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Artichoke, also known as Artichoke Trust, is a London-based creative company that produces spectacular, large scale outdoor arts events. They are passionate about breaking art out of traditional venues, bringing it to city streets, the coast and the countryside.

Description
Artichoke was founded in 2002 by Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb. The pair had worked together intermittently since 1989, most notably at Canary Wharf developing the Events programme there for developers Olympia & York, and at the Salisbury International Arts Festival (where Helen was Director and Nicky Marketing Director) together turning it into an event which The Times praised as: ‘a miracle of modern British culture.’ Artichoke’s first production in 2006 was The Sultan’s Elephant. The biggest piece of free theatre ever staged in London, it was reported to have attracted a million people to the city over four days. Created by French company Royal de Luxe, it story told of a Sultan, fascinated by tales of a time-travelling little girl, following her through time and space aboard his own time machine, a 12m high mechanical elephant. The travellers arrived in London and spent their time here together doing the things that visitors do - exploring the city, taking in famous landmarks, meeting people and making new friends before the girl decided to take to her space ship once again,  and disappear in a puff of smoke.

In 2008 Artichoke worked with French company La Machine to bring a 50ft high mechanical spider named ‘La Princesse’ to Liverpool as the centerpiece of the city’s European Capital of Culture celebrations. The following year the company produced Anthony Gormley’s One & Other, which invited members of the public to take to Trafalgar Square’s empty fourth plinth for one hour each over a period of 100 days and nights. Out of 35,000 applicants, 2,400 people were chosen. Over the100 days the plinth was continuously occupied, 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Each contribution was filmed live and then webcast in what was then the longest continuous webcast ever attempted. ‘Plinthers’, as they became known used their 60 minutes in a whole variety of surprising ways - to campaign, sing, or undress as they saw fit.

As part of the London 2012 Festival, Artichoke produced Peace Camp. The brainchild of Deborah Warner and Fiona Shaw, Peace Camp created eight simultaneous installations on remote coastal locations surrounding the UK with a ring of light. The installations were formed of illuminated tents with a moving soundscope, woven from the great love poetry emanating from the British Isles over the last 500 years. Inspired by the Olympic Truce, members of the public can still upload their favourite poems to the website. The project was recently awarded Best Event In Northumberland (at Dunstanburgh Castle) and Best Overall Event at the Newcastle Journal Culture Awards.

In 2009 Artichoke produced it's first light festival Lumiere in Durham, over four days an estimated 75,000 visitors flocked to the city to explore 20 different light installations at different locations. When the festival returned in 2011 it was attended by 140,000 people who experienced 30 different artworks. These included an indoor fire garden from Compagnie Carabosse, projections of the Lindisfarne Gospels onto Durham Cathedral from Ross Ashton and a giant snowglobe in it’s Market Square by Jacques Rival. Artichoke will bring Lumiere to Durham for a third time in 2013, and will also bringing Lumiere to Derry-Londonderry for the first time, to close the city’s year of celebrations as the first UK City of Culture 28th November – 1st December 2013.

Awards
Helen and Nicky won the 2006 Women of the Year Shine Award for outstanding achievement in the arts, and were listed in Time Out's list of 100 Movers and Shakers in London in November of the same year. Their production of The Sultan's Elephant won the Visit London Award for Cultural Event of the Year in 2006. Peace Camp at Dunstaburgh Castle was awarded Best Event in Northumberland and Best Overall Event in the North East at the Newcastle Journal Culture Awards 2013. In 2012 Helen Marriage was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard Graduate School of Design to explore public perceptions of risk and the processes of negotiating with several different agencies to deliver complex productions in the public realm. The fellowship is an acknowledgement of the impact Artichoke have had on mass public events.

About the Sultan’s Elephant, Dame Judi Dench said: ''‘I thought The Sultan’s Elephant was one of the most glorious things I’d ever seen – it brought four days of sheer joy to the streets of London. Artichoke aims to bring a little magic to our cities, and that’s an endeavor I’m delighted to support.’'' Writing for The Guardian, Susanna Clapp has said that Artichoke ‘are one of the most vital of theatrical forces.’

The Artichoke Trust is a registered charity (Reg Charity No 1112716), funded by Arts Council England and raises significant funds from other trusts, foundations and businesses, as well as by public donation through its Artichoke Hearts scheme.

Selected productions Prior to founding Artichoke in 2002, Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb worked together on the following productions: •	1990 and 1992-3 Canary Wharf. Productions to mark the new development at Canary Wharf in London. •	1999 Salisbury Festival: Dining with Alice at the Larmer Tree Pleasure Gardens in Wiltshire, a performance based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This will be re-staged in 2009. •	1999 Salisbury Festival: Last Words. A poetry festival without a single poem being read. •	1999-2000 Salisbury Festival: Eye Openers in Salisbury and at Old Sarum.

As Artichoke: •	2003 Imber, a requiem for the village of Imber on Salisbury Plain that was requisitioned by the British Army in World War II for training purposes and its inhabitants evacuated. Commissioned by Artangel. •	2006 The Sultan's Elephant in London, in association with French performance arts company Royal de Luxe. This is the largest free public arts event ever to have been staged in London •	2006 A Portrait of London in Trafalgar Square, created by film director Mike Figgis to mark the 50th anniversary of the London Film Festival. •	2008 Telectroscope with artist Paul St George, linking New York and London. •	2008 La Princesse, a giant mechanical spider that roamed the streets of Liverpool as part of the European City of Culture celebrations. In association with French performance art company La Machine. •	2009 One & Other, Antony Gormley's Fourth Plinth project in Trafalgar Square, which placed 2400 people on the empty plinth for one hour at a time over 100 days. •	2009 Lumiere, a light festival in held in Durham, containing over 20 installations and new commissions that transformed the city for four nights. The event had 75,000 visitors •	2010 The Magical Menagerie reunited Artichoke with company La Machine for the third time, with a square carousel as tall as a house filled with bizarre creatures for the Milton Keynes International Festival (MIF) •	2011Dining With Alice, invited audience members to the heart of Lewis Caroll’s imaginary world, set in the grounds of a 15th century manor house. •	2011 Lumiere, returned to Durham for a second time, with more light installations and was attended by 150,000 visitors •	2012 Peace Camp as part of the London 2012 Festival, eight different coastal locations were lit up with illuminated tents that played love poetry. Devised by Fiona Shaw and Deborah Warner.

Related Reading
Nicky Webb (editor), 2006, Four Magical Days in May: How an Elephant Captured the Heart of a City London: Artichoke Trust