PLACE OF BIRTH: THE SOUTH LAUNCHES PROJECT POETRY! IN HASTINGS
Added: (Thu Sep 11 2003)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
With giant images projected onto the facade of St Mary in the castle arts centre, amazing drumming and special readings by leading local poets, THE SOUTH will be launching their Project poetry! series at a special event on Hastings sea front on Friday evening September 12. Written arts development group THE SOUTH has evolved Project poetry! over the last year. It's a unique programme of seven commissions for poets working with screen-based visual artists, with the theme 'place of birth' . The Hastings launch event at 8pm in the beach car park in front of St Mary in the castle arts centre will feature celebrated Sussex poet Catherine Smith and visual artist Greg Daville, American poet Anne Rouse (now a Hastings resident) and African drummer Risenga Makondo accompanied by poets and writers from the local community. Many have taken part in the workshops THE SOUTH has run during the week to prepare for the event. The project is supported by Arts Council England South East, Hastings Borough Council, East Sussex County Council and Blitzvision, Britain's leading professional audio-visual presentation company,
Catherine Smith has also chosen to launch her new collection of poetry at the event - The Butchers Hands published by Smith Doorstop, a Poetry Book Society selection. 'It's an ideal opportunity to launch my book,' says multiple award winner Catherine from Lewes. She is delighted to have been involved in Project poetry! 'It's been an exciting and enthralling experience for me. I became fascinated by the character of Grey Owl - the Canadian environmentalist whose place of birth was Hastings. The images Greg has developed are a fascinating complement to my poem. I'm looking forward to the premiere of our collaboration on Friday evening.'
Digital artist Greg Daville has developed extraordinary, super real images that will be projected high onto the arts centre facade by special projectors supplied by Blitz. 'Blitz are Britain's most experienced company when it comes to high power video projection, so they werre the obvious choice as project partners,' says Greg. 'My images demand a very high quality of reproduction and with Blitz that's guaranteed.'
Chair of THE SOUTH and producer of the whole project, John Davies, says how supportive Hastings has been both as a council and as a community. 'Hastings welcomes artistic adventure and achievement. Our project is highly innovative, experimental and creatively challenging. Hastings has supported us right from the start. The attendance at our workshops leading up to the event has been excellent, so thanks to all involved.'
The next phase of THE SOUTH's Project poetry! moves to Bexhill, also as part of Coastal Currents. Poet Nathaniel Matthews and web artist Ian Craig will be celebrating the birthplace of British motor racing at Bexhill Museum from September 29th.
For more information please contact John Davies THE SOUTH 01273 242850
Catherine Smith, Greg Daville and John Davies will be available for interviews and a photocall on Friday 12 September at the sea front car park opposite St Mary in the castle arts centre, Hastings at 6pm. Catherine Smith will also be reading in THE SOUTH's Southern Stars series of readings on October 16th at The Open House, Brighton.
Additional information:
Project poetry!
Project poetry! is a series of initiatives based around projected poetry [prop]:
• Poetry projected out into the community as an accessible and active force for change, inspiration, and personal, family and neighbourhood development
• Poetry projected onto screens in new forms of presentation and publication
• Poetry projected into new minds to ask new questions, frame new viewpoints, empower new voices.
In other words, poetry for the people.
Across the region seven collaborations between poets and visual artists will produce a fascinating range of different projected poems on the theme place of birth.
Brighton
Brendan Cleary with artist Susan Diab at the South East Film & Video archive working with archive film. The project will be premiered at the Duke of York’s cinema
Kingston
John Davies and young film maker Geeta Handa at Kingston University celebrating the birthplace of Eadweard Muybridge
Haywards Heath
Bernadette Cremin with photographer James Lewis at the maternity unit at the Princess Royal Hospital
Arundel
Andrew Dilger and textile artist Laura Thomas creating a screen for the reed house camera obscura at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre.
Bexhill
Nathaniel Matthews and web design artist Ian Craig developing online web poetry celebrating the birthplace of British motor racing.
Hastings
Catherine Smith and digital artist Greg Daville
Worthing
Jackie Wills with animator Mark Collington at Northbrook College
There’s an underlying theme about the birth of screen media - Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was born and died in Kingston; Brighton & Hove was the home of Britain's first movie makers (and for a while of William Friese Greene 1855-1921); Hastings was where John Logie Baird (1888-1946) first demonstrated TV; and Sir Francis Ronalds (1788-1873), the inventor of electrical telegraphy, had many connections with Sussex.
Each location will be the base for the work on the project, the project’s relationship with the local community and local outreach educational and community activities with older people, the disadvantaged and those with special needs.
For more information please contact John Davies, Chair, THE SOUTH 01273 242850.