fac·to·ry/ˈfakt(ə)rē/
A person, group, or institution that produces a great quantity of something: “a factory of bad English, a factory of love, a factory of CULTURE.”
CULTURE FACTORY is a summer-long multidisciplinary arts festival that brings together musicians and artists of all kinds, to perform and exhibit throughout the downtowns of Chatham-Kent.
Central to our artistic vision, is our belief that for ‘art’ to be relevant it must reflect the culture from which it is born. Historically, manufacturing has been intrinsic to the character of Chatham-Kent with the majority of companies, buildings, and jobs all somehow connected to the manufacturing industry. However, in recent years, many of Chatham’s factories have ‘disappeared’, leaving in their wake a slew of empty buildings and empty jobs. What has not disappeared is the spirit of manufacturing: the imperative to create. Although the future of Chatham-Kent may not be in creating industrial goods there is nothing to stop us from reclaiming our industrial heritage to create a Culture Factory.
It is with this in mind that we have conceived of Culture Factory as a multidisciplinary festival. Like industrial products, many of our most valuable cultural products no longer fit nicely into one segment or genre. For our Culture Factory to flourish we must nurture the spaces in between music and art, theatre and literary performance to allow for truly original products to emerge.
We are also striving to situate some of our festival events in non-traditional venues. Although some of our festivals performances will take place in theatres and music halls, many will be held in non-traditional venues and reclaimed spaces: warehouses, churches, banks, coffee shops, etc.
Finally, in terms of our curation we have focused our efforts on supporting local and emerging artists and musicians. By pairing them with better-known performers we are able to provide them with a wider audience than their status usually affords. It is our belief that providing opportunities for emerging artists is key to encouraging cultural innovation. At the same time, by supporting our local artists we ensure that at the end of the day, the new cultural products we yield will still be, at their very root, a reflection of us.
