In moments of change and transition, what supports us and keeps us afloat?
Serpentine presents a special one-night concert, bringing to life Rory Pilgrim’s film, RAFTS, beyond the screen. Created over three years with residents of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, RAFTS was made for the exhibition Radio Ballads to explore stories of support in our everyday lives.
Taking the symbol of the raft as the simplest vessel of survival across open water and also a symbol that represents the Earth as the ultimate preserver of life, the concert interweaves stories, poetry and reflections around a seven-song oratorio.
The performance is narrated by Pilgrim’s collaborators Hugh, Carina, Liam, Butterfly, Katy, Dee, Mark, and Eddie – eight residents from Barking and Dagenham and members of Green Shoes Arts. Each reflects on what the symbol of a raft means to them. Making connections between work, mental health, home, recovery, and our environment, additional voices of people from near and far join the chorus, including members of Barking and Dagenham Youth Dance and Project Well Being: a group for people experiencing homelessness in Boise, Idaho, USA.
The concert will also star singers Robyn Haddon from Sheffield, Kayden Fearon from Barking and Dagenham, and Declan Rowe John from Boise, accompanied by the London Contemporary Orchestra and Rory Pilgrim on harp and piano.
RAFTS: LIVE invites you into a journey that uses prophecy, reflection and creativity to contemplate what we could need to navigate the future in times of change and uncertainty.
WATCH AND LISTEN
RAFTS was commissioned by Serpentine Civic for Radio Ballads, in partnership with New Town Culture, a Cultural Impact Award-winning project, part of London Borough of Culture, a Mayor of London initiative.
- Project collaborators
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RAFTS: LIVE brings together over forty collaborators from Pilgrim’s Radio Ballads’ commission.
All project collaborators: Eddie Paggett, Hugh Prior, Dee Pessoa, Carina Murray, Liam O Connell, Mark Jones, Emily Butterfly Khoury, Catherina Rowland, Vicki Busfield, Sam Miller, Nikki Watson, Kevin Walton, Melissa Bell, Marcos Ramos, Geoffrey McCauley, Janet Kauffman, Nicki Vogel, Jeffrey Doroto, Jacob Heiter, Tina Logsdon, Tina Cartwright, Scott Cramer, Sarah Kemper Cook, Georgina Alexiou, Red Fox, Anabel Berko, Breanna Amoako, Calum Johnstone, Chisom Nzekwe, Eugenia Rapta, Heavenly-Joy Obeng, Kiera Dymond, Lara Pinto Wlodarczyk, Marly Fadiga, Rome Martin-Whilby, Ruby Harris, Sasha Dilevska, Kayden Fearon, Robyn Haddon, Declan Rowe John, Rob Ames, Saloni Thakkar, Amy Hinds, Jack Sheen, Marged Sion, Paul Perry, Donna Cain, Lorraine Fox, Salom Ranger, LBBD Temporary Housing and Accommodation, Ronald Long, Natasha Humphries, Freya Hicks, Rebecca Burden, Clare Bennett, Alastair Penman, Anna Drysdale, Todd Harris, Rick Leigh, David Jarzen, Dan Lewis, Letty Pilgrim, Kate Marlais, Katie Dove Dixon, Seraphina Simone D’Arby, Sophie Galpin, ASAI, Jonathon Graham, Olga Micińska and Mathild Clerc-Verhoeven, Cody G, Charlie Gregory, Dave and The White House.
