Live Art Bistro

Leeds | Artist-led organisation, Curator / Programmer, Network, Organisation, Performance Venue

Live Art Bistro is an artist led venue and programming team based in Leeds. Their common goal is to support the growth of Live Art practices in the region by providing space and opportunities to local artists, whilst also encouraging artists from further afield to present work in the city. Live Art Bistro is voluntarily run and relies heavily on the support given by the local artistic community. Setup in 2012 by two artistic companies (Indivisible & Testing The Razor), Live Art Bistro quickly gained international presence as an independent venue offering professional development opportunities to practitioners seeking to take risks and meet new (and often 'uninitiated') audiences. Towards the tail end of 2012, LAB was displaced from its central venue in Leeds (provided in support by East Street Arts) and began a nomadic approach to programming. Between 2013/14 Live Art Bistro sought out relationships that took the project to some of Leeds' most cherished venues. LAB continues to expand its reach and geographic presence, with 2015 seeing various international collaborations being made. Now making use of the recent political energy that followed the Tour De France in Yorkshire, LAB is currently housed in semi permanent space on Regent Street (2 minutes walk from WYP). In 2014 Matt Allen of Skeleton Project joined as Artistic Producer and has been instrumental in progressing LAB towards full autonomy.

Opportunities 

LAB offers a series of projects to aid artistic devlopment and collaboration:

• Reboot
• LAB Takeovers
• NEWK
• Impossible Lecture
• LAB in a Van