Here and Now: Stacy Makishi

Here and Now was a national and local celebration of culture within communities. 40 brand new projects took place in and around 40 arts centres across the country during 2020, led by artists and co-created with local people.

The project was supported by Arts Council England and Future Arts Centres, marking The National Lottery’s 25th birthday.

Creative Folkestone Quarterhouse were selected as one of the 40 venues, and worked with Hawaiian-born performance artist Stacy Makishi on her project, Church of the Latter Day Sinners.

Visit the Here and Now website to find out more about the other 39 projects.

Follow the Here and Now project on Twitter.

Hawaiian-born performance artist Stacy Makishi found paradise in Dalston, London in 1994. Describing herself as like a bonsai plant - small but old - she has been making art for over 30 years.

A cross-fertilization of theatre, comedy, film and visual art, her work is as complex as it is accessible; humorous as it is challenging; visual as it is literate. It ranges across solo performances for stage, large-scale outdoor participatory projects and intimate one-to-ones. 

Also a teacher, director and mentor in international demand, Makishi believes in art’s transformative power and strives to share her creative process with others in order to put more 'aloha' into the world.

As we embarked on our journey with Stacy Makishi, the world went into lockdown. The Covid-19 pandemic dramatically changed the way we could work, and we were, of course, forced to cancel or postpone all in-person creative activity.

But that didn’t stop Stacy Makishi! We worked together to adapt our programme of activity to present three projects that were safe and offered a space for people to be creative, to reflect and to connect with each other in isolation.

The projects we created included:

Homeward (House)bound – A one-to-one performance over the phone, Stacy Makishi offered homemade rituals to help us surf through uncertainty, boredom, re-runs, and grief. Mundane encounters with household appliances were suddenly charged with gravity and magic. Familiar actions like opening a window become a moment of transformation, an epiphany along the long road to redemption.

Church of the Latter Day Sinners – Hosted via Zoom, Stacy Makishi created sermons out of the muck and miracle of being human. Everyone was invited to a digital Sunday service, and offered a different kind of communion where people could come together to share joys and sorrows, do uncool dancing, and meditate on what being human in 2021 really meant.

Saturday Night Live Art Fever – In addition to the Church of the Latter Day Sinners Stacy Makishi hosted a live art show-and-tell club to help people explore their own creativity via Zoom. This was a safe space to share and connect with fellow creative spirits. Stacy provided a creative atmosphere that shunned imposter syndrome and welcomed imperfection.

During this project we discovered new ways of working, connected with inspiring individuals from our community and came together to navigate one hell of a year.

Here is a short film by Claire Nolan reflecting on our work with Stacy and showcasing some of the work we made :