Fierce, Britain's longest-running live art festival, returns this week to venues across Birmingham after launching in 1998. The festival takes over conventional theatres and unconventional spaces, particularly in the Digbeth area, an ex-industrial neighbourhood becoming a creative hub.
Programming includes late-night artist dinners, a performance in a swimming pool, and a six-hour performance jam at a grand gothic hall that reportedly inspired the board game Cluedo. Faye Driscoll's work features what the festival describes as an "incredible rotating disintegration."
The festival programmes live art across multiple venues. According to the source material, live art raises questions about subjectivity. The experience depends on the individual audience member, with presence and connection central to how people encounter the work.