The Rubbish Side Show

Rubbish as a starting point

Long before Ariam existed, we were already deep in the world of rubbish. The Rubbish Side Show was where our fascination with discarded materials, playful making, and creative reuse really took shape. Looking back, it’s clear that upcycling wasn’t something we discovered later but something we’ve been obsessing over for a very long time.

The Rubbish Side Show has performed at various festivals and cabarets and, most impressively, had its own dedicated area at The Big Chill, jam-packed with workshops, site-specific rubbish art, and random happenings (including the world’s largest slow motion punch-up).

We explored the unique potential of plastic bags as both costume and props. We built mobiles and shadow puppets from tin cans. We rescued OHPs from obscurity and sourced the best cardboard boxes in London. We experimented with every possible variety of black plastic bag.

At the time, the Rubbish Side Show existed as a series of cabaret acts united not by form, but by a shared theme: an ongoing curiosity about waste and what happens when you start messing with it.