About

“We are two friends on a mission to play, make art and create entertaining experiences.

We aim to inspire communities whilst being inspired and collaboratively reimagining the day-to-day world we live in through kindness, frankness and laughter.

We elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary by popping up on your high street, writing a list of our most embarrassing moments, finding the time to choreograph an absurd dance to Radio Ga Ga, making a mum Haka, training up other artists to be us, talking for 24 hours on a live radio broadcast, being taught TikTok by 8 year olds from Great Yarmouth, or managing a cafe with pineapples on our heads.

We make workshops to get you on the airwaves, podcasts from our bathtubs after the kids are finally in bed, and a theatre show about boredom for an overstimulated Edinburgh audience. We believe in the power of art and the power of hilarity, honesty, and tenderness. We want to be the best. We want the best for you.’

Hunt & Darton are one of the leading arts organisation in the UK for public, interactive and highly creative activity. 

HISTORY

Hunt & Darton is an 11-year live art collaboration between artists Jenny Hunt and Holly Darton, who first met studying Fine Art at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London).

In 14/15 their interactive performance H&D Cafe toured to 14 UK locations (ACE Strategic Tour), engaging 10k new live audiences. This included 2 runs at Edinburgh Fringe (Three Weeks Editors Award), presentation at 3 major cities in China (with British Council & Forest Fringe). Public work includes: Punch, Sandwich, Cake (Circulate ’14 commission – tour included Artsdepot, Albany, Eclat Festival, Barbican), H&D Jumble Sale (Colchester Arts Centre, ’17) and H&D Dog Show (Dreamland ’18).

In ’18, H&D secured a further Strategic Tour with Radio Local (RL); a durational community radio show presented in key outdoor locations and broadcast live on FM, including content made with the local community (Partners included – Appetite, Sick Festival, Leftcoast, Heart of Glass, Vivacity).

This success led to a remount tour in ’20 with N&N Festival, Barbican, Battersea Arts Centre and Merton Council, delivered in a Covid-19 safe format. H&D have piloted a number of online projects to maintain existing partners and audiences throughout ’20, also producing a new strategic business model in response to the pandemic and building on their broadcasting experience are currently creating the RL Podcast and host a regular show on Resonance.

H&D are developing an education/workshop strand inspired RL workshops and leading/curating Barbican Box 2020 (40 secondary, SEN schools and FE colleges in East London and a further 14 with Manchester (Home).

In response to the Covid-19 lockdown, H&D created DIY Radio commissioned by Farnham Maltings. A free downloadable family pack for households to make radio for a collective podcast.