Southend on Sea
Listen To This
LISTEN TO THIS: A CELEBRATION OF POPULAR MUSIC
Metal are delighted to present a series of events centred on the importance of popular music to the formation of people's identities and sense of place, developed and presented by author Daryl Easlea and academic Andrew Branch.
Taking place in Chalkwell Hall, Southend on Sea, Listen To This will place a specific focus on the local in relation to national and international popular culture. Special guests will be in attendance at each event to discuss their work and, in some cases, perform.
Listen To This will reflect on past era-defining moments in popular music and culture with a local South-East Essex perspective. The evenings will culminate in a concert at Village Green 2012.
This Must Be The Place: Music, Social Spaces And Ways Forward For Southend’s Music Scenes.
Friday 24 February 2012
7.30pm – 10pm
Dr Feelgood: The Esplanade, January 1973
Junk Club formed at Royal Hotel 2002
Special guests: musician Wilko Johnson; musician, producer and writer Will Birch, and academic, journalist, cultural historian, Dr Andrew Calcutt. More guests TBA.
Boys Will Be Boys And Girls Will Be Girls: Popular Music And Gender.
Friday 16 March 2012
7.30pm – 10pm
David Bowie at Eastwoodbury Lane, August 1970
Blur, Cliffs Pavilion, June 2009
Special guest: local author, musician, music critic and Slits biographer, Zoe Howe. More guests TBA.
Tribalism And Difference: Subcultures And Scenes.
Friday 20 April 2012
7.30pm – 10pm
The Who at Kingsway, Hadleigh, Jan 1967
Depeche Mode: Crocs June 1981
Special guest: Dean Chalkley, renowned photographer and director of the recently released Northern Soul film homage, Young Souls. More guests TBA.
Everybody Dance: Music, Meaning And The Body.
Thursday 17 May 2012
7.30pm – 10pm
Jackie Wilson at Zero 6, 1972
Chris Hill first plays at The Goldmine 1973
Special guests: internationally acclaimed sociologist and musician, Professor Les Back; hugely influential soul DJ and music promoter, Chris Hill, and journalist, music critic and percussionist par excellence, Snowboy.
Listen To This in concert at Village Green
Saturday 30 June 2012
Timings and venue at Village Green to be confirmed.
Tickets cost £5.00 and can be booked online here, by telephone on 01702 470700 or by calling in at Chalkwell Hall.
Future Park
FUTURE PARK - Metal Southend on Sea
A new programme of activity for artists from across the South East Essex region
OPEN MIC: 3 MINUTE WONDERS / GUEST SPEAKER PRACTICAL SESSIONS / ONE TO ONE SURGERIES PRESENTING ARTISTS / Q&A SESSION / DRINKS / HOME COOKED FOOD BY FELLOW ARTISTS
FUTURE DATES:
Thurs 29 Mar 2012: 8pm – 10.30pm
Future Park is a new programme of activity at Metal for artists from across the South East Essex region.
In partnership with four Southend artists, we are hosting a regular monthly evening at Chalkwell Hall in Southend on Sea for discussion, sharing ideas and projects, catching up with news and meeting old and new friends.
The evenings are designed to be an informal and friendly way of staying informed and inspired, as well as to develop ideas and practice within a regional, national and international context supported by Metal’s experience and connections.
Artists, working in all disciplines who think they may benefit from engaging with a dynamic, ambitious, artist-led environment are welcome to drop by.
Each evening will consist of one, more or all of the following activities:
OPEN MIC - 3 MINUTE WONDERS
The first 10 artists to turn up with a prepared 3 min showcase of their work gets the floor.
N.B. These showcase moments can be in any format - a reading; acoustic music; spoken word; powerpoint presentation; etc.
GUEST SPEAKERS
National and international artists, curators and thinkers invited.
PRACTICAL SESSIONS OR ONE-TO-ONE SURGERIES
CONVERSATION
A short Q&A session with presenting artists, followed by general conviviality.
FOOD
Home cooked by fellow artists.
DRINKS
Some provided but do feel free to bring your own as well.
Just ask if there’s a particular topic you’d like covered and we’ll try to help.
Photos from previous Future Park events:
About Future Station and Future Park
Metal believes that good ideas, creativity and the commitment of individuals can transform places, and like all enthusiastic and successful enterprises, create more participation, optimism and determination in others.
In both Liverpool and Southend on Sea Metal has a wide network of volunteers and supporters, made up of creative individuals who help us shape ideas for both Edge Hill Station and Chalkwell Hall, as well as helping us successfully deliver activities and events.
These groups called FUTURE STATION (in Liverpool) and FUTURE PARK (in Southend) meet on a regular basis to brainstorm ideas, make plans and talk tactics.
If you would like to get involved and help us continue to develop our exciting places and activities, we would love to hear from you.
For FUTURE STATION contact Jodie Mellor on
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or 0151 7072277
For FUTURE PARK contact Grace Acton on
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or 01702 470700
Village Green
METAL'S NEXT VILLAGE GREEN IS PLANNED FOR 30 JUNE 2012.
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT DATES AND PROGRAMME OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
READ ABOUT LAST YEAR'S EVENT BELOW
ARCHIVE:
2010
VILLAGE GREEN 2010 - SATURDAY 25 SEPTEMBER. 11AM - 10PM. CHALKWELL PARK, SOUTHEND ON SEA, SS0 8NB.
+ THE WEEK LEADING UP TO.............
A number of events in the week leading up to the main day on Saturday. Programme as follows:-
THE BIG CHARGE: Monday 20 September - Friday 24 September. 8am - 8pm.
In partnership with Cycle Southend, we at Metal have set ourselves a challenge that we are asking the community across the Borough of Southend to help us with. In the week leading up to Village Green we want to generate enough clean energy through pedal power to run the Green Stage all day on Saturday at Village Green. Ten bicycle stations will be set up in Chalkwell Park and we are inviting the whole community - groups, businesses, schools and individuals - to come and get involved to help generate the 500 pedal power hours needed. For more information about how to book your cycling slot please email
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or call 01702 47070.
BBC BLAST: Thursday 23 - Saturday 25 September
Blast is the BBC’s youth creativity service. From first-timers to emerging artists, Blast gives 13 – 19 year olds the chance to try out new skills, showcase their own work and find out more about working in the creative industries. Blast will build an impressive mobile creative village, complete with digital workshop spaces and separate performance area for Village Green. Over three days, young people with a passion for music, dance and multi-media, can take part in a variety of free workshops, meet industry professionals, learn new skills, share ideas, use the latest technology and get creative, whatever their ability.
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE: Thursday 23 September (daytime) / Friday 24 September, 7pm
Metal have formed a partnership with the Royal Opera House, Creative Partnerships and Southend Education Trust to introduce a fifth stage to Village Green this year. The Green Stage will be designed by two ROH set designers working with four Southend Primary Schools. On Thursday 23 September if you happen to be in Chalkwell Park, come and see the set unfold as some of Southends youngest artists get to work.
On Friday 24 September at 7pm the fantastic Ballet Black will perform alongside Southends emerging dance talent Kayzar Dance who have been working with the Royal Ballet and Southend secondary school pupils to bring you a brand new performance called New DanceMakers EAST.
This performance, as with all the entertainment offered at Village Green is FREE.
PROGRAMME FOR SATURDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
VILLAGE GREEN STAGE
CARLEEN ANDERSON - Former lead singer of the Brand New Heavies; Young Disciples; Soloist; multi award winning; currently working with Ben Castle.
ANTHONY JOSEPH AND THE SPASM BAND - Regarded as the voice of black avant garde Britaina and one of the UK's most exciting and innovative voices. A poet, novelist, musician and lecturer Anthony will be performing at Village Green with his ‘voodoo punk’ Spasm Band.
STEVE MASON - Having hidden behind monikers for nearly 15 years, Steve Mason has finally emerged producing music under his own name. He was the lead singer of The Beta Band, released solo recordings as King Biscuit Time and also released an album under the V2 record label. Steve produces music from a variety of genres including electro, dance and more recently acoustic.
SNOWBOY AND THE LATIN SECTION - Without doubt the UK’s leading exponent of Afro Cuban Jazz, Snowboy and the Latin Section are a ‘dream team’ band of the finest Latin and jazz musicians based in the UK.
1-STOP EXPERIENCE - 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE are a ska experience with a mix of sounds that include latin, blues, pop and jazz. Created by ex-Belle Star Jennie Matthias, along with Paget King and Skip McDonald, the 1-stop-Experience are currently in the process of recording their debut album with On U Sound’s Adrian Sherwood.
LAURA B AND THE MOONLIGHTERS - Laura B and the Moonlighters is an exciting seven-piece rockin’ and honkin’ rhythm and blues combo in the upbeat style of Ruth Brown, Big Maybelle and Lavern Baker. They released their debut album late last year, ‘Jump and Shout’, and have recently played the Vintage at Goodward Festival. Laura B and the Moonlighters, for rhythm and blues lovers.
THE DIRTY FAIRIES - The Dirty Fairies are a Southend three piece girl band specialising in funk rock. These three sisters are said to be influenced by bands such as Velvet Underground, Stevie Wonder and James Brown- you might recognise them from other regional festivals including Shoplands. They recently participated in the O2 Live and Unsigned competition; winning the Basildon heat and playing the regional London and East Competition. Looking for old school funk? These are your girls!
URBAN ALLSTARS - Urban Allstars are a collective of four DJ’s who have been performing since 2006. Big supporters of vinyl and funk, this collective have produced original, re-mixed and re-edited work and their releases have resulted in sell-out tours across the globe.
RICHIE PHOE - The Lee Scratch Perry of Brighton, Richie Phoe, will again be spinning his dub tunes in between sets at stages one and two at this year’s Village Green. Feted by radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank, Richie began mixing on his Amiga 500 in the 1990’s. His career really took off in 2006 when became involved with Sunday Best Recording’s, which included a totally awesome remix of Max Sedgley’s ‘Celebrity’.
AL NAED - Al is pleased to be back as MC for Village Green again. If you think Al looks familiar it’s probably because he was the front cover model for the BT phone book from 2005-2008. A strange way to infiltrate every home in the country but a valid one.
MEADOW STAGE
LEMN SISSAY AND CAROLINE BIRD - two fantastic performance poets go head to head in the Meadow Stage.
SUNDOWN ARTS - Southends very own Spoken Word specialists have curated a 3 hour slot for the Meadow Stage with a mix of comedy, live music and poetry. Includes JIM BOB / RUCKUS JUICE AN CHITLINS / CAR WRECK CHICKEN / BRIDGETTE APHRODITE / SIMON BLACKMAN / HIP HOP SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
QUIRKISH DELIGHT - this talented team of quick wits create bedlam and belly-laughs from nothing more than audience suggestions. Surreal, sublime and suspect sketches will be performed for your delectation - without a safety net!
THE FAMOUS POTATOES - ‘soil music’, of an earthy, bluegrassy, swing and country nature. Over the past 30 years they have played more than 1,500 times from the Lord Mayor’s Show to busking in dustbins!
ART GRUPPE - Forever indie-pop....ArtGruppe play a summery set of heartwarming songs, awash with melody, three-part harmony and acoustic guitars. They are the resident band at Belle et la Beat - a regular local event at Southend's Railway Pub which encourages families to come and experience live music together.
CHRIS BARON - playing the extraordinary and very theraputic Hang Drum.
VILLAGE HALL
TOBY SHAER - Toby Shaer is the latest and youngest gifted newcomer to the local folk scene. He will be playing his fiddle and various wind instruments along with his equally talented family and friends. Whatever the future of folk music Toby is definitely going to be at the heart of it.
PICTURE SLEEVES - A post rock explosion in an acoustic café. Emotive songs fused with powerful and noisy jams.
THE SEASIDERS - lively Southend quartet who 'do like to be beside the seaside'. Superb lyrical skill with music that will have you up on your feet in no time.
CARTERHAUGH - a Southend four-piece specialising in folk, jazz and blues. Influenced by Fairport Convention, Billie Holliday and Led Zeppelin they say their name was inspired by a traditional Scottish folk tale.
LAZY CURTIS - four hairy local gents who enjoy playing rock music. Seasoned by years of playing together this quartet will be helping us celebrate all the best bits of old school rock.
NATHAN AND NOLAND ABBOTT - songwriting brothers. Apparently watching Nathan play live is like ‘standing two inches away from a speeding train, it feels good but you dare not move, and every show is as unpredictable as lightning’.
THE LUCKY STRIKES - americana country rock band who, are not only likened to Crazy Horse, but also are credited with continuing the spirit of their local predecessors Dr. Feelgood.
HILLMISTERS - psychedelic, sexy pop. These seven Southend lads have recently released their debut release on split 12” vinyl. If you enjoy The Go-betweens, The La’s or Elizabeth Cotten then you’ll enjoy the Hillmisters!
ACADIAN DRIFTWOOD - Spawned in the muddy, alligator-ridden bayous of the Thames delta, Leigh's own crawfish-crunching Cajuns dish up another spicy serving of South Louisiana 'French Music'. The classic sounds of Lawrence Walker, Joe Falcon and the Balfa Brothers rendered afresh on squeezebox, fiddle, guitar and 'tit fer.
ONE TREE HILLBILLIES - from the hidden hollows and moonshine stills of South Essex come the One Tree Hillbillies with their own potent brew of Basildon bluegrass...
DAVE HALL - Describing his oeuvre as ‘acoustically driven experimental folk’, Dave Hall is adept at piano, guitar, bass, ukulele, melodica and much else besides, with influences ranging from Purcell to Bon Iver!
THE KITTIWAKES - a trio of talented singers and instrumentalists - their debut album, Lofoten Calling, was released in October 2009 on Midwich Records and is a suite of original music based around the people, landscape, folklore and history of the Lofoten Islands.
HOY AT ANCHOR FLOOR SPOTS - celebrating 40 years of hosting quality local musicians and up-and-coming British and international folk artists. Previous performers have included Nic Jones, John Martyn and Martin Carthy. Presenting everything from traditional folk music to more contemporary music, the Hoy at Anchor are programming a folk slot in the Village Hall. Bringtin to your attention HIPPY JOE & JOLENE , JOE MIGDAL, a local singer/songwriter, and FIDDLE FIT a dynamic duo of high energy fiddle and guitar. If you like what you hear they meet at local pub, the Ship, on Leigh Hill, every Tuesday.
KINO VILLAGE
THE WHITE BUS - a wide variety of fantastic short films throughout the day from the organisers of the Southend Film Festival - animation, children's classics and art house.
HOOK AND THE TWIN - this dynamic duo from Bristol (Marcus Efstratiou and Tom Havelock) bring drum beats and digital tunes to create a truly exciting and innovative sound that has attracted national attention specifically from revered radio DJ’s Zane Lowe, Marc Riley, and Steve Lamacq. With live improvised visuals from Mike Lowther.
SOCIETY OF IMAGINARY FRIENDS - cinematic folk - a unique sound described by Tim Cunniingham as an 'operatic sensation'. Their stunning soundscapes have led to work with numerous film directors, including Luke Scott, Martin Jones, Chris Newby and Julien Temple.
JOHNSON E KANE: presents TUPPENYBUNTERS - A wacky musical performance with accompanying indulgent, visual projections reminiscent of Velvet Underground performances of the 60s and the spirit of Warhol's Factory. An eclectic mixture of garage-punk originals, classic TV & radio theme tunes, performance art and minimal electronic & ambient pieces. Johnson E Kane has created standalone and collaborative video works for over 15 years with many musicians, artists, organisations and festivals including Arctic Circle, Sadler's Wells Theatre, Tate Britain, Union Chapel and Big Chill.
NICO BENTLEY - young, vibrant composer, producer, and performer. His ablity to engage with various musical styles, including Jazz, Classical, Electro-Acoustic, Indian, African, Latin, Pop and Electronica, has led to musical pieces for the Silversmith Dance Theatre and the Bhangra Latina project.
HYBERNATION - Southend artist, Stuart Bowditch likes to capture the sounds of everyday life and turn them into music. He is as at home playing sets in Southend Library as he is in Tate Britain.
COMEDY AT KINO VILLAGE
At 8pm our film and experimental audio visual space at Kino Village will be transformed into a comedy venue with three fantastic comedians curated and MC'd by Markus Birdman.
MARKUS BIRDMAN - A connoisseur of political and religious humour, Markus enjoys bucking the system and rebelling against his parent’s generation who told him to ‘get a proper job’. Instead Markus likes watching CSI, playing table-tennis and listening to Bob Marley, oh and making people laugh! The BBC says Birdman is ‘the all-round package’, and who are we to argue with the BBC.
FRANCESCA MARTINEZ - award-winning comedian who you might recognise from Ricky Gervais’, ‘Extras’. She has toured internationally including sell-out performances at the Edinburgh Fringe and Just for Laughs in Montreal, as well as playing in Hollywood and on Broadway. The Guardian gave her 5 stars and Time Out calls her, ‘Highly accomplished...very funny’. Francesca is currently working on her BBC sitcom pilot, but is taking the day off to make us laugh at Village Green.
ANDREW BIRD - ‘superb…a rising star. Not to be missed ’,Time Out. He's fashioned a charming set of uncomplicated anecdotal stand-up where his everyman outlook comes in remarkably useful. The audience can share the embarrassment of his faux pas, knowing something similar could so easily happen to them – and probably has.
GREEN STAGE
THE SAMPHIRE BAND - Molly Nyman and Harry Escott are award winning, BIFA nominated (for their film score for Shifty), film composers who were awarded 'Best New Documentary Filmmaker' at the Tribeca Awards. They have been creating beautiful scores for the last seven years for films such as Michael Winterbottom's "A Mighty Heart", Nick Broomfield's "Ghosts", David Slade's "Hard Candy" and Michael Winterbottom's "Road to Guantanamo". With their 12 piece Samphire Band they will perform a live score alongside the UK premier screening of Olhos do Farol on Metal's huge outdoor cinema screen. The film has recently played to rave reviews at the Indie Lisboa film festival in Portugal; "Its a little masterpiece, this long awaited animation by Pedro Serrazina..." The Samphire band will also perform the Shifty Suite along with a beautiful piece of film created by the artist Nick Hornby and a clutch of songs especially arranged for Village Green featuring the husky, tremulous tones of Kristin McClement and live improvised visuals from Mike Lowther.
PHILLIOUS WILLIAMS - named after a chronic bigamist and storyteller from the seventeenth century. The reliably popular quintet play heavy blues tinged country and western which embraces the themes of immigration, relationships, and much more.
HIP HOP SHAKESPEARE COMPANY - Shakespeare like you’ve never heard it before. A music and theatre production company founded by MOBO award winning Kingslee ‘Akala’ Daley to share his love of Shakespeare and hip-hop in a more direct way. Since 2008 Akala and his team have been introducing young people to Shakespeare through performance and workshops that demonstrate how modern hip-hop relates to the themes, languages and rhythms used by Shakespeare himself to wide critical acclaim.
BALLET BLACK -‘Ballet Black is phenomenal’ (The Independent). The Company was founded in 2001 by Cassa Pancho. Her dream was for a company where students of Black and Asian descent could train in classical ballet and eventually restore the ethnic balance within ballet companies - realised both in this company of young professional dancers and through the Ballet Black School for young children in Shepherd’s Bush. Ballet Black have performed to national critical acclaim and if previous performances are anything to go by, this will be one of the many highlights of Village Green this year.
KAYZAR DANCE - Southend dance act Kayzar played at our first Village Green back in 2008. Since then they have enjoyed remarkable success performing at Saddler’s Wells; TV's in ‘Britain’s Got Personality’ and ‘Got to Dance’ as winning Brentwood Got Talent competition. They have also competed in the IDO World Hip-hop championships. Their performances have that ‘wow’ factor with explosive dance routines that include some quite breath-taking breakin.
JUNGNU BHANGRA - the UK's most established bhangra performers. Over four generations, the group has astonished audiences across the world with their spectacular and exciting performances.
JAZZ CO TECH - a UK dance group specialising in Old Skool Jazz Dance that have performed all over the world from St Lucia to Furano, Pheonix to Glastonbury and have supported artists such as James Brown, Maceo Parker and Jamiroquai. This act is full of funk, soul and jazz. They will be performing in their own right on the Green Stage, as well as jumping up with Snowboy and the Latin Section on the Village Green Stage.
LEIGH OPERATIC AND DRAMATIC SOCIETY - Formed as a response to a successful World War One concert party, Leigh Operatic and Dramatic Society has been bringing dramatic and musical works to the local area for almost a century. Not just a nice idea, LODS has won numerous awards for its performances including best regional show for ‘The Witches of Eastwick’ in 2008. LODS will be previewing a piece from the musical ‘The Music Man’, due to run in Southend during October.
LEIGH ORPHEUS MALE CHOIR - believed to be the largest male voice choir in the eastern region. They have recently performed in Tuscany, Paris, and South Wales delighting audiences with music from a variety of genres including classical works, religious music, popular song and folk music.
THE MUSHROOM THEATRE COMPANY - a performing arts school led by Penni Bubb with a focus on equal access to the opportunity to perform. The school works with people of all ages and have created performances for the Thameside Theatre, several local fetes and Southends own Summer Carnival.
BEN ESHMADE - Founder of the innovative internet radio station, Arctic Circle, Ben is a regular at the Union Chapel and other such venues from Dublin to Southend. Ben brings ambient folk to Village Green.
GLOBAL VILLAGE
The One World One Essex exhibition put together by Essex County Council is on show within the Global Village circus tent - a touring exhibition celebrating the richness of the different cultures of the families that live in Essex and just how we all came to be here. Throughout the day the Global Village Venue will also play host to a number of performances and workshops, including La Roma, Jugnu Bhangra, Ayigafrik Dance and more.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
DIGITAL EXPLORATION CENTRE - a burgeoning centre in Southend for all things digital, the DEC presents Small World Fair, an exhibition of ideas, artworks, curiosities and questions around how the world is shaped by technology. Curated by Simon Poulter. The exhibition is sited within Chalkwell Hall in Chalkwell Park. Exhibition continues until 23 October.
CYCLE SOUTHEND present NORTH SHORE CYCLE TRACK - raised, wooden mountain biking trackway with hills, twists and turns designed to test and hone your cycling. There's an opportunity to have a go, as well as see MAD Cycle Display team show you a thing or two about how it's really done! There's also an great opportunity for some bike maintenance and advice from the Cycle Southend team and extra cycle park facilities - making cycling the number one most convenient way of travelling to Village Green
DANCE WORKSHOPS - an opportunity for you to have a go at some of the fantastic moves you can see on the Village Green stages throughout the day. Including Jazz Co Tech, Bollywood, Kirsty Richardson, Tabla and Dub.
ART OF THE VILLAGE -
TENBOMB AND MARMALADE - Tenbomb Art Collective and Marmalade Skateboards bring a War time heroes theme to Village Green (their studio 'the bunker' in Southend is an old World War 2 bomb shelte). All sorts of interactive games and madcap activities to take part in. Look out for Grandpa Summers's Front Room where you can get a heroes tattoo, challenge grandad at ping pong, play the war time piano and much more.... if you can't see us listen out for the air raid siren.
SOUTHEND YOUNG CREATIVES -
SIGNPOST - A new installation by Stuart Bowditch and Damien Robinson. 'Signpost' is a site-specific multi-sensory installation enabling audiences to experience sounds recorded in the town to which it points. For Village Green 2010 this will be fellow Essex town Colchester. Multiple recordings from the distant location are arranged as virtual journeys. Audiences can experience sounds aurally, through touch (via tactile NXT sound exciters), privately (by plugging their own headphones into jack sockets)
and visually, via a screen interface.
FOREST FRINGE SOUNDS LIBRARY -
ROAMING ARTISTS, PERFORMERS AND COLLABORATORS
At various sites and times across the day.
SIMON POULTER / COEXIST / FOREST FRINGE / SIMON FOWLER / ANDY BARAK SMITH / MARMALADE SKATEBOARDS / LEIGH FOLK FESTIVAL / SHOWFLAT / LEVEL 4 MAGAZINE / IDEA13 / SOUTHEND LIBRARY SERVICES / SOS BUS / YOGA DHARMA /
VILLAGE GREEN MARKETPLACE
A huge variety of hand-made arts and crafts on show and for sale. As well as demonstrations, artist-led workshops, participatory activities and spectacle.
THE DEADLINE FOR MARKETSTALLS HAS NOW CLOSED AND WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.
VOLUNTEERING
Volunteers play a crucial role in helping Village Green run smoothly, look fantastic and be an enjoyable event for everybody. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved and as a festival Volunteer you can expect to make new friends, develop new skills and gain a huge sense of satisfaction and achievement from being involved in making the festival happen.
At Village Green 2010 we will have 6 volunteer teams:
Events team
Back Stage crew
Stewards
Runners
Media and documentation team
Catering and Hospitality
For more further information and details on how to become a volunteer please click here
FUNDERS AND PARTNERS
Metal would like to extend a huge thank you to all our funders and partners who make Village Green possible.
SOUTHEND ON SEA BOROUGH COUNCIL
ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND EAST
SOUTHEND EDUCATION TRUST
CYCLE SOUTHEND
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE CREATIVE PARTNERSHIPS
BBC BLAST
PARK INN HOTEL
WAITROSE
IMAGES FROM VILLAGE GREEN 2009
IDEA13
IDEA13 is an online network for culture across Southend on Sea. It was instigated by Metal in 2007.
Register HERE for information on all cultural events happening in and around Southend on Sea. It's FREE.
BLOG – to promote your events.
FORUM – to share news and ideas, make contacts.
WHAT’S ON – to promote and view local events.
PROFILE – to profile your artistic practice and promote your business.
IDEA13 is running a series of surgery sessions to help explain how to make most of the PROFILE opportunity (new dates to be announced soon). If you are a practicing artist working in any discipline, or a creative business – come along and find out how to present you business online at Idea13.
All sessions are being held at Metal, Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Park, Southend on Sea SS0 8NB. Tel: 01702 470700.
For more information, contact Michaela Freeman on michaela (AT) idea13.org
To visit Idea13 - www.idea13.org
Salon
SALON FUTURE DATES:
Wed 4 April 2012
Wed 2 May 2012
Wed 11 July 2012
To ensure you hear in plenty of time about the each Salon event please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to go on our mailing list.
ARCHIVE:
2011
Friday 15 July 2011
PART OF OUR SHORELINES: LITERATURE FESTIVAL OF THE SEA.
Including reading from and discussing the award winning novella Beside the Sea by Veronique Olmi (Periene Press). A dramatic reading from the book by actress Lisa Dwan followed by a panel discussion with Suzi Feay (literary critic) and Adriana Hunter (author and translator)
£8.00 (incl. light meal and drinks)
This special festival Salon took place in Metal's temporary, pop-up, venue in Chalkwell Park - Solomon Monk's Pump House - so named after the C18th tenant farmer of Chalkwell Hall who was responsible for putting a pump in to tap the water well of 'Chalkwell' fame.
2011 saw the return of our hugely popular Salon series - four literary evenings with guest speakers at Chalkwell Hall over the summer of 2011. Developed in collaboration with acclaimed Southend-based author Rachel Lichtenstein, the evenings are reminiscent of the informal gatherings once held in Rachel’s grandparents house on the nearby Chalkwell Hall Estate when they would invite the poets, writers and artists of the pre-war Jewish East End into their tiny front room to talk and debate.The Georgian Grade II listed manor house, Chalkwell Hall, renovated into a low carbon space for art and ideas in 2009 is brought to life as we pack out the former drawing room and its new extensions.
Salon: Friday 17 June 2011
Guest speakers: Sarah Wise and Jerry White. Jerry White is visiting Professor in London History at Birbeck and has been writing about London for thirty years. He started with London in the Twentieth Century: a City and its People (winner Wolfson History Prize), moved on to the Nineteenth Century and is now completing a history of the capital in the Eighteenth Century. Sarah Wise is author of The Italian Boy; Murder and Grave Robbery in 1830's London (winner Crime Writers Gold Dagger Award) and The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum. Both books are set in the same small quarter of London.
Salon, 20 May 2011
Guest Speaker - Ken Warpole
Ken Worpole is one of the UK's most influential writers on landscape, architecture and public policy issues. He talked about his recent publication 350 miles: An Essex Journey, created with photographer Jason Orton, that documents their journeys into the landscape, history, coast, rivers and estuary of Essex.
2010
Metal's 2010 Salon series included the following speakers:-
Robert MacFarlane
Iain Sinclair
Phil Maxwell and Hazuan Hashim
Alan Dein
Stephen Watts
Oreet Ashery
Samantha Ellis
Naomi Alderman
Speakers Biogs
Robert MacFarlane is a British travel writer and literary critic. Macfarlane's first book, Mountains of the Mind, was published in 2003 and won the Guardian First Book Award, the Somerset Maugham Award, and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. It was shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. His second book, Original Copy: Plagiarism and Originality in Nineteenth-Century Literature, was published in March 2007. The Wild Places was published in September 2007. In it he embarks on a series of journeys in search of the wildness that remains in Britain and Ireland. The book explores wildness both geographically and intellectually, testing different ideas of the wild against different landscapes, and describes Macfarlane's explorations of forests, moors, salt marshes, mudflats, islands, sea-caves and city fringes. A condensed version of the book was broadcast as Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4 in September 2007. In November 2007, the book won the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, and in June 2008 it won the Scottish Arts Council Non-Fiction Book Of The Year Award.
Rachel Lichtenstein will host each evening. She is an artist, writer, oral historian and curator. She is author of Rodinsky's Whitechapel (1999), Keeping Pace (2003), A Little Dust Whispered (2004) and the co-author with Iain Sinclair of the highly praised Rodinsky's Room (1999). Her latest book, On Brick Lane, was published in 2008 to much critical acclaim. On Brick Lane was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize last year and is the first of a trilogy of books on London Streets for publishers Hamish Hamilton. Volumes on Hatton Garden and Portobello Road will follow. She has also written essays, short stories and book reviews for periodicals, newspapers and radio. Lichtenstein has exhibited her artwork internationally, including venues such as The Whitechapel Gallery, The Tate Modern, The Barbican Art Gallery and The Jerusalem Theatre. Her public artwork is on permanent display in Brick Lane and The Holocaust Museum in Nottingham.
Iain Sinclair’s non-fiction works inlude Lights Out for the Territory: 9 Excursions in the Secret History of London (1997); London Orbital: A Walk Around the M25 (2002); and Edge of the Orison (2005), a reconstruction of the poet John Clare's walk from Epping Forest to Helpston, near Peterborough. His novels include Downriver (1991), which tells of a UK under the rule of 'The Widow', a grotesque version of Margaret Thatcher; Landor's Tower (2001); White Goods (2002); and Dining on Stones (2004). His latest book is Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire: A Confidential Report (2009). Iain Sinclair lives in Hackney, East London.
Phil Maxwell and Hazuan Hashim
Hazuan Hashim is a filmmaker and video artist. Phil Maxwell is a photojournalist, filmmaker, visual artist and writer. Exhibited all over the world including the Middle East, their work covers documentary and experimental film. They have collaborated with composers Michael Nyman, Lola Perrin, Deirdre Gribbin and Simon Rowland-Jones, theatre director Lou Stein, dancers Mavin Khoo, Seeta Patel and Kamala Devam and painter Alice Sielle. Their recent documentary, Not in Our Name explores the response of artists to war. Featuring the President of Stop the War Coalition, Tony Benn, the film was shot in 14 countries including Iraq. Both are currently artists in residence at the Wilton’s music Hall. Their latest film Moon Love, will see its world premiere at the 24th BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on 25th March 2010.
Alan Dein has worked as a freelance oral historian and broadcaster for over 15 years. He has presented documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and has conducted interviews for museums, galleries and the British Library National Sound Archive, including a major oral history of the British Steel Industry. Alan is also tour guide and social historian of London's East End and for the last four years has been living with his family in Kentish Town.
Stephen Watts was born in London in 1952: his father’s family came from Stoke-on-Trent, his mother’s from the Swiss-Italian Alps and he has cultural roots there and in Scotland. In the early 70’s he lived on North Uist working as a shepherd and since 1976 has been in Whitechapel in the East End of London. He has published three books of poetry—The Lava’s Curl (Grimaldi Press, 1990), Gramsci & Caruso (Periplum, 2003), The Blue Bag (Aark Arts, 2004) and edited several anthologies—Houses & Fish (a book of drawings with writing by 4 & 5 year olds, Parrot Press, 1991), Voices of Conscience (an international anthology of censored poets, Iron Press, 1995), Mother Tongues (a special issue of Modern Poetry in Translation, 2001), and Music While Drowning (an anthology of German Expressionist poems that accompanied an exhibition at the Tate Modern in London, Tate Publishing, 2003).
Oreet Ashery is a London based, interdisciplinary visual artist. Ashery’s practice engages with socio-political paradigms and tends to include participatory and delegated elements. Interested in notions of subjectivity and authenticity, Ashery will frequently produce work as a male character. Those have included; an orthodox Jewish man, an Arab man, a black man, a Norwegian postman, a large farmer and most recently a false messiah. Ashery exhibits, performs, intervenes and screens her work extensively in an international context, both in highly established art contexts, as well as in highly experimental public spaces or situations. Ashery has published three books in 2009; The Novel of Nonel and Vovel, a joint graphic novel and an expanded project with the artist Larissa Sansour (Charta), Dancing with Men; interactive performances, interactions and other artworks (Live Art Development Agency), and Staying; Dream, Bin, Soft Stud and Other Stories (Artangel), a participatory project with women seeking asylum in the UK due to their sexual orientation. www.oreetashery.net
Naomi Alderman grew up in London and attended Oxford University and UEA. Her first novel, Disobedience, was published in ten languages; it was read on BBC radio's Book at Bedtime and won the Orange Award for New Writers. In 2007, she was named Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, and one of Waterstones' 25 Writers for the Future. She has published prize-winning short fiction in a number of anthologies. From 2004 to 2007 Naomi was lead writer on the award-winning alternate reality game Perplex City and in 2008 she wrote the Alice in Storyland game for Penguin's online We Tell Stories project. She has written columns for the Guardian. Her latest novel, The Lessons, was published by Penguin earlier this year. www.naomialderman.nfshost.com
Samantha Ellis
http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/samantha-ellis
Pecha Kucha Night
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ARCHIVE:
2011
Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 9
Part of our nine-day festival of events at Solomon Monk's Pump House, a pop-up venue in Chalkwell Park in Southend on Sea from Friday 15 July - Saturday 23 July 2011.
7 artists, designers and creative individuals to present using the dynamic Japanese method of Pecha Kucha. 20 slides x 20 seconds. 20 slides x 20 seconds. Presenters were Adrian Green, Syd Moore, Simon Callery, Ben Eastop, Michaela Freeman, David Murphy, Dr John Eacott. Simon Moore, Julian Woollat, Steven Walker
Date: Thursday 18 July 2011. Time: 7pm - 9pm. Venue: Solomon Monk's Pumphouse, Chalkwell Park, Chalkwell Avenue, Southend on Sea, SS0 8NB
Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 8
Metal in association with the Leigh Art Trail, brought together 7 artists, designers and creative individuals to present using the dynamic Japanese method of Pecha Kucha. 20 slides x 20 seconds. Presenters were Lydia Hardwick, Dave Shields, Richard Baxter, Tricia North, Madelaine Murphy, Lola Swain, and Jo Hartle
Date: Thursday 9th June 2011. Time: 7pm - 9pm. Venue: Parkview Suites, Chalkwell Park, Chalkwell Avenue, Southend on Sea, SS0 8NB
Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 7
Six artists, designers and creative individuals present using the dynamic Japanese method of Pecha Kucha. 20 slides x 20 seconds. Presenters were: Humberto Velez, Peter Cusack, Alison Gwilt, Tse Hui Teh, Lola Pedro and David Matthews.
Date: 9th March 2011. Time: 7pm - 9pm. Venue: Parkview Suites, Chalkwell Park, Chalkwell Avenue, Southend on Sea, SS0 8NB
2010
Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 6
7 artists, designers and creative individuals to present using the dynamic Japanese method of Pecha Kucha. 20 slides x 20 seconds. 20 slides x 20 seconds. Presenters were: Mary Flanaghan, Laura Keeble, Daryl Easlea, Heidi Wigmore, Fiona MacDonald, Ian Brownbill and Amy Frampton.
Date: 21 October 2010. Time: 7pm - 9pm. Venue: East 15, Clifftown Studios, Nelson Street, Southend on Sea.
Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 5
Nine artists, designers and creative individuals presented using the dynamic Japanese method of Pecha Kucha. 20 slides x 20 seconds. Presenters were: Pat & Trevor, Markus Birdman, Grant Philpott, Tom King, Jules Easlea, Jo Overfield, Ray Morgan and David Anderson.
Date: 15th July 2010 Time: 7pm - 9pm. Venue: East 15, Clifftown Studios, Nelson Street, Southend on Sea.
Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 4
Seven artists, designers and creative individuals presented using the dynamic Japanese method of Pecha Kucha. 20 slides x 20 seconds. Presenters were: Lee Baker, Holly Murray, Kidda, Paul Siggins, Amy McKenny, Emma Emmerton, James Harrod. Date: 25 March 2010 Time: 7pm - 9pm. Venue: East 15, Clifftown Studios, Nelson Street, Southend on Sea.
2009
Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 3
Six artists, designers and creative individuals presented using the dynamic Japanese method of Pecha Kucha. 20 slides x 20 seconds. Presenters were: AEW Architects, Rachel Lichtenstein, Graham Harwood, Adam Perry, Andrew Carpenter, Greg Klerkx. Date: 14 July 2009. Time: 7pm - 9pm. Venue: Chalkwell Park, Meadow Field, Southend on Sea SS0 8NB.
Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 2
Eight artists, designers and creative individuals presented using the dynamic Japanese method of Pecha Kucha. 20 slides x 20 seconds. Presenters were: Simon Poulter, Charles Sharman-Cox, Al Johnson, Roger Griffiths, Jo Melville, Kamil Pechalko, Darren Berry, Scott Dolling. Date: 29 April 2009 Time: 7pm - 9pm. Venue: Leigh Centre, Elm Road, Leigh on Sea. SS9 1SP.
Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 1
Five artists, designers and creative individuals presented using the dynamic Japanese method of Pecha Kucha. 20 slides x 20 seconds. Presenters were: Jude Kelly, Rob Tinlin, Simon Fowler, Dan Harvey and Damien Robinson. Date: 1 April 2009. Time: 7pm - 9pm. Venue: East 15, Clifftown Studios, Nelson Street, Southend on Sea.
Pecha Kucha Night was devised by architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
The key to Pecha Kucha Night is its patented system for avoiding lengthy presentations – ‘death by powerpoint’. Each presenter is allowed 20 slides (all image based), each shown for 20 seconds – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up.
This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.
Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily and informally shown and Pecha Kucha Nights now take place regularly in over 400 cities around the world.
Pecha Kucha is now part of Metal's ongoing programme in Southend on Sea. Images of some of our past Pecha Kucha evenings are included below.
