1984

1984 is a project by UK artist, curator and researcher Sophie Hope.  This iteration of 1984 is curated by Steve Mayhew with Sophie joining online from London.

The project revolves around a series of dinners with people politically and artistically active in the year 1984. The dinners are audio recorded, with the aim to create a piece for radio, an installation and a publication. 1984 dinners are being held in the UK, Singapore, Australia and South Africa in 2014.

While certainly about the historical content – what was happening
for artists and activists in 1984, thirty years ago – the project also
explores how memories and narratives of histories are interpreted across generations and geographies, experimenting with the dinner party as a site for capturing collective (and perhaps contradictory) stories.

Sophie’s inspiration for 1984 came from researching the tactics of artists/activists working in the margins of Thatcher’s Britain. For Steve, his interest comes from memories of being fifteen, living in regional South Australia with his politically active family, and  discovering politics through music.

For Adhocracy, Steve will curate and cook a four-course dinner for eight special guests. Each course includes a series of provocations for discussion by the invitees. During the dinner, there will be opportunities for small audiences to join as outside observers for one hour/course.

Then on Sunday and Monday, Adhocracy audiences can experience an installation within the detritus of the dinner, listening to  recordings from previous dinners and the Adhocracy event, Steve’s own memories and, of course, his 80s mixtapes!

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About the Artist

SOPHIE HOPE
Sophie Hope is an artist, curator and researcher. Through
her practice-based research, Sophie inspects the uncertain
relationships between art and society. Sophie teaches and
facilitates workshops dealing with issues of public art, the
politics and economics of socially engaged art and curating
as critical practice. She has recently completed her PHD:
‘Participating in the Wrong Way? Practice Based Research into
Cultural Democracy and the Commissioning of Art to Effect
Change’ at Birkbeck, University of London, where she currently
works as a lecturer in Arts Policy and Management.

STEVE MAYHEW
Steve Mayhew has worked as a director, dramaturg, writer,
creative producer or general manager of companies and festivals
including Urban Myth, Riverland Youth Theatre, Junction
Theatre, Brink Productions, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Adelaide
Fringe, Hong Kong Fringe Club and Restless Dance Theatre. He
is currently Creative Producer at Country Arts SA and was the
Artistic Director of the 2012 Regional Arts Australia Conference
held in Goolwa, South Australia. Steve is a graduate of the
Drama Centre at Flinders University.

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