HULL CITY OF CULTURE : WORM’s Avantgarde State heads to Hull

Born under the stars of punk, Dada, Fluxus and hacktivism, WORM is the blue-blooded hyperactive child of an impossible love between avantgarde recreation, DIY and sustainability.

Based in Rotterdam, their mission is to separate the cultural wheat from the artistic chaff through the staging of a motley collection of concerts, film screenings, lectures, music, research libraries, performance and general anarchy.

As part of Hull 2017 WORM is heading to Hull and staging an intervention by taking over Humber Street Gallery from 23-25 June – this high-octane takeover should not be missed.

25 artists will travel to Hull to take up residency for one weekend only, to establish their ‘Avantgarde State’, which they describe as “a physical and mental state of love, progress and boundlessness” that is the “answer to egocentric extremism”. Packed with fun things to explore and experience, if you like your art lively this is the one for you!

During the residency, WORM’s artists, filmmakers, musicians, DJs and performers will host a series of events and happenings showcasing the talent currently driving the progressive underground culture of Hull’s sister city. The residency will also feature alternative club events, multimedia installations and theatre. There will even be a research historical library with a twist that it is all designed to celebrate the unique atmosphere of Rotterdam’s cutting edge arts scene!

Richard Foster, PR and Media Manager for WORM, said: “Together with artists, boxers, performers, collectors, ex-whalers and other avantgarde types recruited from the Hull populace, WORM will create performances, artworks, parties, and other amazing, on-the-spot, events. We will also be joined by young Rotterdammers such as Jacco Weener, Niek Hilkmann and the all-star Rotterdam band Lewsberg are part of the crew too.”

The WORM team will also be bringing their ‘performance bar’ to the gallery. The bar is a transformable 360-degree stage/bar that blurs the boundaries between café and theatre, bar and stage, artist and audience. The bar presents all kind of acts that span across the categories of art and entertainment. A seemingly normal evening suddenly becomes an adventure when performers appear in the bar space and present everything from the low-brow to the profound.

David Sinclair, Curator at Humber Street Gallery, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming the WORM team to the gallery. I know that their unique brand of interactive and immersive artistic experiences and experiments will be a highlight of our summer programme. I’m confident that those who attend will leave having experienced something unique that they wouldn’t expect to experience in an art gallery, which is the very essence of Hull 2017.”  

WORM is known for its intensive collaborations with young Rotterdam artists, performers and event organisers. New WORM programmes often emerge from these collaborations with WORM serving as both as a production resource, and a platform.

Richard Foster continued: “In the future we want to expand our partnerships with Rotterdam artists and like-minded souls and bring them into contact with our international partners. By doing this, WORM contributes in its own way to Rotterdam’s goals of ​​talent development, innovation and education.”

Find out more about WORM and their ‘Avantgardistic State’ here: www.worm.org/projects/avantgardistische-staat/