Artist Luca Rutherford’s As We Gather was an invitation to imagine, to pause, to listen. A place of listening, to be heard, to be held, to wander, to wonder, to conjure, to dream, to let go, for a moment, for a while.
Luca invited people from across Liverpool, Peterborough and Southend to be with strangers they share a city with. Each evening began around a fire. The group ate, walked, lingered in conversations, offered ideas and took the time to be still and explore what it means to be connected to community. Luca created a space of gentle rebellion against busy schedules and bullet-point agendas.
“A sense of lingering like the feeling of those conversations you have by the front door, when one of you is about to leave and you stay there for ages, and it means the most because it wasn’t meant to be a special moment but it really was and now it’s gone and you’ve hugged goodbye and closed the front door and one of you walks away smiling and the other pauses behind the front door savoring the moment.” Luca Rutherford
As We Gather was a dreaming space – imagining ways in which we bring each other together, ways in which we disrupt loneliness. It was not a work meeting. It was not a Q&A. It was not a problem-solving exercise. It was a space to feel grounded and safe and free to imagine, daydream and dream big, on your own, next to, and with strangers you share your city with.
It was the first project as part of The Unlonely City – Metal’s 10-year programme of creative interventions to disrupt loneliness in Liverpool, Peterborough and Southend. The As We Gather conversations between people who have never met about loneliness, solitude, unplanned encounters and community where they live will shape Metal’s work.
About:
Luca Rutherford is an interdisciplinary, UK/Newcastle based artist, making new socially engaged work that sparks conversations inside and outside of theatre spaces. Luca’s work spans contemporary performance, social art, installation, dance theatre, short film and sound art. Luca is an associate artist of ARC Stockton, Cambridge Junction and a movement practitioner with Frantic Assembly.
Luca is currently working with National Theatre England, as Associate Director, on Public Acts: a large scale community participation project. Current commissions include: Metal Culture’s Power & Cultural Democracy; MAYK and Jerwood Arts’ I Like It What Is It? Luca’s latest performance work, You Heard Me, was selected for Caravan Assembly and Here & Now international showcases. Luca was selected as UK artist delegate to Under The Radar 2025.
The Unlonely City programme is funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation as part of the Arts Award.
