community – and so she thinks

Open Mic at Stag – Visible Thoughts & And So She Thinks on tour

admin — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 12:22:07 +0000

Ashford Undivided – Creative Community Changemakers

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 19:34:53 +0000

Creative Community Changemakers. That was the theme of Ashford Undivided, organised by Georgina Cooper and myself, and kindly hosted at the Bauhaus Cafe in Ashford. It was a day packed full with workshops, discussions and collaboration those three values were exhibited in abundance.

Part of the nationwide Undivided platform, which seeks to help young people have their voices heard in a post referendum Europe. We were keen that the event wasn’t seen as either pro or anti Europe – just acknowledging that things are changing, and we have an opportunity to be involved in that. And a fun way to do so would be through art and creativity.

Those who attended really embraced the concept, speaking out to explore positive ways to improve their experience of Ashford and life. Everyone was encouraged to say and share what would make their town better, be that health, art, employment, environmental issues, accessibility, infrastructure, education – and all of these and more came up!

Chris Buckett from Kent Urban Sketchers sat down with a group to draw their ideal streets, an activity that showed just how important the idea of community space, green areas and lively streets are for people. Natasha Boardman-Steer, a self defined urban innovator, asked people where they wanted to explore in Europe and why, demonstrating a continued connection with the continent, helped people make badges to show what they are proud of about Ashford, and captured it all on video.

Postcards from the ideal Ashford of the future were a great way to imagine how the town could look, and cut up and black out poetry ideal ways to recycle words to make statements of positivity. Slogans on t-shirts have always been important for activism, and designer and bespoke dressmaker Caroline Bruce worked with us to upcycle old material and wear our message with pride, whilst also sparking conversations about sustainability and the environment.

The Boss(y) Girls Project ran a workshop on gender and relationships between men and women, which saw people of both sexes fired up about inequality, and Kent Refugee Action Network and Ashford BME Association were on hand to speak to attendees.

We were thrilled that MP Damian Green came along for a discussion about his role as MP for Ashford in all of this and what politicians can do for us. In an energetic conversation amongst young and old, right and left, those who grew up in Ashford and those who moved here, we discussed the importance of being part of your community, thinking critically about politics, taking part in discussions about issues facing you and your area, and being a doer and not just a complainer.

We hoped that people would leave feeling excited and empowered, regardless of political affiliation, creative confidence or experience, and that new friendships and partnerships would be formed as a result. As the evening closed and faces left as bright as the canvases and crafts across the room, there was definitely a sense of hope that in this community change could happen.

Look up and look down – a creative writing walking tour

admin — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 12:24:44 +0000

First Names Announced for Community 2015 – A Brand New Festival In East London‏

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 20:24:09 +0000

You can never have too much music, and as such, never too many festivals at which to celebrate the best new bands. The first names for the latest party to grace the mean streets of Shoreditch, Community, have been announced, and its an electric and exciting mix of some of the names that will be becoming more familiar as we edge into 2016. Old favourites The Macbeth and The Old Blue Last will be joined by trendy XOYO and The Village Underground as well as a whole host of other venues in opening their doors to indie, rock, hip hop, dance, grime and pop acts. The full list as it stands is below, but highlights include The Beach, Vince Staples, Beasts, Sundara Karma, Blonde, Pale Honey and Eliot Summer.
Tickets go on sale 9am Friday 18 September, and are available from Ticketweb.

TUESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER

CARGO Samm Henshaw Jim Caesar Plus guests	COURTYARD THEATRE Communions Fews Steve	HOXTON BAR & KITCHEN RAT BOY Pretty Vicious Zibra Anteros
MIRANDA @ ACE HOTEL Brolin Plus guests	THE MACBETH THE CUT PRESENTS Hacktivist Black Peaks Beasts Wars	RED GALLERY Sunset Sons The Beach Damien Ike
XOYO BØRNS White Transviolet	ZIGFRID VON UNDERBELLY VÉRITÉ Plus guests

WEDNESDAY 4TH NOVEMBER

CARGO 4AD PRESENTS Pixx Søren Juul	COURTYARD THEATRE The Japanese House Dreller Plus guests	HOXTON BAR & KITCHEN DIY PRESENTS Clean Cut Kid Mi Amigo April Towers NGod
THE MACBETH KERRANG! FRESH BLOOD PRESENTS Fort Hope Brawlers Trash Boat Boston Manor	OLD BLUE LAST Skinny Girl Diet Piano Wire Strange Bones	VILLAGE UNDERGROUND Blonde KStewart Huntar
XOYO Petite Meller Jimi Charles Moody Tiggs Da Author	ZIGFRID VON UNDERBELLY Matt Woods Kopecky Plus guests

THURSDAY 5TH NOVEMBER

CARGO DJ SEMTEX PRESENTS ARRIVAL FEAT. Vince Staples Kojey Radical Plus guests	CONCRETE JOHN KENNEDY X-POSURE (RADIO X) PRESENTS Will Joseph Cook Otherkin Lake Komo Plus guests	HOXTON BAR & KITCHEN Eliot Sumner Plus guests
THE MACBETH KILLING MOON PRESENTS Sundara Karma Vitamin Pale Honey Beach Baby	RED GALLERY Magic Gang INHEAVEN Day Wave	MIRANDA @ ACE HOTEL THUMP PRESENTS Airhead Marc Piñol Andrea SG Lewis Thump DJ’s
OLD BLUE LAST RAW POWER MANAGEMENT AND SEARCH AND DESTROY RECORDS PRESENT Very special headliner TBA Dead! Shvpes	ZIGFRID VON UNDERBELLY Greg Holden George Cosby Joseph J. Jones

Katherine Green – Tales From The Laundrette

admin — Wed, 27 May 2015 09:51:00 +0000

Tales From The Laundrette is a new project from Katherine Green, documenting personal life in these humdrum local spaces with astute and specific images capturing the everyday moments. A social documentary photographer based in London, Katherine’s work focuses on the idea of community, and the bonds which forge those communities. Her work has been published in The Times, The Guardian and The Independent, and she has exhibited at National Portrait Gallery, British Library and The Lowry. Tales From The Laundrette will be shown at two launderettes in Walthamstow, London during the E17 Art Trail, running from 30 May – 14 June 2015.
Drawn by the images and intrigued by the idea, I caught up with Katherine to find out more.
The laundrette has died out in many ways, with only a small few using it on a regular basis – do you think something has been lost by the laundry going in house, as it were?
The laundry is such a social place with a huge diversity of people, it’s a mixture of people – some who don’t have room for a washing machine or dryer in their home, or they’re living in temporary accommodation or they’re more affluent but their washing machine has broken. It’s a neutral space where people come together, some regularly, they chat, laugh, read, help each other or catch up on emails etc. For some of the older customers I met, it might be one of their only social interactions during the week. To find such a diversity of people in one social space is rare and special. This interaction and exchange will be lost if laundry’s were to disappear completely.

What does personal and social observations in apparently ordinary and insignificant situations tell us about the macro social and political situations in the world?
Blimey!!.. that’s a big question, I hope this answers it to some extent. What particularly interests me when I’m working is people and places that fall below or outside marketing targets, and people and places who don’t appear in the mainstream media because they’re not necessarily attractive to marketeers or advertisers. I think the people that visit here, and the people that I capture in most of my projects are important and should be reflected in the media, and represented. So much of what we do, where we go, how we dress, what we buy etc is dictated by marketing – whether we realise it or not. When people aren’t represented, it’s important to ask why. I think in this way, capturing an aspect of life and people otherwise overlooked, is a small political statement.
The piece will be accompanied by a soundtrack by music producer Hugo Slime – where did the idea to blend the two mediums come from, and what does it offer?
The sounds of the launderette are so rhythmic, and the snippets of conversation that you hear between the noise of the machines seemed ripe for making into an audio track. I often work with oral history and have short interviews alongside work, but in this instance I wanted to take that further and make a soundtrack that you listen to and immerse yourself in whilst you’re in the laundry. I couldn’t do that myself so I approached a music producer to commission a soundtrack. it’s been quite a challenge for him because the noises are quite ‘muddied’, there’s lots going on at the same time, and he was used to working with really crisp, clean audio! The soundtrack creates an atmosphere and I think, encourages visitors to listen and soak up the atmosphere as well as look.

Where does your inspiration come from?
My inspiration comes from where I live and how it’s changing. I live in suburban East London. It’s not proper East End although there are/were elements of that. Over the past 10-15 years, there’s been a steady gentrification. Older ‘unfashionable’ institutions are being ‘improved’ and modernised, many long term residents are having to move away because of the rising cost of living here. There’s traditionally been great characters in this area, full of bravado, tall tales and laughs. A real tradition of story telling and tall tales. For me, something of the community – which has always been strong here – is being lost, commercialised and cleaned up. It’s loosing character and I want to preserve and record that character where possible.
How do you know when a photo will be art, social comment, or a random and wasted snap?
I don’t always I suppose! I try to take as many photographs as possible on film, the act of using a medium format camera means you work quite slowly and select a shot with more thought that if you were shooting on digital. I like the way this allows me to engage with people more. The context you display work in often changes the meaning, and so by presenting work in an exhibition, I suppose I am presenting it as art.
Can you tell me a bit about your previous work, and how this collection is an evolution?
My previous work has all been about engaging with the community and recording aspects of community life and history that wouldn’t otherwise be documented, people and places that fall outside media spotlight and interest.
I previously documented the last few months of Walthamstow Dogs Stadium, a well loved institution which had over 500 local employees and closed in 2008; for the Olympics I was involved in two major projects, the first was a personal project where I tracked down and documented elderly members of the 1948 Olympic team – photographing and recording their stories, the second was a three-year commission from National Portrait Gallery, called ‘Road to 2012: A local story’ where I photographed grass roots olympic sports in the olympic boroughs. Both these projects were shown as exhibitions. The most recent project was a year long residency on a housing estate in North Cambridge, working with a group of young girls and older residents, I put on an exhibition in collaboration with both which looked at how a new community forged it’s identity and the particular characters who led the way.
This project is a continuation of those interests in community and community bonds. In practical terms, as I recently had a baby I was looking for a warm dry place I could sit with her safely and take photos, and I had a long time interest in the life of launderettes and the nostalgic look and feel of them. This project is a celebration of the wonderful diversity of people who I met, and who meet each other each week, their generosity and openness in allowing me to photograph and record them is amazing.

Who is London? 1000 Londoners

admin — Tue, 20 May 2014 16:26:00 +0000

1000 Londoners is a project of films and people. Over five years a thousand people who call London home will be filmed telling their story, and the three minute videos posted on the website. A ‘unique digital portrait,’ anyone can be nominated, and as such the interviewees reflect the colourful human landscape of London. Everyone has a story. And with 8.3 million permanent residents, and another couple of million in the day through work and visiting, London is home to many stories. I chat to Reece Lipman, Film Maker on the project, to find out more.
Where did you get the inspiration for the project?
Mark Currie and Rachel Wang, who are the creative directors of 1000 Londoners and the directors of Chocolate Films (the company producing 1000 Londoners) came up with the concept for the project about 2 years ago. Since launching Chocolate Films, a social enterprise film production, in 2003, they have always created projects with a strong sense of community and community cohesion. Whether through documentaries, filmmaking workshops or community media events, bringing people from around this massive city together was always one of the company’s key aims. So the inspiration for this project really came from an extension of that idea; how do we get people in London talking, sharing their stories and understanding how everyone else lives?

A great example to highlight this was actually the genesis of the 1000 Londoners project itself. One morning Mark was filming the Duchess of Wessex in Buckingham Palace. He was sitting in this room where The Queen could have walked in at anytime, there were priceless portraits, antiques… everything you’d expect from the Palace. That afternoon however he ran a filmmaking workshop in a different part of the city with some homeless young people for a completely different project. Those intense differences in one day prompted him and Rachel to brainstorm ways to bring all of these different parts of the city together. They decided there was no better way of doing this than having people telling their own stories, showing everyone as not just a face in a crowd but an individual with a unique story. From that basic idea, 1000 Londoners was born.

So far we have seen the city from a helicopter, the sewers and the bedroom of a male escort. We’ve shot a Blacksmith, a manicurist and a former Mayor. We’ve got the opening set of films on 1000Londoners.com now including one Londoner selling replica guns and another selling the Big Issue so it’s already proving to be as diverse and distinctive as we hoped!

Do you think that this project would work anywhere else?
That has always been something we have considered. We’ve spoken to filmmakers in Manchester about the possibility of a similar project there as well as Glasgow; these big cities with history and diversity that have stories to tell. It’s the kind of project that can be transported anywhere; if it can work in London we are aiming for it work in New York or Paris.

At the moment we are purely focused on getting the word out about 1000Londoners.com. Getting people involved and getting strong films made is our main aim. Chocolate Films loves London and we want to celebrate it through our flagship project.

Back in July 2013 you posted a question on your blog “What makes someone a Londoner”? Do you think you are getting any close to an answer?
I think what we’re finding so far is that a Londoner isn’t actually something that can be defined. This is a city of 8 million people so saying that we are all grumpy, happy, busy, accepting of others etc would only end up being a crass generalistion.

What is clear though is that being a Londoner is more a state of mind than anything else. One of our key criteria is that all of the people featured throughout the project must consider themselves a Londoner, whether they have been here their whole lives or got off the plane yesterday. That means that the thing that makes someone a Londoner is that they feel a connection with the city in some way. This doesn’t always have to be positive of course but that connection, that emotional response is what we have found, so far at least, makes someone a Londoner.

Have you seen any common traits yet?
The only common trait I can think of is that people do feel strongly about the city, whether in a positive or a negative way. It’s a place which elicits such a range of emotional responses and that really is coming across strongly. For example, I filmed a woman who owns a pie and mash shop that has all the original fittings from the mid 1920s. It’s this typically London food shop with customers who have been going in for years. The woman was talking to be about how she really dislikes the fact that London is losing some of its classic buildings and as a consequence its history is disappearing. So she loved the city, felt connected daily to its past but at the same time no longer liked what it was becoming. That’s a very common trait amongst a lot of the Londoners we’ve met so far – they either love it or they hate it, there’s no real middle ground.

Whilst I guess it is necessary to do the project over five years simply due to time constraints, do you think that this means the picture will change? What makes someone a Londoner in 2014 may not be the same as in 2019?
I think the best answer to that is to have a look back over London in the past. What made Londoners Londoners 30 years ago you could say still applies today. Because of the river and because of Britain’s place in world politics and trading, London has always been a place where different communities from around the world have met and connected. Whilst places like Docklands might no longer be the manufacturing and shipping centers they once were, they are now the heart of London’s financial district- so business is still taking place where business took place all those years ago. Where the East End used to be the home of Jewish migrants in the early 19th century it is now the home of a lot of Middle Eastern and Eastern European migrants. So the community has changed but the city landscape and the way people interact with each other has stayed the same.

So in 5 years will being a Londoner mean something different? In all likelihood, no, probably not. This city has always seen change and the communities have always been very fluid but what it means to live in this city and to interact with other communities has stayed the same.

Do you consider yourself to be a Londoner?
Personally I do consider myself to be a Londoner. I grew up in the suburbs of East London and, except for a few years away, I’ve always lived here. My family were immigrants to London in about 1920 and we’ve never left. That being said though, even I’m still discovering this city. I’ve always lived north of the river so anywhere south feels completely foreign to me!

What’s interesting with this project though is that a lot of the people on the Chocolate Films team aren’t from London and have only moved here in the last few years or months. They are just discovering the city like so many of the Londoners we have spoken to as part of the project on 1000londoners.com. It’s exciting to see just what more there is to discover who the other people in this city are! We’re just at the start so I’m sure even more will be unearthed as we continue.

Broke Fordwich – Winemaking the Local Way in the Hunter Valley, Australia – The Travel Word

admin — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 06:35:24 +0000

Air-conditioned coaches come and go, kicking up the gravel. Signs advertise celebrated wines and best-value lunch deals. Tourists beam as the contents of their bags revealingly clink together. Cartons of what can’t be carried is ready to be shipped via international carriers. All around, people are laughing and chatting, slightly merrier than when they started out the morning. Then they pile back on to the bus and head home to Sydney, Australia.
http://www.thetravelword.com/2014/03/31/broke-fordwich-winemaking-local-way-hunter-valley-australia/

Sustainable tourism: people power and destination stewardship

admin — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 20:59:37 +0000

The approach to a holiday differs widely, but generally there are two extremes, with most people dotted in between. A holiday is either a time to go away, be pampered, never leave the pool side and think solely of oneself, or it is an opportunity to get down and dirty with a new place, discovering sights and cultures previously unknown. Sustainable tourism is not about suggesting that all comforts are eschewed in favour of a tent and Zen, but about ensuring that travel provides what the tourist wants, as well as the local community and environment, at the time of the holiday and later down the line.
See more at: http://blueandgreentomorrow.com/features/sustainable-tourism-people-power-and-destination-stewardship/#sthash.3xfUZZGL.dpuf

Music and words

admin — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:40:29 +0000

It’s All Happening will be teaming up with Booked, a new community based literary event that explores the world through words. We will be uniting words and music at an intimate and inspiring evening in the new year…watch this space.