Waveney & Blyth Arts

Creatively connecting people with place along the Norfolk/Suffolk border

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IBBAS, Call for exhibitors

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For the exhibition of contemporary art responding to the work of Harry Becker, running August 13 to 16, 2021.

The ‘Inspired by Becker Art Society’ has run their annual exhibition since 2013, and once again will be returning to Holy Trinity Blythburgh this August. The theme for the main exhibition is “Freedom”. In addition, the Mike Holtom Award will be given for the best abstract interpretation of this theme.

Artists are invited to apply to exhibit up to 5 hung works via email or Direct Message on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. Full details will then be supplied to your email address.

NB Artists who paid to exhibit in 2020 should just email us to confirm that you would like to enter work this year.

An invitation, The Bank Eye

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An invitation

Members of W&BA are invited to collaborate in creating an exhibition at The Bank  arts centre in Eye. The theme is Changing environment and it will run from mid-July for 4 to 6 weeks.

If you are interested in joining the collaboration and/or exhibiting, please contact me  on peterbrookeassoc@btconnect.com. The deadline for registering your interest is 23 April.

Peter Brooke

www.thebankeye.org

Circle 67 Updates

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At the beginning of March 2020 rehearsals for a spring production of Nell Gwynn were well underway for Circle 67, the Bramfield based drama group, but with news that the Coronavirus was spreading in the UK a decision was made to suspend rehearsals several weeks before the national lockdown started. However, as a very social group and keen to keep everyone together, group Chair, Steve Chadwick, took the first tentative steps of meeting via Zoom. What started out as around ten members meeting once a week to simply read through a play has a year later grown and transformed into a weekly “Lockdown Theatre” gathering of 40 to 50 members, friends and guests from all around the globe to enjoy a chat before a couple of rehearsed short plays are usually performed for everyone to enjoy. And as the expertise with Zoom has increased, sound effects, costumes, backdrops and spot-lighting have all been employed to create a more immersive experience for those watching. Most of the plays performed have been written/adapted by group members and friends especially for Zoom and it has been a wonderful way to keep everyone busy, engaged and socialising during such uncertain times.

If you would like to join Circle 67 online then they would be delighted to see you, it really is great fun. Please do contact them via their website or email info@circle67.co.uk and they will send you the link for Zoom. It is intended that the online meetings will continue until the end of April, after which it is hoped that rehearsals (via Zoom and in person when allowed) will start for their usual outdoor Shorter Shakespeare Summer Tour, which this year will be Much Ado About Nothing. This will hopefully tour local pub gardens during from Tuesday 27th July to Sunday 1st August.

Lowestoft Museum, new development

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Lowestoft Museum is a small independent organisation located in Oulton Broad. The museum houses an important collection of Lowestoft Porcelain alongside many other treasured artefacts which tell the story of the region’s rich heritage. The volunteer-led team welcomes community groups into the museum and has enjoyed working with several local arts and heritage groups including Common Ground, Dance East and Suffolk ArtLink.

The Lowestoft Team has been presented with an exciting possibility to expand into a vacant area within Broad House. The new space could be used to hold family activities, talks or craft classes and to accommodate education/community groups and temporary exhibitions. The museum would very much like to hear your thoughts on how you and your colleagues and friends might use the museum in the future. The survey will take around five minutes to complete and is anonymous. Thank you for your support. The link can be found here: Lowestoft Museum Community Learning Space Development

 

Shields for Addenbrooke’s, Surinder Warboys

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The shields were a gesture of thanks and a metaphor for the life risking work being done by others – in particular our National Health Service.

It was pointed out to me at the time the irony of using fragile glass for a shield. But these shields are shields of light. The light interacting with them has travelled ninety-three million miles and is continually being renewed. Due to certain properties in the ‘antique’ glass known as metal oxides, only the colour we see is transmitted, all the other colours are absorbed by the shield or that particular part of the shield. For example in the orange section, all the colours of the spectrum remain captured by that section except for the orange which is allowed to pass through and so we experience that section as orange.

It is the first time my work will be displayed in the open air.

On completion of the glass shields I happened to photograph them on Mellis Common, against the open sky and saw that the sky, clouds and landscape transformed and became integral to the work itself. So, it is serendipitous that they are now being displayed outdoors at Addenbrooke’s.

You can see more on Facebook

New booklets for the forthcoming season from Poppyland

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Another season is almost upon us and we’ve been working hard preparing new material for sale in 2021!

First off the blocks are two new additions, and a revision, to our popular short histories of regions, towns and villages in Norfolk and Suffolk. The following are all priced at £3.95 and available from our website before shops re-open.

Holt: Georgian Market Town, written by Peter Brooks, was first published in 1972 and revised over the years. This latest edition has been updated by Elizabeth Larby, the archivist at Gresham’s, and is an ideal buy.

King’s Lynn: A Port for 1000 Years, is a booklet we have intended to produce for years. We’re so pleased that Dr. Paul Richards, with his thorough knowledge of the town took this on. It’s a cracking addition to the series.

The Norfolk Coast: Living on the Edge adds to our new editions covering the regions of Norfolk (see Poppyland and Broadland). Written by well-known local historian, David Stannard, it provides a fascinating overview of the history of the coast and places for locals and visitors.

Get your copies today:

All of Them Witches

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US publisher Visible Ink Press is to publish All of Them Witches, a new non-fiction book by Denton-based writer, editor and podcaster Charles Christian. All of Them Witches is an almanac of real witches and sorcerers, along with other practitioners of magic and witchcraft, from earliest times through until the present day, combining both a historical and thematic context, along with relevant biographical entries. Aleister Crowley, yes. Harry Potter, no. The deal was brokered by Christian’s agent, Virginia-based Lisa Hagan of Lisa Hagan Literary Agency and the book is due to be published in 2022.

Christian also has another book coming out later this year (2021) – a heavily delayed by lockdown guide to the Waveney Valley called Haunted Landscapes: The Waveney Valley – Folklore, Ghosts, History, Legends & Other Weirdness. Not just Black Shuck but plenty of Bigods, mistletoe brides, ancient ruins, ley-lines and ghostly airmen. The book is being published by the Heart of Albion Press.

 

Lowestoft Museum – Community Learning Space Redevelopment Proposal

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Lowestoft Museum is a small independent organisation located in Oulton Broad. The museum houses an important collection of Lowestoft Porcelain alongside many other treasured artefacts which tell the story of the region’s rich heritage. The volunteer-led team welcomes community groups into the museum and has enjoyed working with several local arts and heritage groups including Common Ground, Dance East and Suffolk ArtLink.

The Lowestoft Team has been presented with an exciting possibility to expand into a vacant area within Broad House. The new space could be used to hold family activities, talks or craft classes and to accommodate education/community groups and temporary exhibitions. The museum would very much like to hear your thoughts on how you and your colleagues and friends might use the museum in the future. The survey will take around five minutes to complete and is anonymous. Thank you for your support. The link can be found here: Lowestoft Museum Community Learning Space Development

 

The Seagull, popular community theatre launches youth music project to support young creatives

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Popular community theatre, The Seagull, has launched a new programme of free music workshops for young people in Lowestoft. Working in partnership with the Youth Music Foundation, The Seagull will deliver 15 workshops throughout the rest of this year. The workshops will be themed around the concept of “Origins” and will be designed to encourage and support young creatives in the town to explore music in all its forms. The Theatre has set up a Youth Board of local young people who have chosen the theme and designed the workshops based on what they feel their peers would enjoy.

The programme of workshops kicks off online on the 21st March with “Origins of a Performance” This two hour free session will cover many of the basics of setting up and delivering a top quality performance. Topics will include: how to set up a microphone, developing a stage presence and how to preserve and protect your voice. Later in the season there will be workshops on developing dance routines for specific music tracks; creating your own composition and looking at the origins of different music trends through the years.

As the pandemic restrictions ease, the Seagull is keen to move these workshops into real life and is planning more workshops based on popular musical theatre shows where young people will get the chance to work alongside established professionals to learn popular routines and hopefully share a small performance with their friends and family.

More information about all of the Origins project and the upcoming workshops can be found on the Seagull website or from their active Facebook group.

Seagull Manager, Karen Read said,

‘This pandemic has been a really difficult time for the town’s young people, and as we emerge back to some form of normality, we really wanted a chance to support them in their creativity. There is going to be a lot of pressure on young people to “catch up” in the coming months – so we wanted to make sure that creativity and cultural life did not get overlooked. We are fortunate to have a positive relationship with the Youth Music Foundation who have provided the resources to allow us to offer these workshops free of charge to any young person in the town. Anyone from the age of 12 to 25 can take part in any of the workshops and just needs to check out our website or Facebook to get the online invite.’

The Dig

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I feature as an extra in the recently released Netflix film ‘The Dig’.

I am the Ferryman in the opening scenes rowing Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) across the river. The scene was filmed at the Butley Ferry, where I am also a volunteer Ferryman helping run the rowed ferry service during the summer months. My latest self portrait, see attached, is me in costume waiting for the filming to begin!

If any members having visited Sutton Hoo want to add to their experience, they may like to visit the Butley Ferry and be rowed across the river, they will be most welcome (other ferrymen are available, I am not there all the time)!

Simon J Worrall

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