Artichoke

Artichoke is a creative company specialising in extraordinary shows and events. Founded by live events producers Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb, Artichoke focuses on producing shows in unusual places. They don’t believe the arts should take place only in theatres and art galleries. Instead, they put on shows in streets, public spaces and the countryside: shows that, whilst ambitious and complex, cater for the widest possible audience..

Projects they have been involved in include:


Telectroscope, a public art project by British artist Paul St George, designed to provide a window between two great world cities – from Brooklyn Bridge in New York to Tower Bridge in London;

The Sultan’s Elephant, created by French theatrical magicians Royal de Luxe, featuring a vast mechanical elephant and a 20ft giant girl, which paraded through London;

La Princesse, a 50ft high spider by French theatrical engineers La Machine, which waved massive legs and sprayed water on the crowds as it moved through the streets of Liverpool.

In October 2007, Artichoke ran a conference called ‘Larger Than Life’, which was designed to discuss and share the pleasures and perils of large-scale producing. Written records of each breakout session and podcasts of each plenary session are available for download from their website, along with the conference brochure which gives a brief introduction to all of the sessions. These can be obtained from the link referenced below:

Artichoke. 'Larger Than Life: The Pleasures And Perils Of Large-Scale Producing.' Available at: http://www.artichoke.uk.com/larger_life.htm [accessed 08/01/09]

As well as being relevant to my work from a creative standpoint, I’m also interested in how this creative events company survives commercially in such a unique and specialised area.