Holy shit, friends! Last night was amazing!
The festival opened to a sold out audience. People drank apple cider while listening to a live broadcast of Roynation, rocked out to Vag Halen, saw a whole bunch of amazing performances in between, and caught up with old friends over perogies late into the night. There’s some great photos, videos, and podcasts a bit further down, but first a word from our apprentice curator Morgan Norwich. She was one of the people behind the colourful wool that kept our theatre warm on a cold February night.
“Rhubarb happens every February. And in February, it’s pretty fucking cold. So for this year’s festival, we brought together a team of dedicated volunteer knitters, as well as two textile artists, to make the space around Buddies a little warmer and a little brighter. Knit-bombing is a movement whose main goal is to reclaim and personalize public spaces. Something about the DIY, arts and crafts fabulousness of this type of graffiti seemed right for Rhubarb. It’s cozy without being complacent. What’s more, the idea of a knitted environment felt related to the themes of ritual, of connection, of constructing and reconstructing family that have emerged in many of this year’s Rhubarb performances. The slogan HOME FIERCE HOME, which appears in one of the three large-scale knit-art installations that accompany the knit bombing, says a lot to me about what the festival is. Get cozy at Rhubarb this year. Make yourself at home.”
One of the knit-bombing installations, You Me, has been getting amazing submissions through the magic of technology. See what people have been posting over on this tumblr.
Roynation
Click here to listen to the Roynation broadcast.
And if that sounded like so much fun, which it did, join us next Wednesday at 6:30 for another live episode.
Vag Halen
Laura Nanni caught some of their performance – check out the video below
