December 2011
This event saw the launch of the newly opened Sneinton Market, featuring stalls and events, alongside the apple tree adoptions in the adjacent gallery space. The SHRUG ladies enjoyed this wonderful event with a christmassy feel. They collected everyones christmas wishes on baubles which turned SHRUG lady 1 into a fantastic walking christmas tree.
November 2011
The SHRUG ladies took part in this innovative evening of art and extraordinary entertainment as part of the Goole Victorian Market regeneration project. MULLED WINE + SNOWFLAKES was the first event in the MAYHEM IN THE MARKET series presented by Question Your Teaspoon. The SHRUG Ladies dressed up their very own market stall with lots of SHRUG style goodies and collected words from participants to transform into stories about the market.
October 2011
Happy Apple Day!!
The SHRUG ladies took part in the Apple Day celebrations in Sneinton Market as part of its regeneration. This event was presented in collaboration with Nottingham Visual Arts and was part of the ORCHARD project created by artist Neville Gabie. The SHRUG ladies devised a wonderful game of ‘apple sayings’ based on their old favourite ‘charades’. The public seemed particular impressed with ‘the big apple’. Thanks to all those who took part, we look forward to the next event in December.
August 2011
The SHRUG ladies teamed up with ‘Phrased and Confused’ to create the ultimate in spoken word entertainment. The ladies took on the role of ‘deviant librarians’ collecting words and poems from willing participants. The ladies rewarded their audience with many ‘Phrased and Confused’ goodies including tattoos, pencils and USB bracelets. It was a great weekend of sun, fun and the odd pun.
It also saw a new SHRUG lady take to the SHRUG stage so a big welcome to Owin Davies our newest lady!
April 2011
The SHRUG ladies entertained guests as they arrived for the premier of ‘Goodie’ at Lincoln’s LPAC. The film showing was a ‘short’ produced by Red Dog Film about a family of super heroes. The SHRUG ladies took their mime skills to the limit challenging participants to an intense game of film charades.
SHRUG in collaboration with Nottingham Youth Theatre
St Peter’s Church Friday 18th February 2011 – 8.30pm
Following a series of workshops led by the ladies NYT developed their own performance pieces which were performed at Light Night both as street performances including spontaneous interaction with the public and then in front of a seated audience at St Peter’s Church. The ladies joined NYT for the evening and developed their own new piece specifically for the event which included some very stylish red torches.
The ladies really enjoyed interacting with the young people and were thoroughly impressed with their ideas, performances and professionalism. Well done to those Hanky Pankhursts, the Wink Ladies, Shaken-but-not-Stirred-men behaving sadly and the pipe boys!
September 2010
The SHRUG Ladies were invited to perform at their very first wedding event which proved very exciting! The wedding was between the lovely and wonderful Ben and Natasha who had fallen in love with the SHRUG ladies at last years Nottingham Contemporary opening. The Ladies planned a whole day of SHRUG style mimes to keep the wedding guests constantly enthused. Activities included welcome messages, Polaroid photos, human scrabble, ‘Did you know…’ mimes and guest book message cards. The ladies had such a good time and were honoured to be part of such a special day! Congratulations Newly Weds!!!
Gail Griggs Photography kindly attended the event in collaboration with the SHRUG Ladies, and took some cracking shots. Go to the link below to view the album. You can even buy copies of the pics for yourself!
Boots Photography Conference 25th & 26th May 2010
The SHRUG Ladies had the pleasure of welcoming delegates at the Boots photography conference down to their glamourous dinner event at the Eastwood Hall Hotel and Conference Centre. Armed with their new rather snazzy Polaroid camera the SHRUG Ladies enacted holiday inspired tableaus, engaged participants in a game of human scrabble and got in on the main action with a professional photo shoot! Fun was had by all and a truly wonderful event for the Ladies. Thank you to Boots and the event organisers Immedia Television Communications Ltd.
11th March 2010, Lincoln
This week, SHRUG ladies dusted their way into lincoln town to find out what the lovely folk who lived there thought of ART. It was an exciting day as a new SHRUG Lady ‘Sarah’ was with us and it was her first outing, she did splendidly and much fun was had. With flowers starting to peep from their buds and the sunshine making a more regular appearance, it only meant one thing to SHRUG and that was time for a glamourous clean.
The ladies sprinkled glamour through the town, stopping the unsuspecting public to write spring thoughts on paper flowers, between manic cleans to music. When it all got too tiring the ladies stopped for a tea and cake break and much needed rest. The sun shone all day for us and the Lincoln lovlies welcomed us with open arms. May I add, we left the town SPOTLESS and GLEAMING.
7th March 2010
SHRUG Lady 1 embarked on her first outing since moving to New Zealand. She had a great time at the Newtown Street Festival in Wellington, dancing to some music, hanging out with friends and of course, sharing lots of tea and cakes with passers by! It was a lovely hot summers day and her sun parasol came in very handy for giving people a place to hide for a moment before moving on their way. She was even given a sticker by the police which said ‘Never talk to strangers’ hmm not sure what he was trying to say there!! x
November 2009 – Nottingham Evening Post
The SHRUG Ladies were recently interviewed for the Nottingham Evening Post in the run up to the launch of the Nottingham Contemporary. The lovely article is right here…
November 2009 – Nottingham
This week saw the opening of the brand new modern art gallery, Nottingham Contemporary. The SHRUG Ladies had the pleasure of entertaining the crowds as they queued in anticipation. Gallery punters were invited to play SHRUG Human Scrabble by making words on the Ladies’ dresses using sticky letters! Younger audience members were given the opportunities to draw portraits on the Ladies’ chalk boards and fun was had by all.
This piece was inspired by the exhibition featured in the gallery by Frances Stark.
The event was also the first outing for new SHRUG Lady, Katie. Well done!
October 2009 – Nottingham
Nottingham played host to a wealth of artistic talent at their Hatch Abroad event on Nottingham’s Broad Street. SHRUG performed some new devised & durational pieces to the onlooking crowds.
August 2009 – ‘What is SHRUG’ research project, Nottingham.
The SHRUG Ladies took their first work in progress as part of the ‘What is SHRUG’ research project down to the Life’s a Beach event in Nottingham’s Market Square. In a truly British style the sun was shining but then the rain poured! This did not dampen the Ladies spirit however, they waited out the shower dancing under a large umbrella before returning to the beach to dance with newly found friends, slide down the helter skelter, have a nap on some deck chairs and finally relax with a nice cup of tea!
A lovely day out Ladies!
This summer the SHRUG ladies are embarking on a new adventure! 2 ladies have become 4, expanding their company, their performance, their look and their selection of goodies on offer. Look out for this glamorous troop as they hit the streets of Wirksworth, engaging with all whom they meet. Will you stand and watch or will you come closer to join in this world of surreal glamour with an unnerving edge, the choice is yours!!!
May 2009 – Hatch ‘ONE’, Ropewalk, Nottingham
Hatch is a regional platform for new work from the East Midlands set to transform the live arts landscape.
Hatch: One responded to the theme of One to help celebrate the events first birthday. 14 artists took over their biggest venue yet with work that delt with one-ness. One night only. One of a kind. One to remember. Hatch: One.
4 SHRUG ladies sat together and played a game on a draft board made of cake for 4 minutes. This was followed by a variety of individual tasks alone for 1 minute. Tasks included a one-minute tap dance, a one-minute interaction, the knitting of one row of knitting in one minute, the placing of one sticker or a single pose for a single photo. Timing was everything the performance ruled by the constant ticking of time and ringing of the bell.
March 2009 – Our Style is Legendary Left Lion Exhibition, Malt Cross, Nottingham
First outing of 4 SHRUG ladies durational performance entitled ‘I am Waiting”. This piece was a new experiment for the SHRUG ladies exploring emotions and feeling around being alone and waiting in a public space and socialising as a group in a public space.
September 2008 – The Bristol Do
A two-day SHRUG event in collaboration with the Fete Encounter. This event saw many children keen to interact with the SHRUG ladies or was it the tempting cakes?
Photos courtesy of Graham Shackleton.
June 2008 – Whitstable Biennale, Whitstable Beach, nr Old Neptune Pub
In collaboration with The Fete Encounter SHRUG ladies took their stall down onto a sandy beach. SHRUG ladies had a beautiful day out, sunbathing, building sand castles, and dancing with bears. As always interacting with passers by supplying them with a choice of cakes or a more traditional poke of chips.
May 2008 – Birmingham
SHRUG ladies joined forces with the fantastic Fete Encounter. Based on the traditional British fete, The Fete Encounter is an outdoor art event. It aims to blur the boundaries between art and the everyday and explores traditional outdoor popular entertainments such as vaudeville, seaside distractions, magic, circus and other fun and games.
June 2005 – Weekday Market around Nottingham City Centre
A project which mapped the city and linked the three main sites Bonington Gallery, Angel Row Gallery and CCAN. The SHRUG ladies wheeled a customised market stall full of goodies around the city of Nottingham, interacting with passers by and of course enjoying the occasional picnic.
Commissioned by ACE & Future Factory.
April 2005, Chelsea Theatre
The SHRUG Ladies enjoyed a trip down to the big city! They spent the day taking photos around the beautiful borough of Chelsea followed by a duration performance at Chelsea theatre as part of the Chelsea Live festival.
March 2005 – Spare Parts at The Mint Lounge, Manchester
SHRUG improvised a performance as part of the debut night of Spare Parts, a glamorously unique and exciting night mixing art and Partying.
Feb 2005 – National Review of Live Art at The Arches, Glasgow
SHRUG performed happenings in and around Glasgow city centre, followed by improvised interventions within the Arches during the festival.
We were uninvited performers to this event!
Nov 2004 – ‘Showroom 2′ at The Bonington Gallery, Nottingham
Exhibition of Nottingham happening and Improvised performance during the Showroom opening event.
October 2004 – Green Room Manchester, Emergency
The SHRUG Ladies went out on a Manchester based city happening followed by one of their first duration performances as part of the Green Rooms Emergency event. The Ladies interacted with audience members, inviting them to enjoy their special SHRUG Lady shaped ginger bread biscuits.
