I am the co-director of SOAK Live Art CIC, in collaboration with Sarah Blissett.
SOAK stands for Support our Artist Kin. At SOAK Live Art CIC, our mission is to showcase and foster new and exciting live performance. We bring together South-West artists from performance, live art, dance, theatre, poetry, and music with new audiences in Plymouth. SOAK Live Art CIC was founded in 2023 by Sarah Blissett and Kerry Priest and has since become a beacon of experimental live art in Plymouth.
Our existing activities have three main strands:
- SOAK Live Art Nights: Live events showcasing experimental performances (e.g. 6 x 20 minute performances) by South West artists across theatre, poetry, dance, music, etc.
- SOAK LAB: Workshops, talks and screenings aimed at artists and audiences for learning and knowledge exchange.
- SOAK Presents: Live events showcasing long-form experimental performances by artists beyond the South West (e.g. 2 x 50 minute performances and Q+A).
We have collaborated with organisations and institutions in Plymouth to help us reach new audiences, for example by creating performance events for the Box Plymouth and KARST Gallery. We embrace the diversity of the Plymouth community, as well as its surrounding rural and hard-to-reach communities, and we want to amplify new voices by addressing the barriers of isolation and poverty. We champion work that honours the connection to place which makes the South-West art scene so vibrant and vital.