It’s Time launch event – You’re invited

18th June 2019By Sally FlemonsNews

IT’S TIME BOOK LAUNCH Talk 5pm-6pm followed by drinks til 7pm-ish WEDNESDAY 3 JULY, ALPHABETTI THEATRE, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE FREE ENTRY. How do you make experimental art projects that are inclusive and accessible to the core?   Join Wunderbar’s Ilana Mitchell and Karl …

Great & Tiny War is best event Tyneside

17th June 2019By Sally FlemonsNews

Amazing news. Great & Tiny War won Best Event Tyneside in this year’s Journal and Gazette Culture Awards. We’re over the moon that Bobby Baker’s brilliant work has been recognised in this way. With Bobby’s approval, we dedicate this award …

It’s Time – New book unpicks Live Art

13th March 2019By Sally FlemonsNews

Wunderbar and the Live Art Development Agency have co-published a new book of Live Art case studies highlighting projects and initiatives that are re-politicising and re-energising our arts spaces. It’s Time: How Live Art is taking on the world from the …

MLK1967

14th November 2017By Sally PilkingtonNews

On 13 Nov 1967 Martin Luther King made what was to be his final public speech outside of the US before his assassination, in Newcastle. In the address, he called for us to join him in the ongoing struggle against war, poverty and racism.

Reverend Billy in the toon!

15th September 2017By Ilana MitchellNews

We are super excited to be hosting Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir during their tour of the UK in October.  Book your tickets now! Gig is on Sunday 22nd October at 7.30pm at the Blackfriars @St Vincent de Paul …

Sheaf + Barley talk, 7th Sept

17th August 2017By Ilana MitchellNews

Come along to NewBridge Project on 7th Sept at 6.30 pm to meet artists Sheaf+Barley and hear them talk about their work. Along with NewBridge Project and as part of the Live Art Development Agency’s DIY14 national scheme, we have been …

Q: What happens when a Thought Bubble Bursts?

11th July 2017By Sally FlemonsNews

A: Good question. We’re on a mission to find out, as we’re pleased to announce that we’ve been awarded a Grant for the Arts from Arts Council England (ACE) for Thought Bubbles, our next phase of provocative, philosophical, participative and …

Ball games allowed in Burmontofts

12th August 2016By Sally FlemonsNews

Play Ball is a playful, public, football-pitch-creating one-day event. Part pop-up, part flash mob, part crop circle, it’s a simple way for a group of people to create a proper football pitch on an available area of public land in …

A million miles away

8th September 2015By Sally FlemonsBlog: What if... No Comments

Gemma Paintin, Co-artistic Director of Action Hero, gives us a flavour for the upcoming Natural Selection performance with an account of a not-very-ordinary invitation to visit Jim (he’s the one pictured right, Rob is on his left with the pants …

Sauna bathing in Tasmania

5th September 2015By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

Ilana is in Tasmania at the moment, with an installation of Sauna Nation for Junction Arts Festival in Launceston.  These saunas have been built by University of Tasmania School of Architecture and Design, and set up by the staff and …

Who pays? You decide…

20th August 2015By Ilana MitchellBlog: What if... No Comments

Investigating new ways to raise funds for our projects is bringing rise to all sorts of ethical conundrums. Like: how much to charge audience members for ticketed events?hr As with all Wunderbar processes, setting a ticket price isn’t simple. The …

Some sweaty challenges

25th May 2015By Ilana MitchellBlog: What if... No Comments

In preparation for a trip to Junction Arts Festival later this year, I’ve been doing some more thinking about saunas. Turkish Salad Bath, anyone? After closing the City Pool in 2013, Newcastle City Council has opened up to offers “to …

Edicures on offer at The Urban Village Fete

8th May 2015By Sally FlemonsNews No Comments

Wunderbar’s deliciously different edicures will be available at Greenwich’s Urban Village Féte this Sunday. Our artistic director, Ilana Mitchell, will be personally pampering féte-goers with these biodegradable, delicious, unisex, non-toxic, non-permanent fashion accessories – easy, fun-to-remove alternatives to traditional nail …

How to review a human book

17th October 2014By Sally FlemonsNews No Comments

The legendary Human Library is about to open its doors in Bedfordshire and Newcastle. In Bedfordshire, the shelves are bulging with gripping stories waiting to be read including Lazy Single Mother, Lonely Gays in the Village and Happy To Be …

An abundance of Human Libraries

1st October 2014By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

This month we are supporting two Human Library projects – one across the libraries of Central Bedfordshire, as part of Bedford Creative Art‘s programme, and the other one as part of Juice Festival in Newcastle and Gateshead.  Human Library is …

Edicures at the Festival of Thrift

25th September 2014By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

We’ve been invited to take part in the Festival of Thrift this weekend, 27th and 28th September – and we’re piloting our newest Wunderbiz: Edicures: EDIble maniCURES for the ethically minded – and sweet lovers. A biodegradable, delicious, unisex, non-toxic, non-permanent fashion accessory, …

How Nightwalks looked and felt

29th July 2014By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

If you see anyone with a messy or cartoon henna tattoo in Newcastle it’s very possible they were with us on our Nightwalks With Teenagers on Fri or Sat night. Giving each other multiple tattoos in a field of cows (Friday) and …

June 14th is Platypus Day!

15th May 2014By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

And we’re having a MASSIVE CREATIVE CONSTRUCTION GARDEN PARTY!  Hang out with the newest group on the block as we build ourselves a giant den and then party in it. We are looking for more Platypuses so join us on June …

Will you do business with a Wunderbiz?

15th May 2014By Sally FlemonsNews No Comments

Wunderbar is poised to launch Wunderbiz, its playfully disruptive and alternative approach to business models and structures. Wunderbiz’s first outing will be at the Thinking Digital Conference at Sage Gateshead, from 20 – 22 May. Thinking Digital is billed as …

The Wunderbairns Ethos

14th May 2014By Ilana MitchellBlog: What if... No Comments

With the launch of Platypus, our new project working with teens, this is a reminder – for us as much as anyone reading – of our ethos for Wunderbairns.    Following Haircuts by Children and the A SCHOOL projects plus two …

Sauna Nation

7th May 2014By Ilana MitchellBlog: What if... No Comments

It’s not just jumping on the Scandi-wagon, the Wunderbiz idea-in-development Sauna Nation was inspired by an incredible sauna experience I had in Latvia… The Idea Could the natural mood enhancing nature of a sauna offer an alternative to more traditional medical or talking …

A Book’s View

5th December 2013By Ilana MitchellBlog: What if... No Comments

Donna William‘s, one of our Bristol Human Library books wrote a blog about her experience for The Limping Chicken – the UK’s independent deaf news and deaf blogs website. With their permission we’ve reproduced it here.  Full blog, which has many interesting reader …

November newsletter

5th November 2013By Sally FlemonsNews No Comments

The No Festival Festival Dear Wunderbar allies, It’s November, so we’ve realised it’s two years since our last official festival. Which would be strange, if we weren’t so adrenaline-fuelled and fizzing with activity. So we while we still think and …

The Great Forced LOLathon

31st October 2013By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

Now open for entries! LOLathon: a marathon of laughing out loud for 26.2 minutes Had a difficult year? Haven’t LOL-ed in a long time? Maybe you’re already a LOL-athoner? Either way, YOU can finish the Great Forced LOLathon 2013. The Great Forced …

To Make The Stone Stoney

25th October 2013By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

We’re wrapping up Nicola Singh and xsite architecture‘s two-year Life Without Buildings project with a series of discussions in evenings in Nov and Dec.  Whether or not you took part in 2011’s bike tour, or this year’s In Praise of Shadows or We Stand Out The Most When We Stand …

Book Reviews!

9th October 2013By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

With the Human Library poised to visit Bristol, we thought we’d share some of the never-before-published reviews left of the ‘Books’ when the library visited Gateshead. Click on the images to see what the ‘readers’ thought of books like Raised by …

Join our gang!

25th September 2013By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

The Wunderbar team is about to get bigger. We’re on the look out for two sparky, savvy people to help us realise our big plans for the future. A Wunderbains Facilitator will guide an innovative new project for young people, empowering them …

NARC-ed!

30th August 2013By Ilana MitchellNews No Comments

In this month’s NARC magazine I’ve expounded my thoughts on some things I reckon sound good, in their regular Mix Tape column. For those of you not able to pick up a hard copy, plus links to some of the tunes, read on. (There …