Introducing Maketank: Exeter’s New Performance Making Space
Published January 15, 2019
We are delighted to announce a new project we are helping bring to Exeter. On Fri 1 Feb, Maketank – a new performance incubator and community hosting facility – will open its doors for the first time! Maketank’s aim is to provide space for local artists to keep in practice, create new performance work, and exchange knowledge and resources. There will be rehearsal spaces, co-working spaces, costume/scenography making areas, reading & conferencing room and a bank of resources for artists to share with each other.
And it’s not just for makers and practitioners! By looking through the large storefront windows, members of the public will also be treated to a glimpse at the layered creative processes that go into crafting performances, from movement training to light rigging to teaching puppets how to dance. The former retail shop will flip the backstage, putting it on full view to those walking down Paris Street.
Looking to get involved? Maketank will be membership based & open to artists across disciplines: theatre, live art, experimental music, dance, performance writing, performance poetry, scenography, expanded film and video, cabaret, site responsive and site specific interventions, participatory and social practice, etc. Run by volunteers, Maketank will rely on community support to cover its monthly overhead. The basic level of membership will be at a nominal fee of £5 per month, but no artist will be turned away for the lack of funds. To sign up to our mailing list, visit maketank.org.uk. Details on membership as well as tickets to the launch event on Feb 1 are forthcoming.
Initially running as a pilot scheme, Maketank aims to become a permanent fixture in Exeter. It will occupy a large disused commercial space in the city center’s former Sofa Workshop on Paris Street. Founded by performance makers living in Exeter, Maketank is an artist-led grassroots organisation looking to build a sustainable community-based platform for performance practitioners within the city to pioneer experimentation, collaboration, and creative civic engagement.
This project has been made possible with the support of ourselves at Exeter Phoenix, Exeter City Council, Princesshay and MacArthur Wilson.