Coventry’s leading festival for early career artists and producers presents a range of performance, visual art and music
Artists previously nurtured by the festival return as part of the ‘In Bloom’ strand
The festival also introduces artists from the area over a two week programme of new work with the full lineup to be announced
Shoot Festival gives seven placements to local aspiring producers, who will work across the festival alongside leading industry figures
23rd April – 7th May 2022, Various Venues Across Coventry
Giving vital opportunities to artists within the CV postcode, Shoot Festival returns this year with a mix of commissioned pieces and showcases of the best of Coventry’s arts scene. The festival’s ‘In Bloom’ strand features artists from past editions of Shoot Festival who have been commissioned to create new work across a range of disciplines including performance, sound and visual art. As well as this, there will be a programme introducing local artists to celebrate the richly diverse arts scene of Coventry City of Culture. Shoot Festival has also awarded placements to local young producers who will work across the festival in a variety of roles.
The Performance: In Bloom strand of the festival will feature Gamble by Hannah Walker and Rosa Postlethwaite, an urgent multimedia theatre/live art show about online gambling addiction, as well as Protests, Hymns and Caskets by lanarie aderemi, which recounts the Nigerian feminist movement’s successful overthrow of colonial taxation in 1947 and its important, fearless legacy. This strand is presented in partnership with China Plate’s Bite Size Festival, Warwick Arts Centre and Belgrade Theatre Coventry. The Sound: In Bloom strand which is presented in partnership with The Tin Music & Arts highlights Koyesax, a local saxophonist who is releasing a new EP inspired by Afrobeats and Jazz fusion, folk music duo Rosso who have recently supported The Libertines in Coventry, and Mahendra Patel, who works to rewrite classic Bollywood pieces using hand drums from across the world, with his band Elephant in the Room, who have been assembled especially for Shoot Festival 2022 . Michael Snodgrass (AKA Snod) is the first artist to be announced in the Visual Art strand, presented in partnership with Coventry Artspace with his new exhibition Moments of Broken Promises, utilising line and texture to explore isolation and vulnerability.
As well as supporting emerging artists, Shoot Festival has given seven opportunities to local emerging producers, who will each work with the senior team to produce a specific strand of the festival. These roles have been funded by Coventry City of Culture Trust, and cover Access and Inclusion, Outdoor Arts and Activities, the Performance: In Bloom strand, the Sound: In Bloom strand, the Visual Arts strand, the Sound Stage and the Performance Programme. As well as this, the seven producers will be placed on China Plate’s renowned ‘The Optimists’ training course, which offers insight into making, funding, touring and promoting work. The producers all have a connection to Coventry and Warwickshire (with the majority hailing from Coventry), and Shoot Festival’s training programme’s intention is to offer a pathway for local early career producers to train on the job whilst developing their own ideas which will in turn benefit the cultural capacity of the area long after the festival has taken place.
Paul O’Donnell, Coventry artist and Co-Founder & Artistic Director of the Festival said, “We are very excited to be supporting these six new commissioned artworks and seven up and coming producers as part of Shoot Festival 2022. It is an example of the exceptional ideas that are bursting out of Coventry and Warwickshire, and the creative potential that this region has in abundance”.
Shoot Festival seeks to give opportunities to emerging artists exclusively from the Coventry area, in three separate disciplines: music, performance and visual arts. Since 2014, the Shoot Festival team have sought to champion artists from the CV postcode in order to provide opportunities and develop a pipeline of talent in a wide range of artistic disciplines, in the form of free and commissioned opportunities. The festival has received national recognition, through partnerships with Sky Arts and through their work to prioritise accessibility both in their artistic programme and production teams.
@shootfestival | #shootfestival | coventryshootfestival.com
Programme Information
Exhibition: In Bloom
23rd April – 7th May
Moments of Broken Promise
Artspace Arcadia
32 City Arcade, Coventry, CV1 3HW
Free | TBC
Coventry-artspace.co.uk | 024 7655 3533
Performance: In Bloom
28th April – 29th April
Double Bill: Gamble & Protests, Hymns and Caskets
The Belgrade Theatre
Belgrade Square, Corporation St, Coventry, CV1 1GS
From £10 | 7.30pm
Belgrade.co.uk | 024 7655 3055
Sound: In Bloom
23rd April – 7th May
KOYESAX, ROSSO & MAHENDRA PATEL
The Tin Music and Arts
Coventry Canal Basin, Units 1-4, Coventry, CV1 4LY
From £7 | 8pm
Thetinmusicandarts.org.uk | 024 7623 0699
About Shoot Festival
Following their own experiences, Festival Directors Jennifer Davis and Paul O’Donnell were inspired to create a platform to support the growth and development of early career artists based in the CV postcode. Since it was established in 2014, Shoot Festival has curated four festivals and has a network of over 70 artists and two assistant producers which they have supported over the past 7 years.
Their festival in 2019 welcomed almost 2000 audience members across 5 different city centre venues. In April 2020, they reacted quickly to the nationwide lockdown by premiering ‘Shut Down but Scratching', an online scratch night showcasing 10 local artists in short form, live-streamed works.
Success to date includes supporting 4 artists onto the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Foundry scheme, showcasing artists who have gone on to tour with Theatre Absolute and gain places on the Belgrade’s Springboard programme. They have also helped a number of artists to earn Arts Council England backing for their own work.
Coventry UK City of Culture 2021
Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 commenced on 15 May 2021, running for 12 months. The 365-day cultural programme reflects Coventry as a diverse, modern city, demonstrating that culture is a force that changes lives. Coventry is the UK’s only city of peace and reconciliation, and known internationally as a city of welcome, a city of activists and pioneers, innovation, and invention, and now a City of Culture.
Coventry is the city where movement began, from innovation in the transport industry to a history of welcome, it has moved people for centuries. For a whole year, Coventry is celebrating with events, music, dance, theatre, and large-scale spectacle. As well as the expected celebrations, it is throwing a spotlight onto city voices with a range of hyper local experiences and ways to get involved across every neighbourhood. And it’s not just Coventry. This epic celebration also witnesses the entire region getting involved and benefitting from the opportunities that being City of Culture brings.
Our year of culture is co-created with the people of Coventry and is bringing about long-term social, economic, and cultural benefits.
Supported by Arts Council England, Coventry City of Culture Trust and Heart of England Community Trust