Flow of Arrival (Evening 7-9pm)
Ice Breaker VideoCollective Portraits |
Summary of ArrivalAs this is the time of the year that starlings get together to form their murmurations, and perform their dance on a daily basis between the piers of Brighton beach not far from our venue at 68 Middle Street, the metaphor of starlings was chosen to tie the four days of Art of Hosting Brighton together. The way they organically create such poignant and beautiful displays of cooperation and self organisation seemed to resonate so strongly with the journey we were about to embark on. To stay with the metaphor, this first evening, in all its brevity, was a time for everybody, hosts and participants to fly in, discover the space and start to sense out the bonds and relationships that would be formed. The evening began sat in a circle with a check-in to really invite everyone to be present and to frame possibilities of the next few days. Sarah and Maaike introduced the check-in by posing some questions to get us thinking about ourselves and our areas of convergence and divergence. This was the first time as a group we were to be sat in the circle, and the strength and symbolism of that formation would soon become apparent and second nature. This was followed by a movement practice interactions and dynamics within the group. The final phase of the check in was a co-created portrait of ourselves. We each had a sheet of paper and were invited to walk around to music. When the music stopped we sat with the closest person and gave them our paper and would then be instructed to each draw the outline of this persons head. We then took our papers back and repeated this process with 4 more people each time adding one more facial feature until we had created collectively drawn representations of ourselves. Sitting face to face with a new person was such a great way to get to know people and break down barriers from the start. Following the check in it was time to sign up for the roles that we would be participating in over the next few days. Would it be the harvest team, the Open Space, World Café, the Design labs, or one of the many other intriguing and enticing opportunities. It was a short but sweet framing for what was to come as we all parted ways, eager to step into day 2 and start forming our flock together. |