The Curfew Tower 2017
IMPOSE || LIFT
The Penthouse take over the curatorship of the The Curfew Tower.
A curfew is imposed or lifted. A blockage remains blocked or is shifted. Art can be imposed on a person or persons- Art can lift a person or persons. Action and In Action. Restriction and Liberation. You must do something. Now? You must take notice?
The title IMPOSE|LIFT is related to the idea of Curfew in artistic, societal and political terms taking into consideration ideas of restriction and liberation. Artists are invited to respond to the theme and interrogate their own position within the unique situation of The Curfew Tower and the town of Cushendall. An artist could explore identity, gender, racism, conflict, feminism, or gay rights when exploring what it means to put yourself into a tower today- previously used for imprisonment.
Artists and musicians selected by The Penthouse are invited to be awake and alive to The Curfew Tower for a self directed residency period during which they must accept the challenge to make their least compromised work. They will live in the tower but they must resist having four walls around them. They will be introduced to the town of Cushendall and over a period of time and related events including The Festival of The Glens and they will become part of the unique Curfew Tower family.
See here for previous Curfew Tower curatorship by Sagit Mezamer and exhibition Nothing but Longing at VOID.
The Penthouse - is an artist led project space in Manchester city centre’s Northern Quarter founded and ran by artists Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp- described as “ad hoc art space the Penthouse…is the best of the Northern Quarter” in Tony Naylor’s Alt City Guide to Manchester (The Guardian) and as “Elevating Manchester’s underground to the top floor of a tower block” by Frances Morgan (The Wire).
Our Penthouse exists in a strange series of Penthouses all around the world- most of these spaces used to display and house wealth and objects- women often used as objects in this scenario. These shiny boxes are built on racism, sexism and slavery. Displays of power at the top of the tower. Our Penthouse holds anOTHER power- and believes in the Other, the Outsider and the magical powers of every marginalized person.
www.thepenthousenq.com
The Curfew Tower is many things…
One of those things is that it belongs to Bill Drummond (also magical)
There are many books you could find about The Curfew Tower and many ways you can get involved.
https://curfewtower.com/
Artists and projects from IMPOSE||LIFT will be documented via this website and also our Facebook page Instagram and Twitter
There will be a series of public performances in August 2017 and a program of exhibitions and events over 2017-2018. Details to follow.