Jorge Lopes Ramos and Persis Jade Maravala take us on a whirlwind tour of a week in their hectic, colourful lives at ZU-UK. Jorge Lopes Ramos and Persis Jade MaravalaClick / Swipe to begin Saturday / SundayElevate Lab starts at ZU-UK’s venue GAS Station with an attempt at a selfie. Inspiring UK organisations, including ZU-UK, Blast Theory, MIF, Watershed, Southbank and FACT, are gathering together as part of Arts Council England’s three-year Elevate programme. The day was spent getting to know each others’ Lab and Residency programmes in more depth, with invited researchers Joseph Dunne, Luciana Fleischman and Mark Wright. MondayThis week we have been running a multidisciplinary Lab for Body Brain Bingo, a year-long experimental project bringing together artists, activists and researchers from University College London. How can these different strands work together to generate innovative projects that have real impact? In this picture we are playing with and exploring performative walks with walking artist Clare Qualmann. TuesdayToday we continued to oversee the games being developed by Body Brain Bingo collaborations that will culminate in the ‘House of Healing’ performative conference this Saturday. The day will include a range of performances, discussions and workshops and the conference will be framed by a series of talks showcasing existing projects that have drawn together interdisciplinary collaborations on the themes of mental health and wellbeing. WednesdaySometimes project meetings can take place in somewhat unusual environments. Here we are about to start a Skype meeting with game designers Pippin Barr and Rilla Khaled from a boat on our way to Tate Modern. ThursdayA crucial part of ZU-UK’s work is mentoring and developing young and emerging artists. Our Masters in Contemporary Performance Practices with the University of East London places students directly in the industry and gives them immediate access to our international network. Three of our current students are performing at the House of Healing conference on Saturday. The superb Lema Walcolm (pictured) is one of them! FridayIn between getting the final details together for tomorrow’s conference, we try to maintain some kind of family life. The advantage of having an eight-year-old daughter is that, more often than not, you are reminded of what really deserves your attention. SaturdayHouse of Healing time! Talks, workshops, games and performances. Highlights included Forest Fringe’s Deborah Pearson on a site-specific immersive dance piece on homelessness and mental health in Toronto; Walking Artists Network’s Clare Qualmann discussing a participatory walking, foraging, picking and preserving project; and Mental Spaghetti’s Marie-Louise Plum speaking about supporting and developing art from the margins, particularly due to mental health distress and complex needs. Persis Jade Maravala and Jorge Lopes Ramos are joint Artistic / Executive Directors at ZU-UK. zu-uk.com Tw: @iamzuuk Goodnight, Sleep Tight and The Blind Dinner Date, ZU-UK's two new performances, will play from 6 - 9 July at Theatre Royal Stratford East. Arts PeopleHealth and wellbeing Published: 23-06-2017 Log in or register to post comments