This was followed a panel of internationally-focused individuals and organisations who encourage artists to look beyond their own borders for inspiration and collaboration. Chaired by David Sefton, the panel featured Tom Green, Aser El Saqqa, Marianne Grove and Diane Dever.
The afternoon session split into two camps, with a funders fair in the main hall allowing artists to meet with potential funding organisations and get information. In the breakout room, there were sessions by Ire Ogueche Chinasa on Zuma Rock – nature’s art gallery, Jonathan Ash (who spoke about how being diagnosed as colourblind and autistic developed his talent and skill as an artist instead of hindering him), and Dr Julian Ng (who presented unexpected sources of inspiration for musical theatre).
The day continued with a panel on creating Kent connections by working throughout the Southeast region , featuring Alex Riley (chair), Paul Cowell, Stephen Fenning, John Hartley and Toby Parkin. Creative Medway had the last slot to talk about their journey and vision, followed by a drinks reception to celebrate KArtsCon2022. All in all, we had a wonderful time and we look forward to seeing everyone in 2023. A big thank you to everyone who helped make this conference a success – we love you!
We had some wonderful artists who exhibited their beautiful artwork including Edwina Jaques, Bill Lewis , Lana Arkhi and the artists pictured below.
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