In 2023, Imagineer and independent creative director Orit Azaz took the Imagine Bamboo creative enquiry out across the UK.
The year kicked off with the building of a giant Bamboo Arch Swing at Keele Green Festival, working with Appetite. This video tells the story.
This summer, Imagineer and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority have led Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere in Liverpool City Region - an epic programme of bamboo-inspired arts activities in Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral. Local residents, young climate leaders and artists have come together with engineers from Atelier One and bamboo specialists from four continents to explore bamboo as a sustainable material for the future. The project culminated in August, with six site-specific events in each of the six local authority areas.
Circus pioneers NoFit State worked with Orit, Imagineer and a host of extraordinary circus specialists on a new phase of Circus R&D, developing structures, skills and stories towards a new outdoor touring performance.
Image: NoFit State Circus are experimenting with bamboo in a Circus R&D programme
Communities in Nuneaton and Bedworth also joined the adventure, taking part in bamboo-based arts activities as part of the Creative Explorers programme, lead by Imagineer and Artichoke with Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council.
Image: Communities in Nuneaton and Bedworth can enjoy creative activities with bamboo
We headed to the National Gallery for Summer on the Square in August, where we made bamboo art in the inspiring surroundings of Trafalgar Square.
Image: Imagine Bamboo in Summer in the Square, with The National Gallery
All strands of the 2023 project focused on bamboo that either does or could grow in the UK and maximise sustainability as much as possible through circular design approaches.