Going Places - Art on Buses/ Friends of the Earth
12.30 pm - 2 pm, Thursday 23rd May 1996 Covent Garden Piazza London WC2
Leading artists and poets launched 'Art on the Buses' - to help mark Friends of the Earth's 25th anniversary - on 23 May, 1996. The launch featured a Routemaster bus, parked on the piazza in Covent Garden, containing an exhibition of art and poetry. There were also special poetry readings.
Friends of the Earth invited eleven London based artists to create original pieces of work on the theme of Going Places - a personal response to travel in the City. Contributing artists include Peter Blake, Anderzej Klimowski, Ian Wright, Jake Tilson, Lawrence Zeegan, Anthony Lee, Sophie Morrish, Angela J Hogg, Matthew Cooper, Shonagh Rae and Jessie Tattersall. A number of new and well established poets contributed to Poems on the Buses - Moving Poems. Poets include Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, John Hegley, Adrian Mitchell, Wendy Cope, Lemn Sissay, and Benjamin Zephaniah.
Poetry readings were given by Ivor Cutler, Lemn Sissay, John Citizen, Sophie Hannah, Pascale Petit and Will Stone. Artists who attended the launch included Peter Blake, Ian Wright and Andrzej Klimowski.
Art on the Buses was a joint venture with big wide words and the London Transport Museum. This innovative project took an environmental message to the millions of passengers who travel on two of London's busiest bus routes - the 73 and 38 -throughout the six month show.