Age Against the Machine Festival of Creative Ageing was a three week festival using art to explore issues around ageing. Produced by the Albany and Entelechy Arts in September-October 2019, the festival took place in theatres, community halls, markets, libraries, care homes, shops, and parks, pouring itself into every corner of Lewisham’s large borough. With a total of 275 social events, exhibitions and performances, workshops, pop-ups and takeovers – there were multiple opportunities for joining in and taking part, for co-creation and celebration, for finding artistic work in public places, for meeting to talk and think about growing older, being older, for reflecting back and looking forward.
‘The entire festival changed my feelings about ageing’ Age Against The Machine Audience Member
‘This was a festival that pulled off that most difficult of tricks – exploring vital issues about life and death in a manner that was always accessible and entertaining yet never patronising. I hope it becomes a regular feature of Lewisham’s cultural calendar.’ Miles Hedley, The Greenwich Visitor Blog
An Evaluation Report of the festival has been written by Elizabeth Lynch MBE. Elizabeth is an Associate Research Fellow in Contemporary Theatre at Birkbeck University, Chair of Board for Theatre-Rites, Trustee for Arts Catalyst, Critical Friend for Ideas Test and a member of Spitalfields Music Advisory Group. The report is a comprehensive look at the impact of the festival and how it performed against its objectives. Read the full report below.