Davida Hewlett has been teaching at CSAD since 2008. Her interdisciplinary work has been presented widely at leading venues and galleries throughout the UK and internationally. Working in variable combinations of (mainly) video, performance, object, text, and music; her diverse, often humorous, made-in- collaboration –with-others, context responsive projects; range from touring site-specific pop songs, full scale musical extravaganzas, and participatory events, to artist survival manuals, talking books, home alone installations and low-fi videos.
Davida Hewlett’s penchant for bringing people together to express themselves, and for making things from what’s available, is reflected in her ongoing participatory work. She has been working with diverse sectors of the community since 1993, after completing Community Arts Facilitator training with the Hope Street Project, and has led and coordinated large scale projects for Creative Partnerships London, East Side Education Trust, London, The Big Lottery and for many other organisations and situations. She devised and ran the ‘Performance Art’ courses at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, and has been Visiting Artist/ Lecturer at a variety of universities and institutions such as Dartington College of Arts, Devon, Falmouth University, Falmouth, and Savonia University, Finland.
Current research
My ongoing research is primarily focused on the systems, processes, and conditions involved in the production of art works, the creative process itself, and ideas of ‘creating conditions’ as a possible space between practice and pedagogy. The exploration of the possibilities of ‘active’ collaboration, and the integration of life and art are partly tactical, survival strategies, but nevertheless, underpin my practice, research, and pedagogical approaches to date.
In 2015 I began visiting pioneering choreographer Anna Halprin, at her legendary home studio in CA, (built by her late husband, Landscape Architect Lawrence Halprin) to conduct a series of recorded conversations with her. My particular interest is in the Halprins’ RSVP Cycles (collaborative process-based methodologies for collective creativity), and their progressive, interdisciplinary workshops: ‘Take Part’ and ‘Experiments in Environment’.
A Major Creative Wales Award in 2013 enabled me to spend time with the Halprin’s archives, and, through my own artistic practice translate and adapt their methodologies and projects to a variety of contexts; also to maintain and develop the Halprins’ legacy and contribute to the advancement of contemporary curatorial and participatory practices/ approaches.
Principal Publications, Exhibitions and Awards
Selected:
How to Score in Canton, Neighbourhood Walk, International Performance Festival, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff 2014
Skirmishes with Momus, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, 2012
Evolving Situations, Chapter Arts Centre, 2012,
Tactical Currency, Extended Play Symposium, Dartington College of Arts, 2010,
An End to Isolation, Hong Kong Academy of the Arts, Hong Kong, 2010,
Heavenly Love, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, 2009,
Heavenly Love, Chapter Arts Centre, 2009, Norwich Arts Centre 2009, The Basement, Brighton, 2009, National Review of Art,
An End To Isolation Training -Level 1, Dartington College of Arts, 2009,
BORN, Battersea Arts Centre, London, 2008, ANTI Contemporary Art Festival, Kuopio, Finland, 2008,
Talks and Deeds, Kuopio, Finland, 2008,
End to Isolation II – The Musical, Chapter Arts Centre, 2007,
Mindsniffer, Experimentica Festival, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, 2007,
Little by Little, Singer and Song Salon series, Home Live Art/ The Theatre Museum, Covent Garden, 2006,
Animal Nazus, ‘Singer and Song Salon series, Home Live Art, The Theatre Museum, Covent Garden, 2006,
An End To Isolation – Level 1, Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff, October 2005, Prenelle Gallery London, 2005, Passing Time International Performance and Video Festival, Dartington Arts Devon, 2005,
Ken Friedman Fluxus Concert, The Centre of Attention, 2004,
Special Effects, Darklights Film Festival, Dublin, 2004, 60 Seconds group show, space-twotentwo, London, 2004,
Video Heroes, Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, Montreal, Canada, 2003,
Babak Ghazi Curates A Fridge, Magnifitat and Sons Edinburgh, 2003,
a la cARTe, LadyFest Woman’s Music Festival, London, 2002,
Pop Goes East Anglia, Norwich, 2003,
Pop Goes East Anglia, Toynbee Studios, London, 2003,
Flaming Nora Live Art Tour, Bedford Arts Centre, 2002, Norwich Arts Centre, 2002, Colchester Arts Centre, 2002, The Junction, Cambridge, 2002,
At Home and Away with It, National Review of Live Art, 2002,
My Side of the Mountain, Glasgow, 2001, Skenekunst Festival, Aarhus, Denmark, 2000,
My Side of the Mountain, Performance Works programme, Milch Gallery, London, 2000,
La Hotel da Yobo, Exhibitionists Festival, ICA, London, 1998.
