From Queensland came the paint. Dale Grimshaw had said he fancied the look of Sugar, Ironlak’s new range of acrylic. An email to them led to Luke Shirlaw, Creative Director, sending the cans over to Rob at The Bench 504 at the Custard Factory, Birmingham because this was Ironlak’s “commitment to support the arts”. So it really is a global event. Dale Grimshaw, originally from up north and co-incidentally not far from Catherine Kaufman, is coming to Walsall for three days to create a mural at the back of the Wheatsheaf pub. When Walsall Arts Fest organiser Carolyn Bayliss saw Dale’s work she immediately thought of theatre, “there’s a real richness to Dale’s work, it could mean many things to many people” she said. His scenes could be real or imagined and they depict how the world has become one through globalisation. Carolyn is interested in how this makes people feel and the West Midlands is a great place to explore this. Many people have come to this region from all over the world to work in the foundries and car industry and we are now in a post-industrial phase which has led to an economic decline in many areas, including Walsall. How are people feeling about their heritage, do they even know it? These are questions that Carolyn would like to see explored in the Three Days in November event. After seeing clashes between the EDL and UAF on the streets of Britain, she created Coffin. The St. George’s Cross is on top of the coffin made out of the finest Duchess satin. She wondered whether there were people who felt that the country had changed so much that it was almost like the death of England. People are invited to think about this and they can write in a Condolences Book which will be displayed with the work. What is it that we would be saying goodbye to? The viewer will decide that. Carolyn’s other work Multi will be shown and people are invited to create a flag for a modern Britain which can then be displayed as bunting. The work of Catherine Kaufman draws on the heritage of Bacup where she has recently moved into a studio. The area is known for felting and the image of Hypatia on the Lancashire landscape is one which may take us back to a time when we lived off the land. Catherine’s work is a collection of soft sculpture and felting, some figurative and some as a tapestry which will hang and the viewer can walk around. References to myths and the female over the ages run through this impressive collection of work and Catherine will be talking to people over the three days. The interactivity will continue as people are invited to create their own footage on mobile phones and email it to threedaysinnovember@gmail. This can then be made into a film for youtube and Carolyn hopes that this may reveal how people really feel about the work. The way that language becomes one is the subject of Leanne Bridgewater’s work called The Homophone Translator. You can listen to this through headphones. Leanne’s story Silver Linear Cloud was translated into a number of languages which she then listened to until words or sounds came to her through the English language. Leanne will also be performing her unique spoken word against a backdrop of the work of Dale, Catherine and Carolyn. Another main player on the Birmingham spoken word circuit, Ddotti Bluebell will be responding to the art work. Ddotti is known for her rawness, an honesty which runs through her work and she welcomes newcomers to the spoken word circuit to be part of her Word Up @ Coffee Lounge event in Birmingham. The mix continues with Hanifa McQueen-Hudson joining the fold. Hanifa is an originator and paints b-boy style with her feet. But it is more than that, Hanifa emerses herself in her environment and is influenced by sound and music as she works, there seems to be something quite spiritual about this. Another originator, Najma Hush will be showing her work known as Poetography. This is a mix of poetry and photography and as well as seeing this on screen you can talk to Najma about her practice. You can also meet Miz Brixz who will be there talking about her installation work with Lego. Dawn Hilton-McAlister’s current practice involves stockings and what they mean to us. They will be hung on a line and you will be asked to write on tags what stockings represent to you. Short films by Deborah Haywood and Patrick Coyle will be shown. These are Sis, Twinkle Twinkle and Dirty Egg which has some of the This is England cast in it. Patrick wrote and directed Dirty Egg which has been shown in festivals around the world and he will be talking about his work in Q&A alongside Walsall’s published author and lecturer Paul McDonald and Dale Grimshaw. Neth Brown is a creative writing undergraduate whose work is receiving a lot of attention in Walsall. Not only does she paint, she will be entertaining with her spoken word alongside the art work and some work of her own. Come along and meet this great mix of people and talk to them about what they do. You can be part of the event through recording it and change the work as it grows. Three Days in November 6th, 7th and 8th November The Wheatsheaf pub 4 Birmingham Road Walsall West Midlands WS1 2NA 12 noon to 6pm Also, film by Andrew McKenzie is being shown on the 9th November at 7pm. This was made on mobile phones.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 11:01:55 +0000
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