Archive for June 2009
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Beecab takes flight!
Our Beecab has emerged and is now buzzing around the streets of London!
Beecab is a London taxi which has been specially customized by artists and scientists for Pestival. It recently featured on London Tonight, and was launched from the Wellcome Trust on Thursday 18th June.
The theme of this year’s Pestival is the collapse of bee colonies around the world. To raise awareness of the plight of bees, one of London’s iconic black cabs has been transformed into a bumblebee in full flight, complete with a working beehive in the front seat. Keep a look out for this spectacular sight, which will be traveling around London and visiting schools from now until the festival opens in September.
The Beecab’s driver is Steve Benbow, a British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) beekeeper himself. Steve notes the aptness of the Beecab: “Bees and cabbies have more in common than you might think – the way bees navigate is very similar to the way cab drivers use the Knowledge to get round London. They both service the city, and with the Varroa mite wiping out wild colonies of bees, urban beekeeping is more important than ever. Bees are vital for the pollination of flowers and fruit in the capital, and beekeepers are the only way the population of honey bees can be maintained in London.”
Dr Pat Goodwin, Head of Pathogens, Immunology and Population Health at the Wellcome Trust, said: “The decline in bees and other pollinators may devastate our environment and would almost certainly have a serious impact on our health and wellbeing. As well as funding research into the reasons behind the decline in pollinators, the Wellcome Trust is delighted to be supporting Pestival, which will engage everyone with the vital role insects play in maintaining our way of life.”
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Pestival goes to Venice Bienalle
The Pestival Team met up with Pestival Artist in Residence Noboru Tsubaki in Venice Bienalle and discussed Noboru’s ideas for his art work for the Pestival event.
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Bridget meets Jan Fabre
Pestival founder Bridget Nicholls recently met Jan Fabre, world famous insect artist and great grandson of Henri Fabre the famous entomologist. Look out for the interview coming soon. The chandelier they are discussing in the photo below was created by Jan and is made out of thousands of jewel beetle wings found discarded in Malaysian restaurant dustbins.
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The Termite Pavilion takes shape!
Pestival has its first round table discussion about the making of the Termite Pavilion, the ambitious centrepiece of the festival. Pictured here are Chris Watson, Chris Bagot and Mike from Softroom, Patrick Bellew and Steph Fudge.
Chris Bagot and Daniel Bosia (from consultant engineer firm Ove Arups) chat about the termite project at the first meeting.
The Pestival team and architect behind the Termite Pavilion Chris Bagot presented their model to Southbank Centre’s artistic director Jude Kelly, who thought it was ‘really great and a brilliant message’. Below: Jude Kelly admires the model of the Termite Pavilion.
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Introducing Tweehive
Green media guru John Grant is seen here presenting his concept Tweehive, Pestival’s new media outreach now launched on tweehive.com. The idea of Tweehive is for humans to recreate the day to day activities of a bee colony via role play on Twitter, and the aim is to increase bee awareness, as well as awareness of Pestival!
