Pestival
Encyclopedia
Pestival is an international arts festival dedicated to ‘insects in the arts and the art of being an insect'. Pestival won the 2010 Observer Ethical Award in Conservation, and currently has a three year residency at ZSL
London Zoo
.
It has attracted world renowned insect experts as well as artists, such as Bob and Roberta Smith, and comedians, most notably Garth Merenghi, Robyn Hitchcock
, Robin Ince
and Stewart Lee
(who mentions his involvement in his stand-up act "41st Best Stand-up Ever").
It featured Blur’s Graham Coxon
, Robyn Hitchcock
singing insect anthems, Robin Ince
’s Bee Comedy Night, an interspecies choir, Softroom Architects iconic Termite Pavilion, artist-in-residence Noboru Tsubaki, live mosquito swarms, Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Bob and Roberta Smith’s Mobile Brownfield Site, insect detectives, maggots who paint, a pollinator themed slow food market, and Valerie Singleton spinning her favourite insect seven inch.
Chris Watson
, a sound recordist who specialises in Natural History, and former member of Cabaret Voltaire
provided the soundtrack to the Termite Pavilion as well as creating an evening called Cross Pollination that used live voice and the sound of bees.
Pestival 2009 also hosted the symposium How insect are we? at ZSL
London Zoo
, chaired by New Scientist
editor Roger Highfield. Speakers included Stanford University ant expert Deborah Gordon
, artist/engineer Natalie Jeremijenko
and literary critic Steven Connor
.
.
Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats...
London Zoo
London Zoo
London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847...
.
It has attracted world renowned insect experts as well as artists, such as Bob and Roberta Smith, and comedians, most notably Garth Merenghi, Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
, Robin Ince
Robin Ince
Robin Ince is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage .-Stand-up comedy:...
and Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...
(who mentions his involvement in his stand-up act "41st Best Stand-up Ever").
Background
Founder and director Bridget Nicholls came up with the idea for Pestival in 2004 while visiting the FIFI insect film festival in the Pyrenees.Pestival 2009
Pestival 2009 was held at the Southbank Centre in London. With 200,000 people attending over three days, it had over 50 free interactive events and numerous experts at the cutting edge of art and science, and was supported by over 260 volunteers.It featured Blur’s Graham Coxon
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He came to prominence as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of rock band Blur, and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist, having recorded seven solo albums...
, Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
singing insect anthems, Robin Ince
Robin Ince
Robin Ince is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage .-Stand-up comedy:...
’s Bee Comedy Night, an interspecies choir, Softroom Architects iconic Termite Pavilion, artist-in-residence Noboru Tsubaki, live mosquito swarms, Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Bob and Roberta Smith’s Mobile Brownfield Site, insect detectives, maggots who paint, a pollinator themed slow food market, and Valerie Singleton spinning her favourite insect seven inch.
Chris Watson
Chris Watson (musician)
Christopher Richard Watson is a Sheffield-born musician and sound recordist specialising in natural history. He was a founding member of the musical group Cabaret Voltaire, and Watson's work as a wildlife sound recordist has covered television documentaries and experimental musical collaborations.-...
, a sound recordist who specialises in Natural History, and former member of Cabaret Voltaire
Cabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.Their earliest performances...
provided the soundtrack to the Termite Pavilion as well as creating an evening called Cross Pollination that used live voice and the sound of bees.
Pestival 2009 also hosted the symposium How insect are we? at ZSL
Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats...
London Zoo
London Zoo
London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847...
, chaired by New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
editor Roger Highfield. Speakers included Stanford University ant expert Deborah Gordon
Deborah Gordon
Deborah M. Gordon is a biologist at Stanford University.- Major research :Gordon studies ant colony behavior and ecology, with a particular focus on red harvester ants. She focuses on the developing behavior of colonies, even as individual ants change functions within their own lifetimes.Gordon's...
, artist/engineer Natalie Jeremijenko
Natalie Jeremijenko
Natalie Jeremijenko is an artist and engineer whose background includes studies in biochemistry, physics, neuroscience and precision engineering. She is an active member of the net.art movement, and her work primarily explores the interface between society, the environment and technology...
and literary critic Steven Connor
Steven Connor
Steven Connor is the Academic Director of the London Consortium and Professor of Modern Literature and Theory at Birkbeck, University of London.- Biography :* Born: Bognor Regis, Sussex, in 1955....
.
Pestival 2006
Pestival 2006 was held at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes, London. Over 10,000 people attended. It was co-produced by Mark PilkingtonMark Pilkington (writer)
Mark Pilkington is a writer, publisher, curator and musician with particular interest in the fringes of knowledge, culture and belief....
.