wolf + water arts company

Rights, Inclusion & Approaches to Dealing with Difference
This conference brought together a wide ranging & sensitive group of grass roots community development workers from all sides of the Northern Ireland conflict, including ex-paramilitary groups & victim support groups & involved two performances - one commissioned piece exploring the current differences within the loyalist & republican movements & one conference summary performance.

(Sheffield, UK, 2001)

A performance to sum up this three day annual conference concerning the growing UK Mediation movement & its relationship to the Criminal Justice system, emphasising the complexity of issues faced by mediators such as working with people with learning difficulties & people with mental health problems.

Delegate Comments

(Community Relations Council Conference, Belfast 2001)

Two performances at either end of this one day conference for a wide range of community workers across the Province looking at the complex issues behind these three words that are currently the key value indicators behind community projects supported by the Community Relations Council.

Programme Director - Community Relations Council of Northern Ireland

An especially devised audience interactive performance depicting the difficult challenges that Sargant Social workers face in dealing with people with cancer & leukaemia & their families - issues included denial, publicity & refusal of treatment.

(Blackpool, UK, 2000)

An integrated team of performers & artists with & without learning difficulties from Wolf & Water contributed to this 3 day national conference that took as it’s theme the “Past, Present & Future” for people with learning difficulties.

An especially commissioned & devised performance on the difficult & sensitive issue of child bereavement, as part of this large national conference. Covering themes as diverse as suicide & terminal illness, the piece explored the emotional & psychological responses of both children & adults to death, shock, grief & bereavement.

A jam packed three days at this conference that brought people involved in the academic & conflict management fields worldwide together to explore how a culture of “peace awareness can be fostered through & in higher educational systems.” Wolf + water produced a performance for the Opening Ceremony, oddly sandwiched between Sami singers & a chamber orchestra, which helped set the agenda for the rest of the conference, with a somewhat inept professor of peace studies demonstrating how all these wonderfully complex theories of conflict management can often be just useless rhetoric in practic

(Exeter, Devon, UK, 2000)

An especially devised performance to open a one day conference exploring the treatment & rehabilitation of young offenders in the South West. Wolf + Water’s show documented the background, experiences & subsequent motivations of one particular young offender & his descent into crime, while highlighting some of the factors & needs which, if met, might have controlled or prevented his offending.

Co-ordinator - C-FAR

(South West Regional Development Agency Conference, Dartington College, Devon 2000)

A difficult commission of producing a conference opening performance to open up discussion on all aspects of equal opportunities…in 10 minutes. However, using an integrated cast of performers with & without disabilities, Wolf + Water triumphed!

(Birmingham, UK, 2000)

A 3-day national conference & celebration held at Midlands Arts Centre of various arts & mental health initiatives from throughout the country. Wolf & Water provided a workshop that demonstrated some of the techniques we have used to work with men with problems of anger & violence, & hosted one of the discussions, & ran a creative workshop for an excellent bunch of mental health service users from Kidderminster.