Timo Peach delivers the keynote at Bournemouth Writing Festival 2023 with a unique one-man show, Sunday April 23 19:00.
To celebrate Earth Day this year, the bloke from Momo:tempo is creating a special stage experience to reimagine the global challenges we face: UTF! The planet is f***ed. So what: Unreality and creative response.
Invited by festival founders Dominc Wong and Ildiko SpinFisher to bring something very Momo to the Palace Court Theatre to close the weekend, Mr Peach says he felt prompted to… go for it.
“Dominic picked out a Testimo blog post of mine,” he says, “with a cheeky title, but an interesting way into my general thesis of the moment. And he seemed almost keen on a lively, formatted show.”
This gave the music artist and climate communicator a chance to try out a format he’s been wanting to develop from his other presenting projects – a talk that feels just like his playful research cast, Unsee The Future.
“I’ve wanted to do this with music shows,” explains Timo, “but this just happens to be dialed over to the more editorial end of my storytelling. It will help me translate the production approach into appearances with the band.”
“Oh, and the cheeky title stuck” he adds.
“Together, we’ve grown used to seeing the future only one way – as an inevitable dystopia.”
“The show with four stars in the title” looks at Timo’s central idea about tackling the climate crisis and everything it connects to – art. Its primal place in human survival and how starkly missing it seems from planetary strategic thinking.
And he’s written a handbook on how to use “art thinking” to change the futures we imagine for ourselves.
UTF! How to think like an artist and change the world will explore nine practices of artists to help you “reimagine the story you think you are in” – and first edition copies will be available over the weekend at the Bournemouth Writing Festival book shop.
“Hopefully,” qualifies Timo.
“It’s my first book, written in my special little 2202 creative season this time last year, and so trying out a little on-demand self publishing is part of this season’s challenge, as I prepare to kind of come out with this first show.”
There may also be something else special at the end of the performance.
“I have been preparing a preview of the creative project that started it all for me, The Shape of Things To Hum – but I will keep you posted on that” he says.