Public Trust by Paul Ramírez Jonas: Available for Touring
Public Trust is a participatory public realm project by acclaimed artist Paul Ramírez Jonas (USA / Honduras), originally commissioned by Now and There. Public Trust invites participants to examine the value of their word. Participants declare a promise that is recorded in a drawing they can keep. They are asked to give their word in a way that’s consistent with their beliefs, such as swearing on a sacred text. That promise is published on a monumental marquee board, placed amongst promises made by politicians, scientists, economists, companies and weather forecasters, all chosen daily from headline news.
Fierce has built a long-term relationship with Paul Ramirez Jonas since mounting Key to the City in 2022 as part of Birmingham 2022 Festival (the Commonwealth Games Cultural Programme) and Public Trust, recreated for Birmingham Festival 2023.
After investing in the production elements to mount the project, working together we saw the opportunity to extend the impact and life of the project by touring the work nationally – maximising its environmental sustainability. Fierce are now the UK custodians of the work, continuing our close relationship with Paul to bring Public Trust to wider audiences.
In 2023, alongside the 8 days in Birmingham the work was presented as part of Transform Festival in Leeds. In the summer of 2024 Public Trust has a 6 location tour to:
Streets Alive 2024, Bell Square, Hounslow (21 – 22 June)
Strike a Light, Gloucester (4 – 6 July)
BD: Festival, Bradford (25 – 27 June)
Stockton International Riverside Festival, Stockton-on-Tees (2 – 4 Aug)
Freedom Festival, Hull (31 Aug – 1 Sept)
Revoluton Arts, Luton (7 – 8 Sept)
The project offers opportunities to work with local artists as facilitators and create a meaningful engagement opportunity for local volunteers. Working with tour partners Fierce can respond to the needs of communities and locations to ensure a work that is impactful for audiences.
‘Public Trust was an invaluable part of the festival programme for enabling impactful, authentic connections with the general public. The artwork rewarded peaked curiosity in a way that fostered countless heartfelt, genuine interactions. We couldn’t have been happier with the delivery and impact of this project which engaged nearly 10,000 people over a four day period. Fierce were very supportive partners whose expertise and deep care for the work was clear throughout our collaboration.’ Ema Boswood, Producer, Transform Festival
The project dossier is available here. Marketing and technical dossiers and budget drafts are available on request. For enquiries and to chat further about the project please contact our Director (Producing) pippa@wearefierce.org.
