As Europe's surrealists met in Paris cafes to hotly debate the very nature of art, what were their British counterparts up to? Making hats in Dorset. Jane Ure-Smith on the seaside surrealists
From Monday March 5, 2007 The Guardian
'I began to discover that Swanage was surreal' ... Paul Nash's Event on the Downs.
As coastal towns go, Swanage is hardly a seaside idyll. Sprawling around a bay that stretches from the chalky cliffs of Ballard Head to the stubbier Peveril Point, the Dorset town is a hotchpotch of architectural styles. On the front, pinball alleys jostle with fish-and-chip shops. Away from the water, there is more coherence - in the neat, grey-stone high street, for instance, which climbs up to a grand-ish town hall. But Swanage is hardly, at first glance, a place to fire the imagination of artists.
Yet it was this town that inspired Eileen Agar and Paul Nash, the two British artists who came to be known as the "seaside surrealists", making art from what they saw - and found - around Swanage. The pair met and had a passionate affair while staying there with their respective partners in the mid-1930s. Agar, daughter of a Scottish businessman, was born in Buenos Aires, but came to England as a child. The quirkiness of her art - her Ceremonial Hat for Eating Bouillabaisse was an assemblage of objects found on a beach and turned into headwear - quickly landed her in the surrealist camp.
London-born Nash, 10 years her senior, was famous for his paintings of both world wars. He experimented with numerous modernist styles, but is probably best known now for Totes Meer, his "dead sea" of wrecked German planes painted in 1940, which he hoped would depress the Nazis. But before that, Nash went through a surrealist phase that coincided with a move to Swanage in 1934.
Nash had asthma and hoped the coastal climate would help. Living with his wife Margaret, first in a farmhouse by Ballard Head and later in a seafront flat, he regained his strength and threw himself into a series of decidedly surreal pieces. It wasn't long before he met and fell for Agar, who had taken a house in Swanage for the summer with her long-term partner, Joseph Bard.
The views from his window emerged in such works as Event on the Downs, which depicts a tree trunk and a giant tennis ball heading off together on a journey, and Landscape from a Dream, a clifftop scene with bird and mirror, praised by André Breton. But about the town itself Nash was scathing. In an essay published in 1936 by the Architectural Review, he wrote: "Modern Swanage is of such extreme ugliness, architecturally, that the inhabitants instinctively look out to sea ..."
Neither Nash nor Agar was a surrealist in the sense of being a member of the Paris-based group. The British surrealists - including artists such as Graham Sutherland and Henry Moore, neither of whom we think of as surrealists today - were a looser group. Fascinated by the strangeness of the natural world, they cherry-picked the ideas percolating in Parisian cafes. Nash bought into Breton's notion that a statue standing in the street is just a statue; if, however, the statue is lying in a field, it is "in a state of surrealism" - and becomes somewhat disquieting. It was an idea that made sense to him in Swanage.
Soon after he moved there, Nash read a review of his photographic work in a magazine. The writer, Raymond Mortimer, insisted that the pictures were surrealist and Nash found the idea appealing. "They planted ideas in my mind which, deliberately, I allowed to grow," he wrote. "I began gradually to discover that Swanage was definitely ... surrealist."
For Nash, Swanage's strangeness was complemented by the beauty of the surrounding landscapes and seascapes, and images that could suddenly take shape before his eyes. "I am not likely to forget the morning when, from my window, I beheld a solitary swan wheel over the south-west and plane down not far short of the pier," he wrote. Swanage's swan took on a mystical significance: perceiving it in the design of new seats on the esplanade, he snapped away with his camera.
During the 1930s, much of Agar's work, like Nash's, focused on natural objects. She often saw in them the funny side: her aptly named Bum-Thumb Rock is a case in point, one of a set of photographs of odd rock formations she took while on holiday in Brittany. The accident of coming across these rocks, lying like "enormous prehistoric monsters, a great buttock ending in a huge thumb, or a gigantic head tuned with organ pipes ... all sculpted by the sea ..." prompted Agar to rush off and buy a Rolleiflex and make photography a part of her repertoire.
Later, Agar was the only female artist to have her work included in the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London. On Nash's recommendation, the show's organisers visited Agar's studio and selected several works. She was puzzled: "One day I was an artist exploring personal combinations of form and content, and the next I was calmly informed I was a surrealist!"
The sea held a certain terror for Nash because he almost drowned as a child, but he came to love it on the coast. With Agar, he scanned the shores for found objects to develop into artworks. Seashore Monster at Swanage, based on a "snakey monster" Agar found in the sand at Lulworth Cove, was one of their collaborations. "Digging like a child hunting for treasure, I unpebbled a long snakey monster with a bird's beak," Agar recalls in her memoirs. "It was an old anchor chain, metamorphosed by the sea into a new creation, a snake bird." They both photographed the object, Nash incorporating it into his photo-collage, Swanage.
Snakes, birds and flight had become part of the private mythology shared by Nash and Agar. When she ended their affair, Nash wrote to her: "If we break now, we break at the peak of our flight where we had climbed like two birds who make love in mid-air heedless of where they soar. We have not yet taken down our bright sky".
Friday, August 31, 2007
Purbeck Film Academy Awards
Purbeck Film Academy Premiere and Awards Evening
Sunday 2nd September 2007 from 5pm at Mowlem Theatre Swanage.
First screening of 3 short films on the theme of 'lost' made by local 11-13 year olds with Purbeck Film Academy.
Award will be given for best film as judged by the audience.
Come along and vote.
Sunday 2nd September 2007 from 5pm at Mowlem Theatre Swanage.
First screening of 3 short films on the theme of 'lost' made by local 11-13 year olds with Purbeck Film Academy.
Award will be given for best film as judged by the audience.
Come along and vote.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
No More Arts in Worth?
The Worth Centre has been sold to a property developer and there is a current application in at the Council to re-develop it into 4 Residential Dwellings.
Apparently the community of Worth and, in fact, many residents of Purbeck, feel that this application should be opposed.
The main opposition is to the Change of Use, from Business to Residential, as it will mean the loss of local employment opportunities and of course the loss of opportunity for local artists to have another venue at which they can exhibit.
The general feel is that perhaps the business has never been realised to its full potential and that now is the time and opportunity for that to happen.
If this Application is approved this opportunity will be lost forever as there seems to be no other site available for business in Worth.
If you are interested follow this link for more information, the fuller story and examples of letters of opposition that have already been sent in.
www.purbeck.gov.uk/planning/PlanAppDisp.asp?RecNum=32837
The person to send letters to is Ros Drane (rosdrane@purbeck-dc.gov.uk)
Thanks for taking the time to read this. It maybe doesn't affect you directly but is perhaps an opportunity for one community to help another for Art's sake.
Kind Regards
Kate Cross
Apparently the community of Worth and, in fact, many residents of Purbeck, feel that this application should be opposed.
The main opposition is to the Change of Use, from Business to Residential, as it will mean the loss of local employment opportunities and of course the loss of opportunity for local artists to have another venue at which they can exhibit.
The general feel is that perhaps the business has never been realised to its full potential and that now is the time and opportunity for that to happen.
If this Application is approved this opportunity will be lost forever as there seems to be no other site available for business in Worth.
If you are interested follow this link for more information, the fuller story and examples of letters of opposition that have already been sent in.
www.purbeck.gov.uk/planning/PlanAppDisp.asp?RecNum=32837
The person to send letters to is Ros Drane (rosdrane@purbeck-dc.gov.uk)
Thanks for taking the time to read this. It maybe doesn't affect you directly but is perhaps an opportunity for one community to help another for Art's sake.
Kind Regards
Kate Cross
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Purbeck Footprints
OPPORTUNITY: Workshops for Writers
As part of the Purbeck Heritage Trust’s Purbeck Keystone Project, Artsreach has commissioned the writer Paul Hyland to lead Purbeck Footprints, an initiative which aims to stimulate new, high-quality writing about the local stone industry. Please see the attached sheet regarding this opportunity.
Most people who see quarrs from the footpath or stone lorries on the road have little idea of the quality of work that Purbeck has exported from both its cliffstone and Purbeck stone and marble quarries. Some have heard quaint stories about the Ancient Order of Purbeck Marblers and Stone Cutters or dramatic tales of wrecks and smuggling connected with the quarries. Few understand the scale and difficulty of the stone business or appreciate the impact of Purbeck craftsmen and materials on national and international architecture.
There are many areas for research and chances to record oral history. Paul’s writing workshop will be an opportunity to network and share resources as well as to stimulate and feed back on new writing and work-in-progress. Paul is a poet, travel writer, biographer and broadcaster; he will bring his expertise in these areas to the table together with his experience in encouraging good writing from workshop participants.
The workshops will be linked to a special series of walks exploring all aspects of the stone industry – geology, quarrying, the craft of the stonemasons… and we will invite experts in the stone industry, its history and craft, to some of the workshops.
The workshops (ten sessions – 7.30-9.30 pm) will start at weekly intervals in October 2007, then become fortnightly (as well as leaving a six-week gap for the Christmas period) and finish in March 2008. We still have to decide the venue and day of the week, but they will be held either on a Monday or a Wednesday and the venue will be in Purbeck, in the heart of stone country. The fee for all ten sessions is £50 (concessions available).
Places will be limited – if you are interested in finding out more, please contact Angie Green as soon as possible – angie@artsreach.co.uk / 01305 269512.
Best wishes
Angie Green
Artsreach
As part of the Purbeck Heritage Trust’s Purbeck Keystone Project, Artsreach has commissioned the writer Paul Hyland to lead Purbeck Footprints, an initiative which aims to stimulate new, high-quality writing about the local stone industry. Please see the attached sheet regarding this opportunity.
Most people who see quarrs from the footpath or stone lorries on the road have little idea of the quality of work that Purbeck has exported from both its cliffstone and Purbeck stone and marble quarries. Some have heard quaint stories about the Ancient Order of Purbeck Marblers and Stone Cutters or dramatic tales of wrecks and smuggling connected with the quarries. Few understand the scale and difficulty of the stone business or appreciate the impact of Purbeck craftsmen and materials on national and international architecture.
There are many areas for research and chances to record oral history. Paul’s writing workshop will be an opportunity to network and share resources as well as to stimulate and feed back on new writing and work-in-progress. Paul is a poet, travel writer, biographer and broadcaster; he will bring his expertise in these areas to the table together with his experience in encouraging good writing from workshop participants.
The workshops will be linked to a special series of walks exploring all aspects of the stone industry – geology, quarrying, the craft of the stonemasons… and we will invite experts in the stone industry, its history and craft, to some of the workshops.
The workshops (ten sessions – 7.30-9.30 pm) will start at weekly intervals in October 2007, then become fortnightly (as well as leaving a six-week gap for the Christmas period) and finish in March 2008. We still have to decide the venue and day of the week, but they will be held either on a Monday or a Wednesday and the venue will be in Purbeck, in the heart of stone country. The fee for all ten sessions is £50 (concessions available).
Places will be limited – if you are interested in finding out more, please contact Angie Green as soon as possible – angie@artsreach.co.uk / 01305 269512.
Best wishes
Angie Green
Artsreach
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Arts Hub
Not sure where to add new items..but thought someone in this group might be interested in this job opportunity:artshub.co.uk is an arts website. We are known as one of the best places to find an arts job in the UK. But did you also know we are a central hub for UK and international arts news across the performing arts, film, writing and publishing, history and heritage, music, visual arts and more? Arts Hub is seeking writers who are located all over the UK to contribute occasional features, news stories and columns that are relevant to the arts in your particular region/area of interest.If you have an interest in writing for the arts please get in touch with our UK Editor, Emma Sorensen at emma@artshub.co.uk.Budget: £50-£75 per feature, depending on article complexity/experience
Strata Live! Cafe Culture in Swanage
Tara took these pictures on her phone camera at the July Open Mike evening. We all had a brilliant time. Don't miss the next one on August 21st.
Joe
Andy Martin came all the way down from Cambridge
Pete couldn't make it in the end
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Strata Meeting for August
The August Strata Meeting has been postponed until Wednesday 8th August (On account of fireworks, skydivers and general mafecking about in Swanage). Usual time and place - 7.30 at Quarr Gallery, 17 High Street, Swanage. Bring a bottle and have a convivial evening discussing matters of interest to creatives in Purbeck.
Paul Angel asked that we discuss his ideas (below) and I think we should.
Paul Angel - 5th June 2007
30 word simple mission statement:“Strata is a group of creative people who aim to promote and encourage the arts in Purbeck by helping to attract funding, to organise events and to support arts projects.”
Seven things we should be focussing on:
1 - Getting Strata known amongst the broader arts community in Purbeck.How? Hosting a regular informal arts networking opportunity, on the first ……………. of the month in the same pub at the same time - in the style of the Bournemouth & Poole networking evening. Invites should be sent to everyone we can think of with an interest in the arts in Purbeck, both by post and online. This would be something where you might just be meeting a group of friends every month, but NOT a meeting, and not an event, so no pressure for anyone, but worth doing for the networking.
2 - Get the website sorted out.The website should be a potential first point of contact. It should represent both the arts and Purbeck, and should be completely inclusive of all Purbeck’s creatives. People should want to be on it. Personally, I’m happy to work on it without funding, though of course funding would help.
3 - Get some paperwork.We need business cards and maybe even a leaflet. Something beautiful to give to people that we meet, something more than a winning smile and burst of enthusiasm.
4 - Supporting arts projects to raise our profile.How? We already are, with Swanage seen. Exactly as we should be.
5 - Finding funding for an ‘exhibition organiser‘.How? In my opinion, Strata’s key role should be in helping to create ‘showing’ opportunities for local artists, and even for well-known artists from outside. This could be by liaising with local showing spaces, including cafes, pubs etc, with advice on choosing the right artwork for the space, timings, fees/commission, publicity etc.. This could take up a lot of time, which is why funding for the person involved could be important.
6 - Keeping a log of funding opportunities.Working with DCA, perhaps, we need a list of potential funding bodies, either bodies specifically interested in the arts, or with coastal communities. This could be kept on the website. If someone has an idea for funding, they can ask Strata for support, and if we agree that the application is a good one, we can provide support in appropriate ways.
7 - Being inclusive.Some people still question the value of Strata and don’t feel as though they can be, or want to be, involved. The points above would help remedy this, particularly point 1, but it is important to make sure that we are absolutely clear that we welcome all of Purbeck’s creatives, and that we make positive invitations to any get-togethers to all of Purbeck’s galleries, art clubs, crafts groups and festival organisers. We need to get Swanage working together, guys!
Paul Angel asked that we discuss his ideas (below) and I think we should.
Paul Angel - 5th June 2007
30 word simple mission statement:“Strata is a group of creative people who aim to promote and encourage the arts in Purbeck by helping to attract funding, to organise events and to support arts projects.”
Seven things we should be focussing on:
1 - Getting Strata known amongst the broader arts community in Purbeck.How? Hosting a regular informal arts networking opportunity, on the first ……………. of the month in the same pub at the same time - in the style of the Bournemouth & Poole networking evening. Invites should be sent to everyone we can think of with an interest in the arts in Purbeck, both by post and online. This would be something where you might just be meeting a group of friends every month, but NOT a meeting, and not an event, so no pressure for anyone, but worth doing for the networking.
2 - Get the website sorted out.The website should be a potential first point of contact. It should represent both the arts and Purbeck, and should be completely inclusive of all Purbeck’s creatives. People should want to be on it. Personally, I’m happy to work on it without funding, though of course funding would help.
3 - Get some paperwork.We need business cards and maybe even a leaflet. Something beautiful to give to people that we meet, something more than a winning smile and burst of enthusiasm.
4 - Supporting arts projects to raise our profile.How? We already are, with Swanage seen. Exactly as we should be.
5 - Finding funding for an ‘exhibition organiser‘.How? In my opinion, Strata’s key role should be in helping to create ‘showing’ opportunities for local artists, and even for well-known artists from outside. This could be by liaising with local showing spaces, including cafes, pubs etc, with advice on choosing the right artwork for the space, timings, fees/commission, publicity etc.. This could take up a lot of time, which is why funding for the person involved could be important.
6 - Keeping a log of funding opportunities.Working with DCA, perhaps, we need a list of potential funding bodies, either bodies specifically interested in the arts, or with coastal communities. This could be kept on the website. If someone has an idea for funding, they can ask Strata for support, and if we agree that the application is a good one, we can provide support in appropriate ways.
7 - Being inclusive.Some people still question the value of Strata and don’t feel as though they can be, or want to be, involved. The points above would help remedy this, particularly point 1, but it is important to make sure that we are absolutely clear that we welcome all of Purbeck’s creatives, and that we make positive invitations to any get-togethers to all of Purbeck’s galleries, art clubs, crafts groups and festival organisers. We need to get Swanage working together, guys!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
ANOTHER poetry event
Love, Love, Love
Rob Hughes invites you to celebrate love with a delightful evening of
love poetry at Boscombes’ brightest New True Food café.
Cafe Boogaloo is the perfect place to enjoy a romantic evening of
classic love poetry and new works by local poets.
From 7:30 this Friday (the 27th of July) Rob Hughes, Johanna Lawrence
and others will be reading the most beautiful, sexy and humorous poems
celebrating romantic love.
In the first half of the evening classic love poems will be celebrated.
If you have a favourite you’d like to hear bring it along and read it
or have it read for you.
The second half of the night is new works. In an “open mike” kind of
way we hope to encourage the audience to read their own works.
I know I’ll be reading mine…
There will be “prizes”. Tokens of love.
Café Boogaloo is on Christchurch Road on the pedestrianised bit of
Boscombe opposite Barclays bank and near Specsavers. The sun will be
shining on Friday and you will find plenty of parking nearby. For those
of you not driving (well done you) there are frequent busses from
Bournemouth Square to Boscombe.
Entrance is a mere £3 English pounds. (Pay on the door) You are
encouraged to fully indulge in the beneficent hospitality of
Boogaloos’s brilliant owners Josh and Joel and enjoy the excellent food and tasty beverages.
Love Poetry @ Boogaloo’s is presented in conjunction with The
Bournemouth Literary Festival.
And now a poem I just wrote
Instructions for seductions
Soothe‘er with Shakespeare,
Relish ‘er with Raleigh.
Desire her with Donne.
Worship her with Wordsworth.
Beguile her with Baret Browning.
Bed her with Byron.
Rob Hughes 2007
Rob Hughes invites you to celebrate love with a delightful evening of
love poetry at Boscombes’ brightest New True Food café.
Cafe Boogaloo is the perfect place to enjoy a romantic evening of
classic love poetry and new works by local poets.
From 7:30 this Friday (the 27th of July) Rob Hughes, Johanna Lawrence
and others will be reading the most beautiful, sexy and humorous poems
celebrating romantic love.
In the first half of the evening classic love poems will be celebrated.
If you have a favourite you’d like to hear bring it along and read it
or have it read for you.
The second half of the night is new works. In an “open mike” kind of
way we hope to encourage the audience to read their own works.
I know I’ll be reading mine…
There will be “prizes”. Tokens of love.
Café Boogaloo is on Christchurch Road on the pedestrianised bit of
Boscombe opposite Barclays bank and near Specsavers. The sun will be
shining on Friday and you will find plenty of parking nearby. For those
of you not driving (well done you) there are frequent busses from
Bournemouth Square to Boscombe.
Entrance is a mere £3 English pounds. (Pay on the door) You are
encouraged to fully indulge in the beneficent hospitality of
Boogaloos’s brilliant owners Josh and Joel and enjoy the excellent food and tasty beverages.
Love Poetry @ Boogaloo’s is presented in conjunction with The
Bournemouth Literary Festival.
And now a poem I just wrote
Instructions for seductions
Soothe‘er with Shakespeare,
Relish ‘er with Raleigh.
Desire her with Donne.
Worship her with Wordsworth.
Beguile her with Baret Browning.
Bed her with Byron.
Rob Hughes 2007
Elvis is in House (Square and Compass anyway)
TheBlue Suede SporranClub
(it’s poetry jim - but not as we know it! and it’s free!)
@ the square & compass,
worth matravers, dorset
thursday 26th july @8.30pm
hosted by Elvis McGonagall
(World Slam Champion, Radio 4 “Saturday Live” regular
and poet-in-residence at the Graceland Caravan Park)
and starring
Ms Rachel Pantechnicon
(surprisingly attractive 40 year old ingénue specialising in motivational poems for cats and for people. Some with illustrations. “I was weeing myself” – Sue Perkins)
Mr AF Harrold
(an English eccentric who does things that are unusual on the stage, at home and in the bath. “Made me cry” – Leonard Cohen, “Illuminates nothing” – The Nail)
and Spoz
(a self-appointed ambassador for Birmingham, as well as the city’s current poet laureate – but don’t let that put you off. Let his poems do that for you instead. “Bostin’” – as they say in Brum)
for further info email:
richard@fleming.prestel.co.uk
links:
www.elvismcgonagall.co.uk
www.rachelpantechnicon.com
www.afharrold.co.uk
www.spoz.net
a blue suede sporran production
(it’s poetry jim - but not as we know it! and it’s free!)
@ the square & compass,
worth matravers, dorset
thursday 26th july @8.30pm
hosted by Elvis McGonagall
(World Slam Champion, Radio 4 “Saturday Live” regular
and poet-in-residence at the Graceland Caravan Park)
and starring
Ms Rachel Pantechnicon
(surprisingly attractive 40 year old ingénue specialising in motivational poems for cats and for people. Some with illustrations. “I was weeing myself” – Sue Perkins)
Mr AF Harrold
(an English eccentric who does things that are unusual on the stage, at home and in the bath. “Made me cry” – Leonard Cohen, “Illuminates nothing” – The Nail)
and Spoz
(a self-appointed ambassador for Birmingham, as well as the city’s current poet laureate – but don’t let that put you off. Let his poems do that for you instead. “Bostin’” – as they say in Brum)
for further info email:
richard@fleming.prestel.co.uk
links:
www.elvismcgonagall.co.uk
www.rachelpantechnicon.com
www.afharrold.co.uk
www.spoz.net
a blue suede sporran production
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Dorset Drama Conference
Bournemouth Theatre in Education, WAVE & DEPARTURES present
Dorset Drama Conference 13 July 2007
DRAMA – TEXT, SPACE AND OBJECTS
Friday 13 Jul, 9.00 – 4.30pm at Bournemouth Centre for Community Arts, Boscombe
Drama and theatre education can span subject areas, artforms, environments and communities. How can we use drama and theatre in new ways, working from new stimuli and in new environments, to deliver inspirational learning opportunities for children and young people?
This exciting course offers a great opportunity to join other drama practitioners running drama workshops with young people in formal and informal settings in an inspirational day of talks, workshops and performances, run by leading national drama educators and theatre practitioners. From adapting novels for drama, to performing in new, site specific settings, DRAMA – TEXT, SPACE AND OBJECTS, will allow you to learn and play yourself, trying out other artforms and reminding you just why you like to practise drama!
With Paul Bunyan (NATE Drama Representative), Anthony Waller, Nettie Scriven and others. Don’t miss this chance!!!
£70 for teachers in schools
£40 for freelance drama practitioners
For further details T.01202 452720 or e-mail tie@bournemouth.gov.uk
Dorset Drama Conference 13 July 2007
DRAMA – TEXT, SPACE AND OBJECTS
Friday 13 Jul, 9.00 – 4.30pm at Bournemouth Centre for Community Arts, Boscombe
Drama and theatre education can span subject areas, artforms, environments and communities. How can we use drama and theatre in new ways, working from new stimuli and in new environments, to deliver inspirational learning opportunities for children and young people?
This exciting course offers a great opportunity to join other drama practitioners running drama workshops with young people in formal and informal settings in an inspirational day of talks, workshops and performances, run by leading national drama educators and theatre practitioners. From adapting novels for drama, to performing in new, site specific settings, DRAMA – TEXT, SPACE AND OBJECTS, will allow you to learn and play yourself, trying out other artforms and reminding you just why you like to practise drama!
With Paul Bunyan (NATE Drama Representative), Anthony Waller, Nettie Scriven and others. Don’t miss this chance!!!
£70 for teachers in schools
£40 for freelance drama practitioners
For further details T.01202 452720 or e-mail tie@bournemouth.gov.uk
Attention Writers
The next South West New Writing Network Meeting will be held at the Lighthouse Poole on July 6th from 1.30pm – 4pm at the Lighthouse in Poole. The South West New Writing Network is a network of writers and producers from throughout the South West region. We meet quarterly in different parts of the south west to update each other on what we’re doing, network, and discuss emerging issues. We’ve also had some workshops and other events, and are seeding more for the future. The network first came out of an invitation in Spring 2004 by the playwright Kaite O’Reilly and some of her colleagues at Exeter University to meet with them to begin discussions on new theatre writing across the South West. The intention was to explore what is happening and what is not and what might be done. Specifically - we hoped, over time, to foster better connections between activity and initiatives that happen across a very large area. The network’s membership is now at around 150 playwrights and producers and is growing all the time. Members meet when they can at the regional meetings, but are also kept up to date with information through an email list. In December 2005 we were awarded money by Arts Council England to continue to fund and develop the network. This money is now coming to an end, but we are currently working with Theatre South West on a bid to fund a further 18 months worth of activity. It would be wonderful if you would be interested in coming along to this meeting. Please let me know if you are interested in hearing more, or if you cannot make the meeting, would like to be added onto the email list and kept up to date.
Sarah DickensonInformation and Research Consultantwriternet...giving dramatic writers the tools they need to build better careers and redefine the culture in which they work....Cabin V, Clarendon Buildings, 25 Horsell Road, London N5 1XLT: +44 20 7609 7474 F: +44 20 7609 7557 E: sarah@writernet.org.uk W: www.writernet.org.uk
Sarah DickensonInformation and Research Consultantwriternet...giving dramatic writers the tools they need to build better careers and redefine the culture in which they work....Cabin V, Clarendon Buildings, 25 Horsell Road, London N5 1XLT: +44 20 7609 7474 F: +44 20 7609 7557 E: sarah@writernet.org.uk W: www.writernet.org.uk
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
A Training the Trainer Event for Creative Industries Advisors
A Training the Trainer Event for Creative Industries Advisors
10th July 2007, Heelis, Swindon. Fee: £45, including lunch
Arts Compass -
navigating creative success!
Arts Compass is a training course for
advisors, coaches and mentors working
with creative businesses. Arts Compass
aims to develop skills in helping creative
enterprises navigate their way to business
and creative success.
You will come away from this event
with innovative methods for supporting
the growth of creative businesses, an
understanding of the economic impact
of the creative industries in the South
West,and an introduction to developments
in key issues affecting creative
businesses. The day also provides an
overview of the range of support agencies,
advice services and training opportunities
available to creative businesses locally
and nationally.
The course is suitable for anyone working
with creative businesses and artists in an
advisory capacity, formally or informally,
including art form specialists, business
advisors, mentors, coaches, and local
authority arts offi cers.
Booking deadline: 29th June
This Arts Compass event forms part of
the ‘Training the Trainer’ strand of the
South West creative industries Skills
Development Programme, funded by the
South West Regional Development Agency
and Arts Council England South West.
Places for this event are strictly limited
and booking is essential. To receive a
bookingform, please contact ArtsMatrix on
info@artsmatrix.org.uk
or call 0117 915 0190.
www.artsmatrix.org.uk
10th July 2007, Heelis, Swindon. Fee: £45, including lunch
Arts Compass -
navigating creative success!
Arts Compass is a training course for
advisors, coaches and mentors working
with creative businesses. Arts Compass
aims to develop skills in helping creative
enterprises navigate their way to business
and creative success.
You will come away from this event
with innovative methods for supporting
the growth of creative businesses, an
understanding of the economic impact
of the creative industries in the South
West,and an introduction to developments
in key issues affecting creative
businesses. The day also provides an
overview of the range of support agencies,
advice services and training opportunities
available to creative businesses locally
and nationally.
The course is suitable for anyone working
with creative businesses and artists in an
advisory capacity, formally or informally,
including art form specialists, business
advisors, mentors, coaches, and local
authority arts offi cers.
Booking deadline: 29th June
This Arts Compass event forms part of
the ‘Training the Trainer’ strand of the
South West creative industries Skills
Development Programme, funded by the
South West Regional Development Agency
and Arts Council England South West.
Places for this event are strictly limited
and booking is essential. To receive a
bookingform, please contact ArtsMatrix on
info@artsmatrix.org.uk
or call 0117 915 0190.
www.artsmatrix.org.uk
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Low cost training for artists and makers.
Walford Mill Crafts and Arts Matrix are inviting expressions of interest>from artists and makers for a series of Continuing Professional Development programmes scheduled for September/October 2007. This programme will need to secure a minimum of 20 artists/makers to go ahead and we would ask that if you are interested in participating that you send your details to Jenny Gordon, Education Officer, Walford Mill Crafts, Stone Lane, Wimborne, BH21 1NL or email education@walfordmillcrafts.co.uk asap. We are offering two seminar and work based learning programmes:
Makers to Tutors and Makers-Gallery Success
Makers to Tutors This programme offers artists and craftspeople training and work based learning on how to make the transition from artist/maker to workshop tutor. This programme has arisen out of the need to expand the pool of artists able to offer workshops to adults and children in Dorset. Teaching workshops can>be a valuable source of extra income for artists as well as being a very rewarding experience. This low cost training is designed to provide you with all the skills you need to get started as well as providing mentored workshop shadowing and practical experience. The programme has three parts:Part 1 Proposed date Friday 28th September 2007>9.15am - 4.30pm Packaging workshops for Art and Craft Centres* How to Structure and Teach Workshops* Child Protection Training, working with vulnerable adults, Health and Safety* Tips from experienced workshop leaders* A practical toolkit to take away
Part 2 Workshop Shadowing - Maximum 9 hours training We will offer students the opportunity to shadow an experienced workshop tutor who will mentor them. Students will be able to choose from the following packages. Children's Workshops:Students will shadow 2 X 2 hour children's workshops = 4 hours mentoring Adult Workshops: Students will shadow 1 X 5 hour adult workshop = 5 hours mentoring
Part 3 Work Based Learning Students will be offered the chance to submit a proposal of either a 2 X>hour children's workshop or a half day 3 X hour adult or teenage workshop. Successful candidates will have their workshops programmed at Walford Mill Crafts. The workshop will be assessed by the Education Officer for quality,>content and delivery. On successful evaluation students may become regular tutors for Walford Mill Crafts. Students are encouraged to take part in all parts of the programme; the approximate cost of taking part in all aspects of the programme will be around £100. Workshop leaders with some experience wishing to attend only>Part 1 may do so, fee tbc
Makers - Gallery Success This programme offers makers and craftspeople the opportunity to improve their approach to galleries and their success rate in gaining works through exhibiting or selling their craftwork. This programme has arisen form the need for makers and craftspeople to be aware of simple marketing techniques>that can improve their chances of getting their foot in the door. Making that initial approach to galleries and craft centres can be a daunting process. This package will give you the practical skills needed to help you make a well researched and professional approach, awareness of how your work will fit into that gallery, what elements of your work are saleable /commercial, pricing your work, as well as practical tips on being a self-employed maker.
Part 1 Seminar - Proposed date 24th October 2007 9.15am - 4.30pm - 6 Hours Making the approach to Art and Craft Centres* Introduction to Marketing* Tips from successful makers* Research, Pricing and Saleability* A practical Toolkit to take away
Part 2 Critique Sessions Proposed dates 25th&26th October 20 places. Each artistwill receive a 30 minute session with a panel of three highly respected craft professionals. The panel will look with you at your portfolio and advise on the direction of your work and possibilities for commercial sales and exhibitions.
Continuing Professional Development sessions are also available to book. These sessions will be led by Keturah Warren at Arts matrix on an individual appointment only basis. Students are encouraged to take part in both parts of this programme; the approximate cost will be around £60.
Keturah Warren, Professional Development Coordinator, ArtsMatrix Dorset, Enterprise Pavilion, Fern Barrow, Wallisdown, Dorset BH12 5HH tel: 01202 853642 Please note that there is now a £10 booking fee for our one-to-one>professional development sessions. Thanks to generous support from South West Regional Development Agency and Arts Council England South West, we are still able to offer this popular service (worth £300-plus in the private sector) at a significantly subsidised rate. The booking fee is a once-off charge and there will be no fee for follow-up sessions. ArtsMatrix is the professional skills development agency for the arts and creative industries in the South West. Visit www.artsmatrix.org.uk><http://www.artsmatrix.org.uk/> for news, resources and opportunities and to sign up for our free bulletin.
Makers to Tutors and Makers-Gallery Success
Makers to Tutors This programme offers artists and craftspeople training and work based learning on how to make the transition from artist/maker to workshop tutor. This programme has arisen out of the need to expand the pool of artists able to offer workshops to adults and children in Dorset. Teaching workshops can>be a valuable source of extra income for artists as well as being a very rewarding experience. This low cost training is designed to provide you with all the skills you need to get started as well as providing mentored workshop shadowing and practical experience. The programme has three parts:Part 1 Proposed date Friday 28th September 2007>9.15am - 4.30pm Packaging workshops for Art and Craft Centres* How to Structure and Teach Workshops* Child Protection Training, working with vulnerable adults, Health and Safety* Tips from experienced workshop leaders* A practical toolkit to take away
Part 2 Workshop Shadowing - Maximum 9 hours training We will offer students the opportunity to shadow an experienced workshop tutor who will mentor them. Students will be able to choose from the following packages. Children's Workshops:Students will shadow 2 X 2 hour children's workshops = 4 hours mentoring Adult Workshops: Students will shadow 1 X 5 hour adult workshop = 5 hours mentoring
Part 3 Work Based Learning Students will be offered the chance to submit a proposal of either a 2 X>hour children's workshop or a half day 3 X hour adult or teenage workshop. Successful candidates will have their workshops programmed at Walford Mill Crafts. The workshop will be assessed by the Education Officer for quality,>content and delivery. On successful evaluation students may become regular tutors for Walford Mill Crafts. Students are encouraged to take part in all parts of the programme; the approximate cost of taking part in all aspects of the programme will be around £100. Workshop leaders with some experience wishing to attend only>Part 1 may do so, fee tbc
Makers - Gallery Success This programme offers makers and craftspeople the opportunity to improve their approach to galleries and their success rate in gaining works through exhibiting or selling their craftwork. This programme has arisen form the need for makers and craftspeople to be aware of simple marketing techniques>that can improve their chances of getting their foot in the door. Making that initial approach to galleries and craft centres can be a daunting process. This package will give you the practical skills needed to help you make a well researched and professional approach, awareness of how your work will fit into that gallery, what elements of your work are saleable /commercial, pricing your work, as well as practical tips on being a self-employed maker.
Part 1 Seminar - Proposed date 24th October 2007 9.15am - 4.30pm - 6 Hours Making the approach to Art and Craft Centres* Introduction to Marketing* Tips from successful makers* Research, Pricing and Saleability* A practical Toolkit to take away
Part 2 Critique Sessions Proposed dates 25th&26th October 20 places. Each artistwill receive a 30 minute session with a panel of three highly respected craft professionals. The panel will look with you at your portfolio and advise on the direction of your work and possibilities for commercial sales and exhibitions.
Continuing Professional Development sessions are also available to book. These sessions will be led by Keturah Warren at Arts matrix on an individual appointment only basis. Students are encouraged to take part in both parts of this programme; the approximate cost will be around £60.
Keturah Warren, Professional Development Coordinator, ArtsMatrix Dorset, Enterprise Pavilion, Fern Barrow, Wallisdown, Dorset BH12 5HH tel: 01202 853642 Please note that there is now a £10 booking fee for our one-to-one>professional development sessions. Thanks to generous support from South West Regional Development Agency and Arts Council England South West, we are still able to offer this popular service (worth £300-plus in the private sector) at a significantly subsidised rate. The booking fee is a once-off charge and there will be no fee for follow-up sessions. ArtsMatrix is the professional skills development agency for the arts and creative industries in the South West. Visit www.artsmatrix.org.uk><http://www.artsmatrix.org.uk/> for news, resources and opportunities and to sign up for our free bulletin.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Reghu Nadhan
Reghu Nadhan will be doing workshops at GO GLOBAL FESTIVAL, Stourhead, Fontmell Magna, 16th/17th june
KATHAKALI Perfomances at
THE EARTHOUSE.
Ancient Technolgy Centre, Cranborne, Dorset
23 June 7.30 pm Tickets £7.50 adults £3.50 children unmder 16 from east Dorset heritage trust, Allendale House, Hanham Road, Wimborne Minster BH21 1AS tel: 01202 888992 cheque payable to A.T.C Friends account (sae please)
ARTSREACH Performance at LANGTON MATRAVERS VILLAGE HALL
Sunday July 1st at 7.30pm
Bookings tel 01929 426654
KATHAKALI Perfomances at
THE EARTHOUSE.
Ancient Technolgy Centre, Cranborne, Dorset
23 June 7.30 pm Tickets £7.50 adults £3.50 children unmder 16 from east Dorset heritage trust, Allendale House, Hanham Road, Wimborne Minster BH21 1AS tel: 01202 888992 cheque payable to A.T.C Friends account (sae please)
ARTSREACH Performance at LANGTON MATRAVERS VILLAGE HALL
Sunday July 1st at 7.30pm
Bookings tel 01929 426654
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Creative Teas
To launch Creative Dorset we held breakfast network meetings in May in Blandford, Bridport, Sherborne and Poole. Over 140 people working in a huge variety of creative industries attended to find out what we are about and how we might help them. The response was amazingly positive and dynamic so now we are holding Creative Teas in different corners of the county to enable more people to get together and help those who find it difficult to function so early! If you would like to join us for a free cream tea and to hear from some of the people who can provide training and support for you, let us know as soon as possible.
All of the teas will run from 4-6pm and the dates are:
July 11- Sundeck Room, Weymouth Pavilion
July 16 - The Blue Pool Tea House, Wareham
July 18 - The Boathouse Restaurant, on the Quay at Christchurch
July 19 - The Enterprise Connection, Poundbury
Please pass this on to anyone else who works in a creative business – if you are not sure what that includes there is a definition below. If you have a burning issue, or question, or service you would like to share at the Creative Tea please email us and we will try to accommodate you. Dominic Tambling Director, Creative Dorset dominic@creativedorset.co.uk 0798 361 8 361
The creative industries are defined as being based on individual creativity, skill and talent or those that create wealth and jobs through developing intellectual property. They include: advertising, architecture, art and antiques markets, computer and video games, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, music, performing arts, publishing, software, television and radio
All of the teas will run from 4-6pm and the dates are:
July 11- Sundeck Room, Weymouth Pavilion
July 16 - The Blue Pool Tea House, Wareham
July 18 - The Boathouse Restaurant, on the Quay at Christchurch
July 19 - The Enterprise Connection, Poundbury
Please pass this on to anyone else who works in a creative business – if you are not sure what that includes there is a definition below. If you have a burning issue, or question, or service you would like to share at the Creative Tea please email us and we will try to accommodate you. Dominic Tambling Director, Creative Dorset dominic@creativedorset.co.uk 0798 361 8 361
The creative industries are defined as being based on individual creativity, skill and talent or those that create wealth and jobs through developing intellectual property. They include: advertising, architecture, art and antiques markets, computer and video games, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, music, performing arts, publishing, software, television and radio
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