Come and discover some of Watershed’s Stories

You may have noticed a new arrival in the Café/Bar – a large, dark green booth that people have been watching, listening, and playing with.

This is the Watershed Jukebox, a brand new arcade-style story booth which celebrates and showcases the people and stories of Watershed – from the bits you may know (like the cinema) – to those you may have not have experienced (yet!).

The Jukebox was created by Stand + Stare, the brother and sister partnership of Barney and Lucy Heywood who have been working with us since 2010, when they joined the Pervasive Media Studio on a micro-residency. With just £500 and support from the Studio they built their first ever Jukebox prototype and now, six years and several artistic commissions later, we’re delighted to have our very own Jukebox back where it all began.

The Jukebox is easy to use and accessible to all – by picking a tool and placing it on the Jukebox you select one of five Watershed stories to watch and listen to. You can choose from:

• Derrick Price, former Chair of Watershed’s Board, who talks about when Watershed made the difficult decision to stop running the darkrooms and photography exhibitions, peoples’ then apprehension about the rise of digital, and how they are great examples of Watershed’s ability to explore new things without destroying the past.
• Kate Swan, a Bristol-based film producer. We screened producer Kate’s documentary Kiss The Water in 2011, and she talks about coming here for the packed Q&A, the reward of audience participation, and her experience as an audience member too – enjoying Festival of Ideas talks and more.
• Laura Kriefman introduces the Pervasive Media Studio, where she is a resident, and talks about how she became part of its ‘life-changing’ family where she was encouraged to take risks: the biggest of which was Mass Crane Dance, which saw over 10,000 people flock to the harbourside to watch the MShed cranes dance!
• 22 year old Shamil Ahmed, worked as a content creator at Rife Magazine, our online magazine made by young people for young people and is now a Watershed Board member. Sham talks about his time at Rife Magazine and his favourite article, his involvement with Rife over the years, and how that he knew that Watershed would be ‘home’ from the very first moment he experienced it.
• Oliver Humpage, our Head of ICT at Watershed. Oliver has been with us since 2000 so has seen a lot of changes and development – he particularly talks about artist Luke Jerram’s Dream Director installation, where he was part of the team that helped affect the dreams of sleeping participants, and how, essentially, here at Watershed we all just want to ‘make stuff happen – and happen really well’!

The Jukebox is a gift from two Watershed supporters – Lesley Silvester and Terry Kahn – who were equally keen that their kind donation could help to generate further support for us. So as well as being a story booth, the Jukebox is also a rather special interactive donation box (read more about our work as a registered charity and how you can support us through monthly or one-off donations here).

So please – if you’re here to watch a film, grab a drink or a bite to eat, using our events spaces, visiting the Pervasive Media Studio or simply just in the neighbourhood – come and take a couple of minutes to learn a bit more about Watershed on the Jukebox.

And don’t forget to tell us about your Watershed story, too – there’s a little comment card box where you can add your stories. We’re looking forward to you learning a bit more about us – and us learning a bit more about you. Thank you.

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