Artichoke (creative company)

"Artichoke", also known as the "Artichoke Trust", is a London-based British company and registered charitable trust that stages arts spectacles and live events. It was founded in 2002 by Helen Marriage, former director of the Salisbury International Arts Festival, and Nicky Webb.cite web|url=http://www.artichoke.uk.com/about_us.htm|title= About Artichoke|publisher=Artichoke|accessdate=2008-09-11] cite web|url=http://www.artichoke.uk.com/nicky.htm|title= Nicky Webb|publisher=Artichoke|accessdate=2008-09-12] cite web|url=http://www.artichoke.uk.com/helen.htm|title= Helen Marriage|publisher=Artichoke|accessdate=2008-09-12] cite web|url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/capital-of-culture/2008/08/27/how-cogs-in-la-machine-spun-a-few-wheels-64375-21616007/|title= How cogs in La Machine spun a few wheels
publisher=Liverpool Daily Post|accessdate=2008-09-12]

Description

"Artichoke" specialises in working in unusual places, such as streets, public spaces and the countryside, and are frequently on a large scale. The company's website states: cquote|We don’t believe the arts should take place only behind the closed doors of our theatres and art galleries. Instead, we put on shows that, though ambitious and complex, have something to say to the widest possible audience.

The company produced "The Sultan's Elephant", the biggest piece of free theatre ever staged in London,cite web|url=http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/pressnews/news_detail.php?id=514&browse=archive|title= The Sultan's Elephant|publisher=The Arts Council|accessdate=2008-09-11] which attracted a million people over a four day period in 2006, and the recent event in Liverpool featuring "La Princesse", a giant mechanical spider.cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/aug/27/theatre?gusrc=rss&feed=fromtheguardian|title= And for our next trick...The duo who brought London to a standstill with a giant elephant are going one step further in Liverpool|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=2008-09-11] "Artichoke" has received praise from the press for their productions: a review in The Observer wrote: "a two-woman company called Artichoke ... are one of the most vital of theatrical forces",cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/may/25/theatre|title= You could really get sucked in...A 'tunnel' from London to New York brings drama to the street, and Lee Hall tops his own Billy Elliot with another heroic miners' tal|publisher=The Observer|accessdate=2008-09-11] and Marriage and Webb transformed the Salisbury Festival from a local event into what The Times called "a miracle of modern British culture".cite web|url=http://www.artichoke.uk.com/salisbury.htm|title= Salisbury Festival|publisher=Artichoke|accessdate=2008-09-12] cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/echo-columnists/2008/07/25/magical-show-that-will-change-the-way-we-look-at-the-world-100252-21404967/|title= Magical show that will change the way we look at the world|publisher=Liverpool Echo|accessdate=2008-09-11] Marriage and Webb won the 2006 Women of the Year Shine Award for an outstanding achievement in the arts,cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1531635/The-women-who-made-a-difference.html|title= The women who made a difference|publisher=Daily Telegraph|accessdate=2008-09-11] cite web|url=http://www.artichoke.uk.com/images/artichoke_11_12_2006.pdf|title= Chamberlain ampr Press Release|publisher=Chamberlain PR|accessdate=2008-09-11] and were listed in Time Out's list of 100 Movers and Shakers in London in November of the same year.cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/features/2307/3.html|title= London's 100 top movers and shakers 2006|publisher=Time Out|accessdate=2008-09-12] Their production of "The Sultan's Elephant" won the Visit London Award for Cultural Event of the Year in 2006.cite web|url=http://www.fan-museum.org/VisitLondonAwards2006.pdf|title= Visit London Award Winners Announced|publisher=Visit London|accessdate=2008-09-12] In October 2007 "Artichoke" mounted a one-day conference, "Larger Than Life", on all aspects of staging large-scale productions.

The "Artichoke Trust" is a registered charity (Reg Charity No 1112716), funded by the Arts Council and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and raising significant funds from other trusts, foundations and businesses, as well as by public donation.cite web|url=http://www.lamachine.co.uk/index.php/artichoke/|title= Artichoke|publisher=La Machine|accessdate=2008-09-11] "Artichoke" also works as a consultant through its non-charitable company, Artichoke Productions Ltd.

elected Productions

Nicky Webb and Helen Marriage worked together intermittently on productions prior to founding "Artichoke" in 2002. In all, their productions have included:
*1990 and 1992-3 "Canary Wharf". Productions to mark the new development at Canary Wharf in London.
*1999 Salisbury Festival: "Dining with Alice" at the Larmer Tree Pleasure Gardens in Wiltshire, a performance based on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". This will be re-staged in 2009.
*1999 Salisbury Festival: "Last Words". A poetry festival without a single poem being read.
*1999-2000 Salisbury Festival: "Eye Openers" in Salisbury and at Old Sarum.
*2002 "The Queen's Jubilee" Commissioned for the golden jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.As "Artichoke":
*2003 "Imber", a requiem for the village of Imber on Salisbury Plain that was requisitioned by the British Army in World War II for training purposes and its inhabitants evacuated. Commissioned by Artangel.
*2006 "The Sultan's Elephant" in London, in association with French performance arts company Royal de Luxe. This is the largest free public arts event ever to have been staged in London
*2006 "A Portrait of London" in Trafalgar Square, created by film director Mike Figgis to mark the 50th anniversary of the London Film Festival.
*2008 "Telectroscope" in association with artist Paul St George, linking New York and London.
*2008 "La Princesse", a giant mechanical spider that roamed the streets of Liverpool as part of the European City of Culture celebrations. In association with French performance art company La Machine.

Related reading

Nicky Webb (editor), 2006, "Four Magical Days in May: How an Elephant Captured the Heart of a City" London: Artichoke Trust

References

External links

* [http://www.artichoke.uk.com/ Artichoke website]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/richard_morrison/article883354.ece Review of Imber in The Times]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/may/25/theatre Review of Telectroscope in The Observer]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/aug/27/theatre?gusrc=rss&feed=fromtheguardian Guardian article about the company]