Death of Norrie Woodhall

 I was sorry to see this report in tonight's Dorset Echo:

"THE only surviving member of Thomas Hardy's Dorchester theatre group Norrie Woodhall has sadly died at the age of 105.
The famous Dorchester centenarian, of Owermoigne, is famous for her hardy connections.
Norrie, who is last surviving member of the original Hardy Players, played Tess’s sister Liza Lu in the stage version of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, which was performed in Dorchester in 1928."


I had the privilege of meeting Norrie when she came to the first night of my play "She Opened the Door" at the Corn Exchange, Dorchester. It was an extraordinary confluence of various Hardy elements but Norrie was the star of the show and we all had our photographs taken with her.  It has always surprised me how present Thomas Hardy is in Dorset.  After all, he died only 84 years ago but the direct ties are beginning to unravel and with the death of Norrie we are one more removed from the great man and his life.

A Streetcar Named Desire - a Review

Most people will know Tennessee Williams’ play “A Streetcar Named Desire” from the film starring Marlon Brando as the sexually overpowering Stanley Kowalski.  But Sasha Paul’s production for Dramatic Productions at Poole Lighthouse Studio shifts the audience’s sympathies back to that of his sister-in-law, the delusional, mentally fragile Blance Dubois.  In this production Kowalski is played with a grown up, intelligent intensity by Leigh Hayward that distances him admirably from the brutish Brando image and, while there is yet much chemistry to be explored between him and Blanche, last night there was enough simmering tension to make this relationship begin to pop and spin.  The setting of the piece, the lower working class area of New Orleans adds to the heat and tension and the whole cast works hard to underline this atmosphere of claustrophobic intensity particularly the ebullient Tara Dominick as Eunice, Celeste Engel as Missy and the members of Stanley’s poker school:Jamie Hill, Sean Pogmore and Steve McCarten who plays the disappointed Mitch with an effective puzzlement .  

But at the heart of the play is the character of Blanche. Nicole Faraday portrays her to aching effect with a desperation that shows the lines under the makeup of the woman fast approaching middle age and with a hinterland of failed marriage and a long trail of affairs. This part is one of the great challenges for an actress in portraying a woman who is in such denial about her past that we in the audience cannot decide whether she is an accomplished liar or completely mad and Nicole drags us through that experience with consummate skill. The final scene in which she is led off to an asylum is chillingly gripping.  The other protagonist is Blanche’s sister and Stanley’s wife Stella played here with spirit by Emma Stephens.  This is another challenging role as Stella has to appear timid and supportive whilst providing enough reality and power to balance the fizzing emotions of the rest of the characters.  Her wretchedness at the denouement is heartbreaking.  

The cast took a little while to get going and, initially, some of the vocal production was not crisp enough in the unforgiving acoustic of the Studio but once it was underway this production had the power to shock.  Sasha has assembled a hard working and effective ensemble including stalwarts Frank Holden and Julia Savill delivering fine cameos as the Doctor and Nurse who come to lead Blanche away and Peter Fellows as the Young Collector.  In these straitened times we will see fewer of the classics that require this size cast and Dramatic Productions must be congratulated for tackling this big play head on.

One thing we should all do is to urge the Lighthouse management to launch an appeal for a refurbishment of the studio.  The ghastly, noisy bleachers are uncomfortable and disturbing to the action, the echoing wooden stage floor is not suitable for professional plays.  And we all know the back stage is simply not good enough.  

From Wednesday 12^th October  to Saturday 15^th at 7.30 with matinees on Thursday and Saturday at 2.30.

Five Go Killing - a Review

 It’s very nearly impossible for a play in the theatre to achieve genuine topicality.  With the length of time it takes to write and produce most current references become ugly and outdated.  The clever writer writes for all times but, with sensitive attenae attuned to the slightest of movements in the social atmosphere, they can sometimes strike an uncannily contemporary note.  John Foster’s play “Five go Killing” does just that.  A play about middle class, senseless violence sounds extraordinary resonances with the recent city riots and the Amanda Knox case.  The central character, Joley, cannot answer the question “why?” she and her friends decided to start murdering old people in Bournemouth.  She almost resorts to the answer George Mallory gave to why he wanted to climb Everest – “Because it is there.”  What’s more she cannot admit to feeling anything about the killings, certainly not remorse or guilt.  But the Famous Five, as they style themselves, are not chavs, or the poor or the dispossessed, they are young professionals with comfortable lives and from comfortable backgrounds.

The play itself is written as a dialogue between Joley in prison and the audience who represent her visitors.  It is just that we are struck dumb by the enormity of what we are seeing and the dialogue remains one sided. This is an extraordinary collaboration between writer, actor and director.  John Foster’s script is totally gripping and for an hour and half we listen to Joley’s outpourings without ever sensing the passage of time.  Joley unrolls her story in a perfectly coherent manner which is beautifully judged to add horror upon horror without ever driving us away.  We are always spellbound, in the thrall of the narrative and always waiting to see if we can understand that question “Why?” This is a masterpiece of writing with a fine understanding of the language of a young twenty-four old woman from an educated background.  The slang never falls into the trap of being so hip that it is instantly out of date but with its own inventions and coinages it builds a terrifying sense of a closed community who could perpetrate such atrocities.

The performance by Rebecca Legrand is completely believable and satisfying.  Here is a young woman who can go from spoilt little girl to hardened psycopath in the wink of an eye.  She never overplays and makes her whole characterisation utterly, and frighteningly, credible.  Due credit must also go to the director Jon Nicholas who has created a frightening, memorable reality out of such simple materials.

Performed in Bournemouth over the weekend of 8th and 9th October 2011

Bournemouth Culture

I am slightly surprised (am I really?  No, I'm not actually) that Bournemouth makes so little of its culture as a way of attracting visitors and as a way of intriguing residents.  Bournemouth has long been trying to free itslf of the drunken stag and hen night image, why not put some energy into promoting its culture.  Here for example (reprinted from Wikipaedia so take it as you like) is a short list of literary associations.

Bournemouth appears as Sandbourne in Thomas Hardy's novels. Tess lived in Sandbourne with Alec d'Urberville, and the town also features in The Well-Beloved and Jude the Obscure. It is also mentioned in So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish, the fourth book of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. In James Herbert's horror novel The Fog, the entire population of Bournemouth runs into the sea and drowns in a mass suicide. In Andy McDermott's thriller The Secret of Excalibur, a car chase through the town centre and beach front leads to the destruction of the IMAX Cinema. It is also mentioned in Roald Dahl's The Witches as the setting for the Hotel Magnificent.

The Grave of writer Mary Shelley and her parents including Mary Wollstonecraft in St. Peter's Church, Bournemouth.

J.R.R. Tolkien, the writer, spent 30 years taking holidays in Bournemouth, staying in the same room at the Hotel Miramar, with a second room to write in. He eventually retired to the area in the 1960s with his wife Edith.^[13] Tolkien died in September 1973 at his home in Bournemouth and was buried in Oxfordshire.^[14]
Mary Shelley, the writer and novelist is buried in St. Peter's Church, her son Sir Percy having settled at Boscombe Manor. Also buried at St Peter's is the heart of Mary's husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, brought back from Italy, and her parents William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, their remains having been moved there from St Pancras Old Church.^[15]
The town was especially rich in literary associations during the late nineteenth century and earlier years of the twentieth century. Oscar Wilde and Paul Verlaine both taught at Bournemouth preparatory schools. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and most of his novel Kidnapped from his house "Skerryvore" on the west cliff. Count Vladimir Chertkov established a Tolstoyan publishing house with other Russian exiles in Iford Waterworks at Southbourne, and under the 'Free Age Press' imprint, published the first edition of several works by Tolstoy, however the author himself never visited the town.
In Peter Weir's highly acclaimed 1975 film adaptation of Joan Lindsay's enigmatic 1968 novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock, bygone holidays at Bournemouth are wistfully recalled by Mrs. Appleyard (played by Rachel Roberts), headmistress of Mrs. Appleyard's College for Girls, in Australia.

Jeremy Paul. A tribute

I felt it was something of a privilege to be at the funeral of Jeremy Paul yesterday.  St Mary’s Church, Swanage was packed with people from all walks of life and the service was a significant reminder of the man without being in the least bit mawkish.  It achieved what most good events like this should, which was to knit together all the facets of the life of this rennaissance man and present a whole. We all knew of him through the enormous catalogue of work for television, many series of which I had watched and enjoyed  from “Upstairs Downstairs”, “Hetty Wainthrop”, “Midsomer Murders” and dozens of others long before I ever was acquainted with the man.

 I knew Jeremy because of his love of theatre, his cricket and his family.  He had taken the trouble to see plays I had written and made suitably supportive comments and I had seen some of hs work.  Not enough, but the reading of “Bogdan’s War” was always gripping and drawing you in to the strange world of a country and people at war.  He had sent me a script of another piece he was working on for comments, which is a large thing to do because of his enormous reputation and consummate skill as a playwright and because, for most writers, it is a real challenge to put scripts in front of other writers.  You have to be very secure both as a playwright and as a human being to do that.  And for a few short weeks we had discussed a project for a play set in a bar in Swanage which we would have written together.  So, yes, I knew something of that side of him.  I knew of his love for cricket because that always cropped up in conversations with Jeremy and he was kind enough to send me a signed copy of “Sing Willow”, his amusing and informative history of his team, The Invalids, which was the inspiration for one of the great pieces of English comic literature in A.G. Macdonald’s “England Their England”.

I suppose I knew Jeremy most through his family and his life in Swanage with his four beautiful and talented daughters and grandchildren and, of course, the energetic and elegant Pat.  Pat and Jeremy created a family ambience in their home which was always welcoming, always supportive.

The most surprising strand of his life which I wasn’t aware of was his love for Stoke City Football Club.  And this was not the sort of faddish “turning to the back page on a Sunday morning to see how ‘my’ team had fared the day before” sort of support but real “turning up to stand on the terraces of some bleak Northern town with cold rain trickling down the back of your neck” sort of support. The real thing.  And this was underlined, we were told, by the fact that he got the name of a Stoke City Player into every episode of his television series.  We’re going to have to buy all those box sets of dvds of tv series just to see if that’s entirely true.  One way of securing immortality, I suppose.

A great man and a great send off.

Blooming Marvellous

Just been to see the knitted garden in th library in Bournemouth. It really will have you chuckling at the myriad details. I particularly liked the (knitted) shrimps on the (knitted) barbecue and the (knitted) shooting star overhead. Spend a good while just marvelling at the madness of it all. Well done Pauline Stanley and all the hundreds of knitters that took part.  Click on the link above for more details.

More ranting about The Arts

Have you noticed the way in which commentators utilise the same sort of sneer for "The Arts" as they use for "political correctness" or "NHS managers". I believe that those of us who believe that the arts play an important role in describing and discussing the world we live in should stand up and be counted. here I am ... One

Peter John Cooper: Oxfordshire Theatre Company and Forest Forge cuts

I was devastated to hear about 100% cuts in funding to Oxfordshire Theatre Company and Forest Forge. These two companies represent a vital part of cultural life in the South.  The cuts seem to be wretched and arbitrary and will leave a big gap that will not be filled by any other means.  We all lose. Oxfordshire Theatre Company I have a particular regard for as I was fortunate enough to be the first Artistic Director of Oxfordshire Touring Theatre Company as it was then known throughout the 1980s.  Both of these companies have maintained and developed theire artistic standards whilst doing the vital job of bringing theatre to people and communities who would otherwise have no access to live performance.  They must not disappear.  All of those who have had associations with these companies should contact them now and see if there is any support that can be giving to keep the wheels rolling past 2012.
Meanwhile, our best regards to all those who are currently part of these companies and good luck for the future, whatever it may hold.

A Rant about cuts in the arts support

The arts are essential in the sense that they are what create and reflect the cultural life of the society we live in. If you ask the question do we need the arts or, say the social services..., then I reply we need both because there is no point in just clinging on to an empty and barren existence. Most arts organisations have had to be extremely entrpreneurial over the last twenty years because all public funding comes with a requirement to raise matching funds from businesses, private investors and paying audiences. And I have never ever met a 9-5 artist. Those who live by the arts do so heart and soul 24 hours a day and any income received goes nowhere near matching the effort of production. Public subsidies enable us to keep being creative in those areas where the public have not yet realised what is possible. It is the equivalent of an ipad - who knew they needed one before one was produced? But once on the shelves everyone has to have one. But the ipad is produced only with the input of zillons of dollars of investmentbeforehand. Public subsidies provide us a small part of that investment. (Incidentally, I do not receive any public subsidy directly or indirectly myself)

Dorset Artists 2012 Reply

2012 Cultural Framework for Dorset
The Artists’ perspective
“We need to show a pride in our local artists and performers and local culture and to show it alongside culture from elsewhere - too often we sneer at our own culture and celebrate everybody else's, when actually there's no reason why our own isn't every bit as fascinating as the exotic stuff from elsewhere”
The Cultural Olympiad is a once-in-many generations opportunity for the arts in Dorset to be seen on a national and international stage and it could be a vital stepping stone on the way to righting the historic under-recognition that the Dorset creative industries have. We are all aware that there is very little in the way of properly funded arts infrastructure in the County and this means that there are very few agencies capable of leading the sort of projects that are envisaged and needed. It is therefore inevitable that Dorset artists will be under-represented when projects are awarded. But the Olympiad also provides an opportunity to put right some of the structural weaknesses that beset Dorset Arts in general. Tackling these now with the impetus of 2012 will provide a genuine benefit for the future.
"Please note that the Working Group has no funds to disburse but the programme list will be used to help potential funders to prioritise their resources."
Is that the bottom line?

In April this year a number of Dorset Artists expressed some disquiet about the process for assembling the Cultural Olympiad for 2012 and its legacy. Indeed, many artists felt that they were being excluded from the event. At the moment through the offices of Strata, The Arts in Poole (TAP) and Bomo Creatives we have had contact with around 200 individual artists living and working in Dorset (including the Bournemouth and Poole conurbation). We have been surprised by the amount of creative energy in terms of ideas for projects or just from the simple wish to become involved.
“I am concerned that I will miss out on the opportunity of my lifetime to be heavily involved in creating work for the Olympics.”
Whilst artists are delighted with the substance of the Cultural Framework 2012 document we are worried that there are a number of holes in these proposals which we think ought to be addressed before Dorset Arts practitioners lose out. Creative Practitioners are keen to contribute to the debate and are willing to take on responsibility to achieve long term goals This perspective aims to offer some suggestions to this end.
“Funding is a major issue. Fun is another one”

Concerns
Our main concern is that there has been little consultation with the arts community of Dorset (including Bournemouth and Poole) and consequently most of the ideas seem to be “top down”. This loses the essential Dorset qualities that can be supplied by local artists developing ideas from their own communities. Our feeling is that when these official ideas are finally put out to tender it will be too late to develop these ideas locally.
We need to examine urgently the creative resources that are already here in the County and consider how they can be developed during the next four years to deliver the sort of Olympiad that has been planned. The concept of Creative Hubs as suggested in the Jurassic Coast component is excellent but it is essential that these hubs are based on existing good practice and not reinvented from the ground up. For instance, Purbeck has a cultural hub already in Strata, why set up a rival in Durlston? It is ironic that Dapf with its model of cultural hubs closed down just a year before the Olympiad came to the fore.
There are many artists of national and international repute who live and work in Dorset. They need to be encouraged to participate and lead the Olympiad. But their work needs to be treated with the same respect it would be given in London or Venice. Respect for art is a novelty in Dorset and international artists can give us benchmarks of aspiration.
Dorset is agency and initiative rich but few of these have any impact on individual artists. We need a mechanism for putting these agencies and initiatives more closely in touch with creative practitioners. Agencies that exist in Dorset must become more active in facilitating artists rather than following their own narrow agendas. We need a cultural change that puts the agencies at the service of the artists rather than the other way round.
Despite the plethora of agencies for various art forms, since the demise of DAPF, there is no structure capable of bringing together information and delivering it to artists on a County wide basis. This problem is exacerbated by the geographical, administrative and social fault lines in a largely rural area.
The tendering process asks for fully realised projects with partners already indicated. This is beyond most individual artists and small organisations. We have no major lead organisation that can assemble all the elements into a fully realised bid.
There is also some concern that bids appear to be prescriptive and require utilitarian elements where specific non-artistic criteria have to be met. As this is a developmental process we should be looking at art as a vital raw material for the well being of the County in its own right. This would appear to be the direction that ACE is headed and we would wish to pursue that course.
“Culture for the sake of culture is often more worthwhile and longer lasting than culture for the sake of ticking boxes. I've done lots of the latter!”
“We need to show that there is funding available, that it's available based on the quality of the work, or at least the idea, and not simply linked to a set of criteria, which though noble and socially inclusive often end up excluding the majority...”
This proposal is an attempt to make a first step in enabling Dorset artists to become part of the Cultural Olympiad both as participants but also as providers of inspiration as the Olympic hosts.

Some possible solutions
The paramount need is for the structure of arts provision to be turned upside down and so that artists themselves can have a more central role in making arts decisions. This is not as radical a solution as it might seem at first and would undoubtedly remove burdens from council and other officers who could then become facilitators, backing the best artist-led ideas to make them happen, rather than seeking to control arts development
“ It needs to be excellent, but not expensive to run.”
With respect to the Cultural Olympiad specifically, we suggest a three pronged provision of arts enabling:
1. A small administrative core to enable financial management and tasked with raising money through grant applications. Responsibility of disseminating information through website and dealings with official bodies.
2. A development core to act as an interface between business and the arts and tasked with business and professional development including leading on business sponsorship.
3. A wider arts advisory body on a regional hub and spoke principal made up mostly of practitioners tasked with ensuring that money reaches directly to artists.
The first two functions can be delegated to existing bodies which could be given wider remits but with policy formed by the artists’ advisory network.
The network becomes “Dorset Arts 2012”.
Dorset Arts 2012 is responsible for the management of The Dorset Arts Dating Agency which forms the core of its being.
The proposal is that there should be a comprehensive database of Dorset artists and arts organisations established. This will form the basis of a pan Dorset information network that can disseminate information about the Cultural Olympiad directly to artists and, at the same time, take in ideas for projects and offers of involvement and attempt to put individuals and groups in touch with each other.
Details of this have been circulated previously but it now becomes much more important in view of the 2012 Cultural Framework document and the requirement for delivery of projects County wide. It has been suggested that the moribund Arts Index could form the basis of the website.
Assembling the database will be achieved by a concerted campaign through existing, mainly personal contacts and networks. (In the original DADA proposal we identified 16 arts databasesthat already exist but have no common link) The database would form the core of an electronic circulation list and website. The whole idea will be to put individuals in touch with each other and to be told of developments so there would be direct links to, or even pages maintained by, other relevant agencies (SW Arts, Olympiad Committee and so on). This is the perfect opportunity to identify and promote the cultural hubs throughout the County both within the Jurassic Coast area and beyond. The advantage of this way of working is to work with existing motivated groups and individuals. It may be that the outcome will be assymetrical geographically but the strength will be in commitment to the task.
It should also form the foundation for a Dorset Arts conference of the type that DAPF used to run.
Legacy
This network will have an incalculable value for the future of the arts in Dorset long after the Cultural Olympiad is over. It should aim to provide the “critical mass” of arts interchange that is so lacking in a rural area. It is slightly puzzling as to why this has never been attempted before.

“Essentially, I think the artist base needs to be broad and the organisational 'top' very very slim, so that we don't see the money swallowed up in consultancy fees, administrator wages and glossy brochures telling us what some people we've not met think that they've done for us”


Assembled by Strata members Tara Dominick, Matt Wilkinson, Peter John Cooper with contributions from Paul Angel, Peter Boyce-Tomkins and Steve Darrington. Additions by Mark Howell of TAP.

2012 Dorset Cultural Framework

2012 Cultural Framework for Dorset


Vision
Our vision is that the cultural programme will excite, engage and enchant residents and visitors of all ages, touch the lives of communities, and mark a step change in the way culture contributes to the area’s wellbeing and prosperity. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are a once in a lifetime opportunity for Weymouth, Portland and Dorset to really up their cultural game. As the eyes of the world turn to Weymouth and Portland in 2012, the borough will have the huge responsibility of representing Dorset and the South West region to the world. The four year period of the Cultural Olympiad is an unbeatable chance to bring culture[1] into the foreground, both to showcase our own talented artists and distinctive culture, and to embrace and learn from inspirational cultural activities from the rest of the UK and the world.


Dorset 2012 Cultural Framework Group
The 2012 Cultural Framework Group has been brought together by the Dorset Strategic Partnership Culture Theme to start planning for the cultural programme in Weymouth, Portland and Dorset. The group is an evolving one. It currently includes representation from local authorities, arts, community planning, tourism, archives, World Heritage Site, Arts Council England, South West, Team Dorset and 2012 Creative Programmer (SW).


Purpose of this Document
The 2012 Cultural Framework Group has a strong determination that cultural events connected with the Games should link into existing planning processes, so that events provide a fantastic immediate experience for participants or audience and at the same time contribute to the long-term infrastructure which will support cultural activity into the future. The legacy could include both tangible and intangible gains such as increased cultural skills and capacity, a positive change in the perception of Dorset, new networks, better facilities and resources.

This paper describes the national, county and local strategic context for the Cultural Olympiad in Weymouth, Portland and Dorset. It also sets out the objectives and criteria for the Dorset cultural programme. In addition, there is information about who to contact and how to get involved, and about how to use the official ‘Inspire’ branding. This document will be updated as national and regional plans for the Cultural Olympiad emerge, but please look out for detailed updates on www.london2012.com/beinspired and www.culturesouthwest.org.uk/downloads/.


Background
Weymouth and Portland is hosting the Olympic and Paralympic sailing events, the only place outside London to host a complete competition. Sailing teams will be visiting regularly to train in the run up to the Games. In 2012 thousands of visitors will arrive to take part in and watch the sailing events, and broadcast images of Weymouth and Portland will be seen by more than 3 billion people worldwide.
Dorset is known for its beautiful coast and countryside, much of it protected by national and international designations for landscape and wildlife value. The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site was recognised in 2001 by UNESCO for its outstanding and accessible continuum of geology spanning 185 years of earth history. It stretches 95 miles from Exmouth in Devon to Studland in Dorset, with Weymouth and Portland near its centre. It is the only natural world heritage site in the world to develop an arts strategy.

This is a defining moment for Weymouth and Portland to reposition itself as a coastal resort for the 21st century, with incomparable built and natural assets and locally distinctive cultural experiences across Dorset to meet the needs of the 21st century visitor.


Strategic Context
The cultural programme for 2012 in Weymouth, Portland and Dorset is framed by national, regional and local priorities. The successful bid by the London 2102 Olympic Organising Committee (LOCOG) has the vision to: ‘Stage an inspirational Games that captures the imagination of young people around the world and leaves a lasting legacy.’
This translates into the three core values for London 2012 Cultural Olympiad:

Celebrate London and the whole of the UK welcoming the world
Inspire and involve young people
Generate a positive legacy

Seven themes[2] developed through consultation with the arts and cultural sectors include ‘Animating and humanising public spaces’ which has been chosen as the key theme for the South West region.

At regional level, Team South West’s Legacy Strategy for the 2012 Games[3] has as its overall vision: ‘A lasting and discernible community legacy from the London 2012 Games’. The regional Cultural Celebration mission is: ‘To achieve a magical, vibrant and inspiring programme of events and activities as part of the Cultural Olympiad, celebrating the uniqueness of the region and unlocking the creative potential in all of us.’

The Dorset Working Group for the 2012 Games[4] (Team Dorset) has been established to ensure that appropriate action is taken to deliver a successful Games in Dorset in line with Dorset’s contractual obligations. Six sub groups have been formed to concentrate on key issues: Business & Economy; Transport; Event management; Communications; Visitor management; Community partnership.

Arts Council England, South West defines its regional vision as: ‘A vibrant and rewarding Olympic Games and Paralympic Games where the creativity of south west artists is enriched and inspires individuals and communities to fulfil their potential and achieve their best.’ Five key priority themes are also identified including the Olympic venue of Weymouth and Portland.

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Partnership[5] vision for 2012 is: ‘Museums, libraries and archives will help ensure that the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are an inclusive event. We will engage with young people, celebrate diversity and help deliver the best ever Games, sustaining a legacy for people in London and in all regions. We will champion the development of collections, audiences and workforce so that the 2012 Games will be a transformational event for the sector and our users.’

The emerging Dorset Destination Management Partnership[6] has key members from the public and private sectors of the tourism industry in Dorset. It has cultural tourism as one of its themes and identifies the common objectives between culture and tourism as Image making, Identity creation, Selling experiences and Memories.

The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site Arts Strategy[7] forms the basis of the arts strategy for the cultural programme for the 2012 Games in Dorset. Themes for 2008-2011 are Arts and Earth Science, Carnival, Celebration of Stone, Jurassic Coast fellowship, Sounds of the Coast, and Site Specific Arts.

The Dorset Strategic Partnership brings together the public, private, business, voluntary and community sectors in the county. ‘Shaping our Future’ : The Dorset Community Strategy 2007-2016[8] was developed through community consultation and includes priorities for the contribution of culture to economic, tourism and community development, the environment and well-being through culture which are overseen by the Culture Theme Group. The Community Strategy is the basis of Dorset’s Local Area Agreement with central government which this year has been negotiated around the set of 198 National Indicators (NI) published in October 2007, including NI11 Engagement in the Arts.

The Weymouth and Portland Partnership’s Community Plan 2008-2016: Your Place, Our Future [9] was developed through community consultation and identifies a key role for culture in the delivery a number of its priority actions within the Economy, The Built and Natural Environment, Safer, Stronger Communities, and Learning, Culture and the Arts.

The Dorset Strategic Partnership led a consultation process to arrive at a shared aspiration for the Olympic legacy in Dorset: 12 for 2012: Legacy for Dorset from the 2012 Games. The DSP Culture Theme Group has responsibility for delivery of priority 10: ‘Sustain the enhanced international profile of Dorset and through this continue to develop interest in the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, cultural activities and Dorset’s economic offer.’ The Weymouth and Portland Partnership has responsibility for the delivery of priority 11: ‘Provide a stimulus to improvement in the social, cultural and economic fabric of Weymouth and Portland together with improving the supply of housing accommodation, including affordable housing.’


London 2012 Cultural Olympiad
The national programme is divided into four categories:

Mandatory ceremonies (handover at Beijing, torch relays, opening ceremonies)
Delivered by LOCOG.

Major Projects which featured in the London 2012 bid.
Delivered by LOCOG with regional partners
UK-wide Festival
Supported / led by 2012 Regional Programmers

In the main, the 2012 Cultural Framework Group is concerned with projects in the Major Projects and UK-wide Festival categories. The UK-wide Festival includes Live Sites – outdoor video screens in major towns and cities. Planning is in progress for at least one temporary Live Site in Weymouth and Portland in the build up to and during 2012.


Cultural Olympiad in the South West
The overall theme for the regional programme is the Extraordinary Mile[10] embracing a series of Extraordinary Journeys through the unique environment of the South West and beyond in search of extraordinary people, places, spaces, events and challenges. The regional programme has a commitment to minimising the carbon footprint of every project presented.


Cultural Olympiad in Dorset
The 2012 Cultural Framework Group has agreed shared aims, themes and priority programme strands.

Aims
To effect a real and permanent transformation in the profile of culture in all aspects of sustainable economic and community life.
To contribute to the re-energising of Dorset as a place to live, visit, and do business, for visitors, residents and young people.
To establish the arts as a key player in effective and sustainable working across boundaries with other sectors especially tourism, sports, economic development and community development.
To leave a lasting legacy for culture in terms of physical resources, infrastructure, skills and capacity.

Themes
All projects must embrace the following themes:
Work with young people
Inclusion of disabled people and disabled artists
Recognise diversity
Create international links
Leave a lasting legacy

Projects may also address:
Participation
Skills development
Excellence and personal best

Programme Strands
The eyes of the world on Dorset
Celebrating the built and natural environment
Carnival
Movement and migration
How to Get Involved
The 2012 Cultural Framework Group is compiling a list of projects for the Cultural Olympiad in Dorset proposed by individuals, artists, cultural groups, local authorities and others, in order to identify complementary projects and duplication of effort, to keep an overview of the progress of projects and to check that priority objectives are being met. Projects taking place in Dorset may, of course, be part of the national programme, the regional programme or the Dorset programme or all three.

If you have a project at any stage of development – at concept stage, in active development or with confirmed funding and ready to run, please let us know about it. Please note that the Working Group has no funds to disburse but the programme list will be used to help potential funders to prioritise their resources.

In the first instance, please contact your local authority Arts/Cultural Development Officer with a short written description of your project (up to 2 sides) including project title, brief description, location, date and time, lead organisation, partners, stage of development, an indicative budget and funding sources identified to date.

Christchurch District Council


North Dorset District Council

Kevin Morris, Environmental Policy Manager
kmorris@north-dorset.gov.uk

Purbeck District Council

Holly Lagden, Tourism Officer
tourism@purbeck-dc.gov.uk

West Dorset District Council
Jude Allen, Cultural Development Officer
j.allen@westdorset-dc.gov.uk

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council
Alan Rogers, Arts Development Officer
alan_rogers@weymouth.ac.uk


London 2012 ‘Inspire’ Mark[11]
The ‘Inspire’ mark sits within the official 2012 brand family. It is a badge of recognition which will be awarded to innovative non-commercial projects and events inspired by the Games across sport, culture, education, environment, volunteering and business opportunities. Projects must be largely or fully funded before applying for the ‘Inspire’ mark – it cannot be used to assist with fundraising. During the first year, the ‘Inspire’ mark is being piloted exclusively on cultural projects, with a view to rolling the branding out to projects in the other sectors in future years. Any proposals for cultural projects during 2008/09 should be discussed with the 2012 Creative Programmer, South West.

Contact details: Richard Crowe, 2012 Creative Programmer South West
richard.crowe@culturesouthwest.org.uk
www.culturesouthwest.org.uk
www.london2012.com/plans/culture/index.php
Appendix
The Strategic Context


London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd
Cultural Olympiad briefing pack, March 2008

Core Values
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is for everyone. It will:

Celebrate London and the whole of the UK welcoming the world – our unique
internationalism, cultural diversity, sharing and understanding
Inspire and involve young people
Generate a positive legacy – for example through cultural and sports participation, audience development, cultural skills, capacity building, urban regeneration, tourism and social cohesion and international links.

Themes
The Cultural Olympiad will focus on the following themes:

Bringing together culture and sport
Encouraging audiences to take part
Animating public spaces – through street theatre, public art, circus skills, live big screen sites
Using culture and sport to raise issues of environmental sustainability, health and
wellbeing
Honouring and sharing the values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Encouraging collaborations and innovation between communities and cultural
sectors
Enhancing the learning, skills and personal development of young people by
linking with education programmes

www.london2012.com


Team South West
South West England Legacy Strategy for the 2012 Games

Vision
A lasting and discernible community legacy from the London 2012 Games.

Cultural Celebration: Regional Mission
To achieve a magical, vibrant and inspiring programme of events and activities as part of the Cultural Olympiad, celebrating the uniqueness of the region and unlocking creative potential in all of us.

The Regional Plan for Cultural Celebration includes:

Working with the London 2012 Organising Committee in contributing to the major elements of the Cultural Olympiad
Developing a South West cultural programme with an overarching theme of international friendship and inclusion
Developing through consultation, a series of projects that could include [amongst others]:
§ Projects within the Jurassic Coast Arts Strategy based on connecting sport,
World Heritage and culture
§ Specific opening and closing ceremonies at Weymouth and Portland
§ Iconic public art project for the region
§ A series of inspirational events linking sport, art and the Olympic and Paralympic ideals
§ Education projects which will link schools across the world

www.southwestrda.org.uk/region/london2012/introduction.shtm


Dorset Working Group for the 2012 Games (Team Dorset)

Aims
To ensure that action is taken to deliver a successful Games in Dorset, as per Dorset’s contractual obligations, where all partners are sharing information and working towards the same aim.

Key Areas of Responsibility
The DWG will support the work of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) in their activities relating to or connected with the management and hosting of the sailing events for the 2012 Games, and associated activities.
The work of DWG will focus primarily on the areas of: Event management; Transport management; Communications; visitor management. For these areas it will establish sub-groups.
Information will be shared between the sub-groups and the partner organisations. The DWG will provide a steer in respect of areas of overlapping interest.
The DWG will liaise with the Dorset Strategic Partnership (DSP) on issues relating to “12 for 2012”, Dorset’s legacy from the 2012 Games, for which the DSP will have ultimate responsibility.

The Group, chaired by David Jenkins, Chief Exec Dorset County Council, has representation from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, West Dorset District Council, Dorset Strategic Partnership, South West Regional Development Agency, Royal Yachting Association, Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, Active Dorset,
Dorset Police, Dorset Echo and Portland Port. The Vice Chair of the Dorset Strategic Partnership Culture Theme Group currently provides representation for the Cultural
Olympiad and Legacy Trust UK.

www1.dorsetforyou.com/common/partnerships.nsf/Partnerships/EE768F47212AA476802572E10074E88E?OpenDocument






Arts Council England, South West
Olympic and Paralympic 2012 project vision

Vision
A vibrant and rewarding Olympic Games and Paralympic Games where the creativity of south west artists is enriched and inspires individuals and communities to fulfil their potential and achieve their best.

Priorities

The Olympic Paradox: individual excellence and world peace
Inspiring young people and celebrating interculturalism
The south west natural environment: sailing, the sea, Jurassic coast and ecology
Ports of entry, departure and exchange
Major venue and training camps

www.artscouncil.org.uk/regions/index.php


Museums, Libraries and Archives Partnership
Setting the Pace

MLA Partnership is government's agency for museums, galleries, libraries and archives. It was created in 2006 bringing together the MLA Council and the nine regional agencies. The 2012 programme is the first major initiative of the Partnership.

Setting the Pace is the product of extensive consultation with the sector, and responses have been distilled into concrete proposals for five projects which will help deliver the best ever Cultural Olympiad, and have a transformational impact on the museum, libraries and archives sector. The five projects are:

International Exhibitions Programme
Telling ‘Stories of the World’ through the re-interpretation of UK collections.

The People’s Record
Capturing people’s life stories in London and across the UK and the engagement with the Cultural Olympiad and the 2012 Games.

The Record
Setting a new standard for a comprehensive Games archive and enabling this legacy to be used to inform and inspire.

Literature and Storytelling
Inspiring young people by celebrating ‘London and the UK welcoming the world’ with the written and spoken word.

Information Hubs
Showcasing the cultural wealth of London and the regions to an international audience.

www.mla.gov.uk/programmes/settingthepace


Dorset Destination Management Partnership
Destination Dorset: The Cultural Dimension

The Dorset Destination Management Partnership is currently being developed. Its aim is to make the most of the unique tourism and natural assets the area has to offer, reduce duplication and enable local associations and tourism partnerships to work better, to make better use of resources, to improve seasonality aimed at creating a year-round tourist destination and to maximise the potential of hosting the sailing events for the London 2012 Games and the World Heritage Status of our coastline. The Partnership already comprises of key members of the industry from the private and public sectors and a Steering Group has been formed in order to help shape the management partnership.

Cultural tourism is one of the themes which the Partnership is exploring. Cultural tourism is concerned with the consumption of cultural product from both the past and the present, or the way of life of a people or region. It is not one defined market but, rather, a number of niche markets which contribute to a general trend in tourist behaviour away from standardised mass tourism towards ‘knowledge-based tourism’. Whilst culture and tourism will gain in different ways from cultural tourism, they share the following common objectives: Image making, identity creation, selling experiences, and memories.

Cultural tourists want:
Authenticity
Travel and Discovery
A fairly wide and non-exclusive view of culture
Critical mass of cultural assets and product

Key stakeholders in Dorset are:
Dorset Art Weeks
Hidden Dorset
Creative Dorset
WHS Jurassic Coast Arts Strategy
Dorset 2012 Cultural Framework Group
National Trust
Organisations representing heritage, archaeology, museums and family history
Arts and Business

www.dorsetdmo.co.uk
Dorset Strategic Partnership
Shaping our Future: The Community Strategy for Dorset 2007-2016

C.4 Developing Dorset’s Economy
C.4.3.8 Improve the perception of Dorset as a place to do business through the ‘Image and identity’ project.
C.4.3.9 Enhance the performance of key business sectors. These sectors are advanced engineering including marine and aerospace, care, food and drink, tourism (year round, high value) and creative industries.
C.4.3.10 Meet the LAA reward element target to support the growth and productivity of the creative industries business sector.

C.6 Safeguarding Dorset’s Environment Now and for the Future
C.6.3.10 Plan, protect and positively manage Dorset’s natural and built environment in a way which retains a diversity of landscapes, supports biodiversity and retains local distinctiveness.
C.6.3.11 Use the international quality of the environment, including the AONB and World Heritage Site, as a driver for economic development and quality of life, within environmental limits.

D2 Building Stronger and Inclusive Communities
D.2.4.1 Develop a county-wide approach to volunteering, including the implementation of the LAA reward element target to increase formal volunteering.
D.2.4.2 Develop a public sector strategy for third sector infrastructure and by working with all partners build the capacity of the third sector for a future of shared service planning and delivery.

D.4 Creating Well-being through Culture
D.4.3.1 Implement the Creative Dorset Business Plan and maintain the support it offers to the sector beyond 2010.
D.4.3.2 Implement the World Heritage Site Jurassic Coast Arts Strategy and use this connection to build and strengthen other productive art and nature links in the county.
D.4.3.3 Work with partners to deliver a high quality cultural festivals programme, including international and locally distinctive work, for the Cultural Olympiad and provide a cultural tourism legacy for Dorset.
D.4.3.4 Support the creation of enhanced destination management arrangements for Dorset based on links between culture, local food, landscape, film locations etc.
D.4.3.6 Work with regional and local organisations to map and develop cultural volunteering for example to support community museums.
D.4.3.9 Establish a Dorset design and heritage forum to steer the resourcing and delivery of a programme of work which will enable a step change in quality through design professionals and public art.
D.4.3.11 Support partners including Active Dorset, the County Sports Partnership, and grass roots level voluntary sports organisations to retain and develop physical infrastructure and increase levels of participation and volunteering in physical activity and sport.

www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=2736


Weymouth and Portland Partnership
Your Place, Our Future: Community Plan for Weymouth and Portland 2008-2016

Economy
16 Develop the identity and image of the Borough as a business location to attract investment and new business
20 Develop a thriving creative industries sector, including arts, multi-media and new technologies
22 Develop the appeal of the Borough beyond a traditional tourist resort, taking advantage of changing markets and tourism patterns
24 Increase the provision of resident focussed culture and leisure activities
26 Improve specialist marketing, for example outdoor activities, environmental volunteering and the arts

The Built and Natural Environment
34 Work with other organisations to develop projects which celebrate and enhance the environment
37 Improve awareness and adoption of good quality design and architecture
38 Improve the seafront, town centre, and other key areas within Weymouth and Portland

Safer, Stronger Communities
81 Work with voluntary and community groups that set priorities and support their neighbourhoods
82 Create a more appealing and inclusively safe environment in Weymouth Town Centre
85 Work towards more inclusive communities, engaging people from black and ethnic minority groups, gypsies and travellers and the EU immigrant population

Learning, Culture and Arts
99 Develop the identity of the Borough as a vibrant and creative place
100 Develop a varied programme of temporary and permanent arts, heritage and cultural activities
101 Introduce a programme of public art for the Borough which enhances the character of the area
102 Develop policies to secure financial contributions for art works through public and private finance
103 Establish the Borough as a centre for training and enterprise in the cultural industries
104 Involve young people and use their creativity and skills to create a sense of belonging and pride of place
105 Increase the provision of cultural venues, both temporary and permanent
106 Develop the artistic direction of Weymouth Carnival as a showcase for the South West and legacy for 2012
107 Participate in the cultural programmes of the World Heritage Coast and wider Dorset area
108 Promote volunteering as a way to develop and utilise the skills of residents
109 Develop specific projects to engage young people, particularly in sporting activities and cultural projects linked to 2012
110 Support the development of affordable activities for young people in the Borough

www.weymouthandportlandpartnership.org/


12 for 2012: Legacy for Dorset from the 2012 Games
1. Improved transport infrastructure and access, with the Weymouth Relief Road open and in use, and an integrated road and rail based public transport system offering improved reliability and accessibility for road-based public transport serving Weymouth and Portland and more frequent and faster trains to and from Weymouth.
2. Creation of Europe's top international sailing venue at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy, including improved facilities and a new marina for the benefit of the whole of Dorset.
3. Increased participation by people of all ages in sport, play and leisure activities.
4. Increase in general levels of health and reduction in level of obesity in all ages of Dorset's population through more healthy, active lifestyles.
5. Weymouth and Portland becomes a centre of international marine and leisure excellence with a view to stimulating Dorset's economy, increasing wage levels and providing more year round employment.
6. Improved economic opportunities for wider Dorset, with access to quality employment, where young people can see they have a future.
7. Well trained and more highly skilled people in work or volunteering to support local communities and sustain the local economy well beyond the Games.
8. International recognition of Dorset as a desirable county to visit, that offers a warm welcome with improved customer care and quality service meeting international standards, backed up by high quality visitor accommodation.
9. A greater understanding of diversity and multiculturalism, including improved access and facilities in the area for visitors and local people with disabilities.
10. Sustain the enhanced international profile of Dorset and through this continue to develop interest in the Jurassic Coast World Heritage site, cultural activities and Dorset's economic offer.
11. Provide a stimulus to improvement in the social, cultural and economic fabric of Weymouth and Portland together with improving the supply of housing accommodation, including affordable housing.
12. Dorset to achieve a step change in its environmental and sustainability performance including energy and water use; waste & recycling; travel; food; materials and wildlife.
www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=358424
[1] The definition for culture adopted by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is a broad one including visual art, craft, music, dance, literature, carnival and street arts, tourism, fashion, food, film, video, photography, architecture, design, heritage, libraries, archives, museums, galleries, creative industries, sport and the media.
[2] http://www.london2012.com/plans/culture/now-to-2012/getting-involved.php
[3] http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/region/london2012/legacy-1.shtm
[4]http://www1.dorsetforyou.com/common/partnerships.nsf/Partnerships/EE768F47212AA476802572E10074E88E?OpenDocument
[5] http://www.mla.gov.uk/programmes/settingthepace
[6] http://www.dorsetdmo.co.uk/index.html
[7] http://www.jurassiccoast.com/downloads/WHS%20Management/jurassic_coast_arts_strategy_1.pdf
[8] http://www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=17275
[9] http://www.weymouthandportlandpartnership.org/community-plan.shtml
[10] http://www.culturesouthwest.org.uk/downloads/list.asp?CategoryID=97
[11] http://www.culturesouthwest.org.uk/downloads/file.asp?Filename=cultural-olympiad-background-briefing.pdf

Dorset Artists 2012

Decisions are being made now on how resources are allocated for the Cultural Olympiad 2012. Have you been invited to put your ideas forward? Did you even know it was happening? Probably not.
The Cultural Olympiad in 2012 is a once-in-many-generations opportunity to overcome the chronic underfunding of Dorset arts. We have launched a network called “Dorset Artists 2012” to make sure that Dorset artists and projects are given the opportunity to take part in this international event. If we can get 100 Dorset artists and supporters to join together then our voices will be heard in Exeter and London where these decisions are being made now.
Contact Peter John Cooper spyway@avnet.co.uk
Or join Facebook site “Dorset Artists 2012”
I hope to have a website up and running shortly that will aim to bring together ideas and to pass on information about where to apply to and what you need to do to get support.

Bridport Slam

Attention Purbeck! Peter John Cooper is taking part in the Bridport Slam. I need all the support I can get. Please come along if you possibly can. I'll even give you a lift. I will be up against the best of the best so come and make a noise. below are details of how it works......

APPLES & SNAKES BRIDPORT PRIZE SLAM !

Where: Bridport Arts Centre, South Street, Bridport, Dorset

When: Friday November 16th @ 7.30pm

Could all slammers please try to arrive by 6.30pm (7pm by the very latest).

Any problems on the night please call Richard on 07939-044086 or the venue on 01308-424024.

12 slammers each performing twice.

There will be two rounds of three minutes each per poet.

The 3 minutes start as soon as you speak on the mic, ie it includes any introductions you might want to give the poem.

Order of performance will be drawn on or before the night and will be reversed in the second round.

5 judges will be chosen at random from the audience and briefed to award marks based on quality of writing, performance and audience reaction.

No friends/family of any slammers will be chosen as judges. If you have any friends/family in the audience please ensure that they know that they can’t agree to be a judge if asked.

Please encourage as many friends/family/strangers to come along and support.

The top and bottom marks awarded by the 5 judges will be discounted (to avoid any potentially bizarre judging) and the middle three scores (which could range from 0.0 to 10.0) added together.

A “sacrificial” poet will perform before the slam starts and will be awarded by points by the judges so they can get an idea of what’s expected of them.

There will be a 10 second grace period before any penalty points kick in. Thereafter there will be a 1 point penalty for every 10 seconds overtime ie if your poem is 3 minutes 9 seconds you’re fine but if it’s 3 minutes 11 seconds you lose 1 point, 3 minutes 21 seconds, 2 points etc.

The winner of the slam will be the poet with the highest aggregate score overall, ie the two rounds added together.

If there is a tie there will be a sudden death play-off between the relevant poets (so have a third poem up your sleeve).

The winner will receive £100 and an Apples & Snakes gig in 2008 and will have the opportunity to perform a third poem on the night.

Everyone else will receive adulation from the audience.

As well as the Slam there will appearances from special guests including the inimitable Byron Vincent and a top poet from the USA and a short set featuring performances from some of the participants in a youth slam workshop run earlier in the day.

MC - the 2006 World Slam Champion and Radio 4 regular Elvis McGonagall.

If you haven’t already done so could you please confirm that you’re able to take part asap by email to: Richard at Apples & Snakes South-West - richard@fleming.prestel.co.uk

Equally, if you can’t now take part, no problem just email me asap so I can let the next person on the waiting list know.

And finally, a couple of tips for anyone who hasn’t slammed before:

1 – Time your poems beforehand.

2 – If they’re comic poems allow for audience laughter – it’ll make the poem longer.

Any problems/questions – give me a shout on the email address above.


Peter

Quarrying for Ideas

I'm going to Landers Quarry tomorrow at 10.15 am to find out something about new ideas for creative thinking. Let's all go. A brilliant idea by Tara Dominick. Tea and buns in the Worth cafe afterwards I believe. Tara says to bring wellingtons.

Swanage Seen

Dear All,

*Joy of Joys!*
**
I have just heard from Councillor Hadley that the *Swanage Seen, Art Trail Project* will be on the agenda for discussion at the Swanage Town Council meerting this *Monday 15th October 7pm.* As this is the meeting members of the public are allowed to speak in the first 20 minutes we would like as many people as possible there to support the project. We will have the first three boards that are completed there on display,( you can view the Paul Nash at the Heritage Centre)

It is now over a year since I first got in touch with the Swanage Town Council and it still seems to be the siting and planning permissions that are holding us back. I would really like to see this project up and running as I have devoted so much of my time and energy and need to concentrate on my own work.

A *Big Thank you* to Strata, The Quarr Gallery & everyone who has helped.

Please could you forward this to all Strata members and people who would be interested.

All the Best

Carlotta

Bridport Slam!

CALL FOR SLAM POETS!

Apples & Snakes present the first ever poetry slam at the Bridport Prize Live! literary festival on Friday November 16th at the Bridport Arts Centre in sunny Dorset.

MC’d by the 2006 World Slam Champion and Radio 4 regular Elvis McGonagall, there will be two rounds of three minutes each with a £100 cheque and an Apples & Snakes gig in 2008 for the winner.

VERY limited number of places available.

If you’d like to take part email Richard at Apples & Snakes South-West asap - richard@fleming.prestel.co.uk

First come, first served. As it were.

Here's Your Chance. Be a roadie........

I'm looking for a Roadie.
Now I’m starting to do a few gigs round the area - and being disabled, though I can walk a bit – I’m looking for help to get me there with my equipment. That’s a keyboard, PA and a couple of stands. It’s all relatively lightweight, nothing weighs more than about 35 lbs/15 kg.
So you’ll need a car or other vehicle and to be able to carry stuff. I’m looking for a few different people to do a bit now and then, unless I can find just one reliable person.
There’s money in it for you too!
You can contact me on 01929 422338.
Best Wishes,
Steve Darrington
PS the new festival's looking good, see www.bluesroots.org. I've just added Ocean's Seven, a 7 piece Jump Jive outfit with members of Jools Holland's band, for the Kings Bar!

California Dreamin'

dear all I am having a Social for Strata- ites, anybody that knows me or is interested in the arts in Purbeck (ie opportunity for networking -or just an excuse for a glass of vino!). it is this wed evening (5th September) short notice but hope you can make it. look forward to seeing you all. let me know if you can make it so I can sort chairs, glasses etc and car parking - others that you know who you think may want to come along are welcome.

details below

BARBECUE (or if necessary under cover (without the live flame effect!) in the studio) at California Cottage (Karens Place) PRIESTS WAY, SWANAGE
(BH19 2RS if you need to do map search but carry on up through Swanage coastal park caravan site and then a further quarter mile up over hill towards to cliffs), this Wednesday evening (5th Sept) from 7pm.
warm clothes as it is getting chilly and I get the breezes off the sea.
bring a bottle and something small to nibble.
hope you can make it

Cheers Karen (delahay)

From Swanage with Love

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".