Studio Weave’s Floating Cinema coming to moor in Hackney
The Floating Cinema: portable public art for East London's waterways. Illustration: Up Projects
If you find the process of movie-going a bit samey then perhaps you should leave dry land and set sail on board this summer’s most interesting attraction. Introducing … The Floating Cinema.
The ambitious project will host on-board film screenings, workshops, talks and other outdoor events whilst navigating the canals and waterways of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Greenwich – the five Olympic host boroughs – from June-September this year.
The Floating Cinema is being developed by artists Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie (known collectively as Somewhere), and designed by Hackney-based architects Studio Weave. Some of the practice’s previous projects have included Britain’s longest bench that snakes around the Littlehampton promenade and Graviton – a night time venue and “retro-futuristic fantasy dystopia” – at last year’s Glastonbury Festival and they are currently developing a new public space on the site of St. Pancras Church, which burned down during the Great Fire of 1666.
Maria Smith, an architect at Studio Weave, said: “We are excited to create a unique, moveable event around London’s little-known waterways and canals which will connect people to the wider area.”
This commission is part of Portavilion 2011, which is just the latest in a series of temporary pavilions for London’s parks and public spaces that have brought sculptures, cultural events and other delightful oddities to a large audience.
Portavilion Curator Emma Underhill said: “The canals and rivers provide a very tangible connection running through the five Olympic boroughs and into the Olympic Park itself, and offer a rich environment for The Floating Cinema to navigate.”
Details of the full programme are still being planned at this stage but the organisers insist that The Floating Cinema will not just be for film buffs and there will be a vast array of activities for all to enjoy.