Blog

EEA's 40th Birthday!

🎉 Happy 40th Anniversary to us! In 2020 we celebrate four decades of creating ambitious artwork in public spaces. We are proud of our incredible heritage and history yet we are firmly focussed on the future to continue inspiring change with pioneering outdoor art and creative projects. Keep your eyes peeled for what's coming and join us for a year of celebrations!

EEA 40th

Thistlebrook Travellers' site arts & crafts caravan workshops for under 5s, 1986-1987

Founded in 1980, Emergency Exit Arts (EEA) began as an artists’ collective born out of a desire to radically transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. As inequality grows and access to the arts becomes even harder for so many, we want to use creativity to make a positive difference to people’s lives.

Now a National Portfolio Organisation, we have become experts in delivering impactful, high-quality productions, participatory events and training programmes, always free and accessible.

EEA 40th slice1

Shakespeare's 400th Anniversary (2016) and Thamesmead's Lakeside Festival (2018)

EEA continues to find new ways to support diversity and improve access to the arts sector, now providing training in art facilitation and event production with our Creating Routes and Young Producers programmes from which more than 100 young people benefited in 2019.

2018 saw the launch of our ambitious two-year national touring project Paper Peace and its finale show BLINK in autumn 2019, shedding light on the legacy of treaties from the past 100 years, the fragile nature of peace and the strength of the communities and individuals who work to sustain it.

EEA 40th slice2

Lantern Procession (2016) and the Binbot (2014)

Mass celebratory outdoor events offer an unparalleled way to celebrate peoples and cultures. With our festivals, pyrotechnic shows and an ever-growing troupe of mechanical giants, we have perfected a way to deliver unforgettable theatrical events and participatory experiences to every corner of the nation and internationally. But we don’t forget our neighbours in Greenwich and wider London where we provide a huge variety of creative learning programmes and where we started our social club for locals aged 60+, The People’s Parlour.

Thank you for being there and here’s to another 40 years creating moments of wonder! 🥂

The Team,
Emergency Exit Arts

Related posts