Engineers of the Imagination


By - Baz Kershaw and Tony Coult, Methuen, 1983, revised 1990

A book to get thumbmarks and glue on, it explains the basic techniques of Welfare State International's work - the making of processions; large scale puppets; fixed structures; fire and ice technology; processional, theatre and dance music, celebratory food and feasts and much more.

Chapter Headings

1              One Foot on the Ground, One Foot Moving

                 (An introduction to the work of Welfare State International)

2                     Commissions and Audiences

                 (How Welfare State's events are commissioned, conceived and carried out)

3                     Street and Outdoor Performance and Music

4                     Core Techniques

                 (A visual manual of Making Techniques regularly used by Welfare State artists)

5                     Events

                 (Descriptions of three representative Welfare State events)

6                     The Tips of a Thousand Icebergs

7                     Techniques of Survival - Statements of Hope

8                     Appendices