This week we have been preparing to tumble Down The Rabbit Hole for Watershed’s Studio inspired family friendly events, been dazzled at a fantastic Lunchtime Talk by our magicians in residence and are looking forward to the first ever danceroom Spectroscopy Festival! Read on to find out more:

As part of the Family Arts Festival Watershed have programmed a series of family friendly screenings, workshops and events inspired by the work created in the Studio. Tumble Down The Rabbit Hole at the Mad Hatter's Magic Tea Party (Sat 19 Oct at 14:00), where our fantastic magicians in residence Kieron Kirkland and Stuart Nolan will delight curious minds as guests tuck into some tasty tea and cakes. You’ll be able to journey into another world with games company Opposable Games who will be bringing their Virtual Reality Headset The Oculus Rift. Shrink like Alice and watch one of the awe inspiring magic short films in the Miniature Cinema developed by Charlotte Crofts and Tarim, and give a voice to your crazy Jabberwocky & JubJub bird creations with Artist Nikki Pugh. The fun doesn’t stop there however as we’ve got lots of other workshops and events coming up: Alice + The Big Draw Magic Ink Workshop (Sat 26 Oct at 13:00), Rolling Stones Dance Workshop with resident Laura Kriefman (Wed 30 Oct at 14:00) and a Spellbinding Storytelling Workshop with Ben Gwalchmai (Sat 2 Nov at 13:00.) All the workshops are suitable for a family audience so find out more and book tickets here to join in with the fun.  

Also coming up is the first ever danceroom Spectroscopy (dS) Festival. dS is a remarkable new way to visualise the invisible nanoscale atomic world that makes up everything around us, including our own bodies. Developed in the Studio, dS has resulted from the collaborative effort of a a talented multi-disciplinary team, led by David Glowacki, Tom Mitchell, digital artist Phill Tew, Joseph Hyde, choreographer Laura Kriefman, and a talented group of contemporary dancers. danceroom Spectroscopy will be on show in Bristol for three days only, before leaving the UK for an international tour. The show includes their award winning dance performance entitled ‘Hidden Fields’ on Fri 25 and Sat 26 October and the daytime programme will feature several talks explaining the meaning and the science behind dS. You can find the full programme of events here.

This week saw Paul from The Daredevil Project return from spending three weeks running Daredevil tournaments at Octoberfest in Munich. He’s now gearing up to run a new event called DareGooders for Frank Water. DareGooders is a professional team building activity that encourages people to think creatively and work together.  It’s light-heartedly competitive, good fun and doesn’t involve a whole day out of the office. You can find out more about the event and take part here.

Tarim's been busy doing some of the technical work on Ariel - a Kaleider commission conceived by Alice Tatton-Brown. Ariel is an intimate story told and retold in a library. A re-working of a mystery and a love story. Part audio walk, part installation, and part performance.  Ariel is about what we create together, what remains of us, and of what our modern preoccupation with photography and documentation might reveal to us... Ariel will take place in Exeter Central Library every 30 minutes between 9.30am -5.30pm 19-26 October (excl.Sunday) so pop in a check it out if you’re in the area.

Resident Charlotte Quickenden has published an article on The Literary Platform where she talks about her Books & Print REACT funded project Digitising the Dollar Princess. The article, Bookshops of the Future: Where Physical and Digital Co-exist, explores PhysiDigi bookmarks and supporting sustainable business models for bookshops. Excitingly Charlotte has also just found out that the PhysiDigi Bookmarks have been selected as one of 40 innovative products to feature in the showcase innovation at Venturefest on 14 November. It’s set to be a really interesting day so check out their website to find out more.   

On Friday our magicians in residence Stuart Nolan and Kieron Kirkland gave a fantastic Lunchtime Talk introducing the projects and ideas they’ll be exploring during their three months with us and the University of Bristol, but don’t worry if you missed it as we’ve published a write-up here, they’ll be blogging throughout the process, and there’s going to be a showcase at the end of their residency, keep your eyes peeled for more info!

Finally Matt has been busy organising a very special Lunchtime Talk with Daniel Burwen. With over 10 years experience in the creative industries, working in design and console games (EA Games, Activision) and interactive media (Walt Disney Imagineering), Daniel Burwen, the brains behind the Operation Ajax will join us to share his thoughts and insight into interactive narrative and story-driven media. Operation Ajax was one of the world's first graphic novel apps, exploring the possibilities of the iPad for interactive storytelling and changing the world of graphic novels for good. Tickets are free as always but must be booked in advance online or at Box Office (0117 927 5100) and collected 20 mins before the start time, due to the interest we’re expecting for this talk. Find out all our upcoming Lunchtime Talks here.