A new landmark arts participation project begins at top of the town in Stirling this weekend.  Running from the 27 October – 15 December 2012 at Orientation at Changing Room, Tolbooth, Stirling.  Abrupt Encounters is a First in a Lifetime Year of Creative Scotland supported project.

Abrupt Encounters is a new inclusive arts programme developed by a collective of creatively engaged participants with learning disabilities, evolving first in a lifetime opportunities and live arts events in public spaces in some of central Scotland’s most prominent public places, starting with Stirling Castle and the Tolbooth.

This is Artlink Central’s most ambitious project to date and is set to widen interest and access to live art forms, which are typically accessed by no more than 1% of disabled people in Scotland.

The public will begin to get their first opportunity to view this programme at a special preview event at the Changing Rooms in the Tolbooth on Saturday 27th October from 2-4pm.

The first public manifestation of this work will evolve in The Changing Room as the gallery becomes an operative base for exploring public spaces at the top of the town in Stirling.  Investigating space, orientation, architecture, material, people and place, The Changing Room will become a site of meetings, encounters and installations as it becomes inhabited by the participants and the facilitating artists.

Acting as an observatory, the space will continue evolving over the course of the tenancy, documenting the programme, connecting it to other Abrupt Encounters spaces and offering audiences a portal to experiencing and immersing themselves in beautiful moments and places.

Reflecting participatory arts processes, the work/s will be site specific, incorporating amongst other mediums, sound works and projection.

For more information about Abrupt Encounters and associated events please visit the Abrupt Encounters website.