"Merchants from all over Europe would travel from the coastal ports to London's perimeter and rest for the night in one of the many inns in Southwark before entering the city, perhaps the most well-known of these was 'The Tabard' from whence Chaucer's fictional characters assembled prior to their pilgrimage in Canterbury Tales."

An Illustrated History of Borough Market - published by the Trustees of The Borough Market.

Taking our initial inspiration from the fictional inception of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales at The Tabard Inn (next to Borough Market) we have developed a project which aims to question the contemporary significance of a 'pilgrimage', and explore the most appropriate way to inspire, record, broadcast and collate 29 modern day 'tales'.

On Saturday 11 September, 29 modern day pilgrims, selected through an auditioning process, will embark on personal pilgrimages. During the course of the day the artists will 'author' a live event at the market, starting with a crafted prologue to the entire performance they will then mix interviews, contextual material and feedback from the journeys with the real substance of the work - the 29 tales. Each pilgrim will be given a set time at which to broadcast their tale live back to the market - and each tale will, as in the original, be prefaced by a short prologue - a pre-recorded video portrait of each pilgrim. Tension will mount during the day as the pilgrims make their way back to the market, the tales will continue into the evening and conclude as the 29 sit down to a spectacular medieval-style feast, prepared served and 'hosted' in Borough Market. Finally, again following the format of the original text, the artists will conclude the days events with 'retractions' a summary and thanks.

The Tales
As with the original work the Tales form the heart of this piece. Chaucer used the device of a fictional pilgrimage as the conceptual framework for his Tales. In our work this fictional journey is replaced by many actual journeys and our framework to contain the stories is the production of a live broadcast. Here, with a one day live event we will replace one collection of popular tales with another - our tales will be broadcast using the spoken word (rather than distributed via written texts) and each tale will be literally animated by the author's voice. Pilgrims will carry equipment with which to broadcast their tales and record their day's journey (such as mobile phones & cameras). We envisage the Tales forming a diverse collection of stories ranging from live verbal monologues, to crafted pre-written texts, reflections on their chosen destinations. The content and form of each will be decided by the pilgrims and developed in collaboration with us prior to the journey.

The Pilgrims
Knight, Miller, Reeve, Cook, Man of Law, Shipman, Prioress, Monk, Nun, Physician, Pardoner, Wife of Bath, Friar, Summoner, Clerk, Merchant, Squire, Franklin, Nun, Yeoman, Manciple, Parson, Haberdasher, Dyer, Weaver, Carpet-maker, Carpenter, Plowman.
The 29 pilgrims will be sought through local, national and global (via the WWW) approaches and selected via a series of auditions. Applicants will be sent a form developed by the artists so as to begin a dialogue with the pilgrims - who will be seen as the 'primary' audience for the work. They will be asked questions as to the nature of their pilgrimage, their motivations and ideas for their tale. As with the original pilgrims they should represent a broad selection of very different characters and, again relating to the original text, they will remain in some ways anonymous as we intend to replace Chaucer's list of 'tale names' with the 29 corresponding occupations of our pilgrims. They will be invited to interpret the idea of the pilgrimage in their own way. This could range from visiting a place of childhood memory, to performing a 'quest', paying homage to a personal hero/heroine or visiting sites of historic, social and scientific significance. Our dialogue with the pilgrims will begin at the invitation stage and develop right up to the day, we will be collaborating with them to develop their travel plans, discuss their motivations and plan their tales. We will make a short video portrait of each pilgrim which will act as their prologue on the day.

The Event
If the book is the media by which the stories we now recognize as the Canterbury Tales are 'glued' together, for us the one day live event at Borough Market forms this medium. We, the artists, replace Chaucer in the roll of author or facilitator, and perhaps in collaboration with the market itself also act as 'hosts' for the event, the pilgrims and a wider audience. On the day, Borough Market will serve as a live TV studio (reflecting an already familiar use) on one 'stage', a set surrounded by video monitors, projectors, mixing desks etc. will form the focus for presenting the broadcast tales and contextual coverage hosted by the artists. By contrast on a facing stage the slow and laborious preparations for the evening meal will be taking place, somewhat ritualised by the comparison with the broadcast platform. The artists will choreograph and mix a live web cast - visible in the market or via the Internet using both live and pre-recorded video and sound footage of the pilgrims, interviews with researched and invited guests and members of the audience. They will be assisted by two film crews one will spend the day 'tracking' various pilgrims the other will relay events from the market. Ultimately excerpts from the days footage will be edited down into a programme but the emphasis will lie on providing a spectacle and atmosphere on the day.

The Audience
Many of the decisions as to the nature of the actual event relate strongly to a conscious desire to considermany different levels of audience. The audience for this work begins with the pilgrims, if the project has some personal resonance for them, they will believe in and invest in the piece - this level of engagement then filters out into the different areas where the project then engages further viewers. With the pilgrims the project begins when they apply, the piece is, in effect, live from this moment. Later on other audiences are introduced, the people helping to make the work, the film crews, the chefs, the visitors to the market, the audience viewing the work via the web and latterly people who hear of the project post-event. The work will engage audiences on all of these levels.

This has very much affected the way we've developed both the conceptual framework for the piece, how each tale will rest in a given context and aesthetic decisions as to what an audience coming to the market on the day will see. What kind of quality, for example, will the pre-recorded video prologues have in comparison to the live tales and interviews? How can the two stages be animated and given an appropriate level of theatricality whilst also acknowledging the surroundings of the market?

With each of our collaborative projects we attempt to ask ourselves a series of open ended questions, often these questions lead to a complex and at times seemingly impossible or chaotic series of tasks. These tasks are informed by our original set of questions but often only begin to be answered via the introduction of our audience - the audience are invited in at the stage of production. They are invited to challenge our set of questions and our desire to tie up neat answers. They are integrated into the process of production and given access to the final 'product'.

Tied to our original question is the attempt to exploit new technology in ways most appropriate to each given situation. Technology is used as a lens through which to re-approach models from the past and reconsider their significance as both a means of production and vehicle for presentation for contemporary artists. Despite the predominance of historically related material in our work we are critical of slavish reinterpretations and would always want our pieces to ask new questions appropriate to a contemporary context, method of production and audience.

Broadcast (29 pilgrims, 29 tales) will provide both the spectacle required of a one-day live event, and the content for a web site which will continue to attract a large audience over time. Taking our lead from the unique combination of history, fiction, drama, cuisine and contemporary commerce embodied by Borough Market, we will use a process centered on new technology to ask a series of questions. We will look at the boundaries between the artist and audience, between art production and display but most importantly we will embark on an open-ended enquiry with our audience into what a contemporary pilgrimage might be.