SPILL Festival – Ipswich

SPILL Festival 2025 is returning to Ipswich on Thursday 23rd – Sunday 26th October, with a
diverse programme of arts experiences and events taking place in multiple venues and
public spaces across the Borough.

SPILL’s flagship international commission for 2025 is Leviathan by Slovenian artist Mark
Požlep, a reflective audio-visual installation which presents an imagined dialogue between
Suffolk’s fishermen and the colossal Leviathan, a mythological sea creature and witness to
ecological collapse.
Mark’s research and creative process involved a 100-kilometre walk along the Suffolk
coastline, during which he engaged with retired North Sea fishermen who operated out of
our county’s ports and fishing villages.
His installation at St Clement’s Church can be experienced throughout the festival. An
additional talk about the history of fishing industries in Suffolk, and a coastal walk with the
artist to encounter one of the landscapes featured in the installation, will take place at
scheduled times.

Brown Babies by Kirsty Tallent is turning the clock back to the mid-80s, revisiting the
music, fashion and spirit of peak-era Ipswich nightclub, Cindy’s, as curated by Kirsty. She
was born in Ipswich in 1985 to a white mother and black US Air Force father who first met on
the dancefloor of legendary Ipswich nightspot Cinderella’s. Raised on Nacton council estate
by her mum, Kirsty met her dad for the first time aged 36, a significant moment in her
understanding of her place in the world.

On Saturday 25th , 14:00 – 16:00 Kirsty will be at The Key for a participatory workshop and
discussion at the original site of Cindy’s nightclub, where she will share research into Suffolk
GIs. Participants are encouraged to contribute their own experiences and recollections in
this lively and informal workshop. Later that evening, St Stephen’s Church will host “Cindy’s
Revisited”, featuring funk, soul, and hip-hop sets from original Cindy’s DJ’s. SPILL has also
decided to recreate 1980’s prices too, with the price of entry to this club night being only
£1.50!

Just as Olivier Grossetête’s big cardboard build of Cardinal Wolsey’s gate in “Monumental
Construction” made a huge impact on the people of Ipswich in 2023, this year there is
another reason to gather with friends and family on Ipswich’s Cornhill. A bridge between
contemporary art and performance, Steli from Italian company Stalker Teatro, is a fun,
interactive and colourful event for the whole family. Working together you will build a huge
wooden structure out of brightly coloured long sticks. Once the hard work is done, you can
explore your creation by walking under, around, and through it. This FREE event will happen
on Saturday 25 th and Sunday 26 th (10:00 – 11:00 and 14:00 – 15:00) and is suitable for
everyone aged 4+.

Personal by Jodee Mundy Collaborations + Quiet Riot, is travelling all the way from
Australia to present Jodee’s experience as a CODA (child of Deaf adults), in Australian Sign
Language with English and creative captions. Through a blend of performance, multimedia
and animation, this touching and intimate story explores the joys and contradictions of living
in a Deaf family, where using sign language is natural; and living in a society that sees only
the family’s disability. This will be at DanceEast on Sunday 26th, 15:00- 16:00. Suitable for
ages 10+.

In addition, Jodee will present a “Mother Father Deaf Workshop” for mixed-age Deaf and
CODA family groups (ages 5+) at DanceEast on Saturday 25th , 10:00 – 12:00. Combining
bilingual storytelling, drawing and autobiography in a heartfelt, fun creative workshop.

Two thirty-minute films “Imagined Touch” and “Camp CODA” featuring Jodee Mundy will be
screened at King Street Cinema on Saturday 25th (16:00- 17:00, Ages 5+).

Other festival events and performances include: 

Monsters by Andy Field and Beckie Darlington – a post-apocalyptic fairy tale created by and
starring children from East Anglia. An experimental documentary film in which they imagine
a world after monsters have arrived, exploring survival, change, and uncertainty.

Port To Port by Sophie Giller – a textile artwork made by screen-printing the personal
memories, images, and favourite objects of local participants onto large-scale patchwork
sails, in celebration of the historic maritime communities of Lowestoft, Ipswich and
Felixstowe.

Walking Each Other Home by artist Stacy Makishi (originally from Honolulu), who
welcomes you to a wholehearted performance experiment that is part ritual, part story, and
part party. An interactive event with silly games and awkward moves (aka “dancing”!) that
embraces the imperfect, awkward, and shy parts within us all.

Never Succeed At Silence by SPILL Associate Isiah Jordan, empowering young people
through film and photography. This is the culmination of a six-month project with 15 – 19-
year-olds that focuses on photography as a means of self-expression, storytelling, and
community engagement. There will be an exhibition outside New Wolsey Theatre and a zine
publication which proudly showcases their work and shows the town in a different light.

Kaboom: The Art of Destruction by Live Art Denmark – a family performance recreating 18
famous acts of artistic destruction. Made by the same team that brought the sell-out “50
Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) to SPILL in 2023.

SPILL vs Brighten The Corners – a celebratory co-curated night of music and DJing at St
Stephen’s Church. Keep watching the SPILL website for live announcements of special
guest performers for the Festival Friday.

And of course, a Festival Launch event on Thursday 23rd at St Clement’s Church, where
you can explore the Leviathan installation, hear about the festival directly from artists, and
enjoy performances from Stacy Makishi, Robin Deacon, and other special guests. Gourmet
fish and chips will be provided (vegetarian alternative available).