Kiss and Tell Storytelling…
Posted by Culture Vulture in Theatre, Tours on January 27, 2011
A fun and flirty show featuring two of Europe’s leading storytellers: Cat Weatherill (UK) and Kasper Sorensen (Denmark). Storytelling doesn’t always mean Once Upon A Time. And it’s not always for children! Cat and Kasper take to the stage for an evening of 21st century storytelling for adults, with contemporary tales and a playful but powerful approach. Expect mischief, humour, enchantment, and glorious singing as Kasper’s roguish masculine energy meets Cat’s seductive feminine charm.
Cat is one of Europe’s leading storytellers. Playful, strong and sexy, she combines her fiery female energy with wondrous tales and has a beautiful singing voice, whilst Kasper Sorensen is a master of improvisation with a fearless approach, enormous charm and great skill. A true stand-up storyteller.
Cat and Kasper have chosen to perform only 3 shows in the UK and Arlingham Village Hall is one of them. Tickets are strictly limited (and for 16+ yrs only) and at the time of writing are being snapped up by fans far and wide! Don’t miss out!
More information about Cat www.catweatherill.co.uk
More information about Kasper http://www.besttellers.dk/
Los Campesinos!
Posted by Culture Vulture in Events, Live Music, Tours on January 25, 2011
Poster children for the modern disenchanted, Los Campesinos! bring their wryly uproarious indie-pop to Gloucester Guildhall in an exclusive NME tour warm-up show.
Once described as what would happen if you gave ‘every member of Belle & Sebastian a dangerous dose of Sherbet Dip and Red Bull’, Los Campesinos! are a Welsh band without any Welsh band members. They got together at Cardiff University (all seven members of the band eventually left with a degree) and proceeded to gig around the area and post their music on the internet until they were enthusiastically picked up by Bethan Elfyn and Huw Stephens and featured on their Radio 1 Wales show. The band’s reputation continued to grow and in August 2006 they landed a support slot with Broken Social Scene. A few months later they signed to Wichita Recordings and by February 2007 they had released their first single, double A-side We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives/Don’t Tell Me To Do The Math(s). In October that year they embarked on their first full UK tour.
Debut album, Hold On Now, Youngster, was released in February 2008 to glowing praise from critics. Lauded as a ‘giddy, tuneful love note to individuality, pathos, silliness and everything else indie-pop built its name on’, it features crescendos, hooks and clever turns of phrase in all the right places to perfectly complement the emotional vividness of the poetic lyrics. In August that year the band released another record entitled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, proclaiming that there were not going to be any singles released from it and there would be limited distribution. Though many consider it to be an album due to its length, the band have always referred to it as an extended EP, citing ‘artistic reasons’.
With the band’s songwriting skills on a steady upwards trajectory, the second official album, Romance Is Boring, was released in February 2010, and they recently announced the launch of their quarterly fanzine, Heat Rash, which is intended to ‘allow us to act in the moment, to talk about what we want to, as a platform for other mediums of ‘art’, and to write and release songs in a more spontaneous way. This will hopefully allow a less formal, more fluid, DIY vein of work to develop alongside, and outside, of our album releases.’
Colourful and energetic, this is a show not to be missed!
Giffords Circus for 2011…
Posted by Culture Vulture in Events, Theatre, Tours on January 24, 2011
Giffords Circus (a bit of a favourite of ours) is back for 2011 with a new show based on War and Peace. We’re intrigued by the reference to the appearance of a tumbling pigeon on the poster, but the charm of this traditional country circus is in the basic ‘horses and humans’ approach. More details here.
Unbound – Obundet
Posted by Culture Vulture in Art, Events on January 17, 2011
Ange Mullen-Bryan returns with a solo exhibition in the George Rooms at Stroud Subscription Rooms from February 8th – 26th. With many of the paintings not previously exhibited and more space to view these often large oil paintings the show promises to be a dramatic experience.
Ange’s paintings are inspired by the lakes and forests of a vast Swedish landscape and a very particular and beautiful Nordic light; they also have something of desolation and loneliness in the remote and barren spaces they reflect. As if the artist were looking for her way, these are paintings that plot points on a journey, be it a physical or emotional one, or perhaps something of both. As if looking for a map to navigate her way through this landscape, a land that becomes something closer to a scene from ancient myth or folklore, where the imagination runs away and the uncanny resides. Where the real and imagined co-exist and are often difficult to determine.
Graduating from Winchester school of Art in 2000, after studying art foundation at Stroud College, Ange has exhibited in both solo and group shows, in a number of galleries, including: Kendrick Street Gallery, Stroud; Tobacco Factory, Bristol; Grant Bradley, Bristol, Innocent Fine Art Bristol, Nature in Art, Gloucester; and Stroud House Gallery, Stroud. Born in Stroud in 1978, and based in Gloucestershire, Ange has a year round open studio at the Painswick Centre, Painswick, near Stroud. She was shortlisted for the prestigious John Moores Painting Prize in 2008.
Blues in the Forest
Posted by Culture Vulture in Crafts, Events, Food, Live Music on January 12, 2011
The Taurus Crafts Blues Festival takes place on Saturday 25th June from 1pm – 11pm. Come along and enjoy nine hours of nationally acclaimed music blues music, along with a range of local beers, wines and ciders, a working pottery, children’s activities and more.
Acts include The Big Blues Tribe, a nine piece blues band in the style of BB King and Ray Charles. With a full five piece brass section, from trumpet to baritone sax, and five excellent voices, the Big Blues Tribe brings good-time big band blues to life.
The Bex Marshall Band is described as an explosion of blue hot acoustic slide roots/rock, poker twisted with a whippin’ of Bluegrass, a versatile guitarist with a unique earthy melting pot of a voice – not to be missed!
Rollo Markee & the Tailshakers formed in the spring of 1998 with a vision to create a Blues-Swing band with an authentic 1950s/60s sound. A decade on, their dedication to blues and their attention to detail have produced a confident, stylish, highly entertaining act. They use vintage instruments, amplifiers and microphones to deliver swings that jump and move and ballads with a warmth of toe that is reminiscent of the Chess recordings.
Chris Gibbons has over 30 years experience as a professional musician, writer and an accomplished session guitarist, his music features his own unique blend of blues, funk and world styles.
The programme will also include a series of short performances between the bands from Dave Reeves, a performer poet and freereed player. He has variously been described as a folk poet, a ranter, a socio-political punk poet, and as making people choke on their beer with laughter.
See www.tauruscrafts.co.uk for more details.
Gloucester Cajun & Zydeco Festival 2011
Posted by Culture Vulture in Events, Live Music on January 7, 2011
The biggest festival of its kind in the UK, the Gloucester Cajun & Zydeco Festival, from 28th – 30th January, brings the best bands and musicians from around the world to the city for a weekend of non-stop partying, music, dancing, workshops, authentic Cajun cuisine and an atmosphere that’s become legendary on the international Cajun & Zydeco scene. Now in its eighteenth year, the festival was founded by Pat Roberts and Louis Hawkins back in 1993, inspired by a love of Cajun music and a fascination surrounding Cajun dance. From its humble beginnings as a one-day event, it is now regarded as one of the best around, with enthusiasts flocking to Gloucester from all over the world, and this year’s line-up is pretty special.
Friday night headliners The Zydeco Diamonds, led by ex-ZFunk accordian player Gavin Lewery, who is widely considered to be the best Cajun/Zydeco accordian player in the UK, will be joined for this tour only by Harold Guillory, one of the biggest names in the genre today. A direct descendant of Zydeco founder Amade Ardoin and grandson of the great Boisec Ardoin, Harold will also be running his infamous dance workshops on the Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon The Whiskey River Zydeco Twisters will be making a welcome return to the festival, after they blew the roof off last year. They’ll certainly get you warmed up for a real treat on Saturday night in the form of The Flatville Aces, who are renowned as one of the best Cajun bands in the UK.
The final day of the festival features the brilliant Cajun Dawgs, who combine traditional Louisiana Cajun and Zydeco with swamp Blues, Country and early rock’n'roll, all served up with an earthy authentic sound resonating back to the 1940s and 1950s, and Sunday headliners The Bayou Brothers. All the way from San Diego, their unique blend of intricate harmonies and rocking Zydeco blues, combined with trademark dazzling showmanship and a lot of dancing, will be a riotous end to what proves to be a fantastic festival.
Delivering an unrivalled mix of music and dance rooted in the traditions of America’s Deep South, Gloucester’s Cajun & Zydeco Festival is hot and steamy entertainment for a miserable January.
Weekend tickets £55, Friday tickets £20, Saturday tickets £25, Sunday tickets £25
For tickets visit Gloucester Guildhall’s Box Office, call 01452 503050 or book online at www.gloucesterguildhall.co.uk
Tickets are also available from the Tourist Information Centre on Southgate Street.
Plain Stripe Check
Posted by Culture Vulture in Crafts, Events on January 5, 2011
Plain Stripe Check – A touring exhibition of contemporary and historic woven textiles at The Museum in the Park, Stroud, 8 January – 20 February 2011.
The Museum in the Park celebrates its 10th Anniversary this January and begins its 2011 programme with a special touring exhibition. ‘Plain Stripe Check’ opens on Saturday 8th January and brings together contemporary woven textiles from Japan and Britain with historic textiles from three different Museum collections.
Archaeological evidence shows that weaving has been a part of daily life for millions of years, with fragments of very fine woven linen and woollen cloth found in prehistoric graves in countries and cultures across the world. This exhibition celebrates the enduring craft of weaving and explores the timeless values of three key design trends – plains, stripes and checks – which appear and re-appear in woven fabrics created by peoples far apart in time, geography and culture.
‘Plain, Stripe, Check’ is a collaborative exhibition project in two parts: contemporary hand-woven textiles by Tim Parry-Williams (Stroud, UK) and Ikuko Ida (Kyoto, Japan); and historical woven textiles selected from museum and private collections in Britain and Japan. It represents the results of historical research across both Japanese and British sources, and practice based research (making) under the project theme. While the exhibition showcases numerous examples of museum textiles rarely seen, the collected works also reveal groups of design trends typical to both cultures. In particular it emphasises the key character values of the research theme: Timelessness, visual strength, understatement and simplicity.
On display are very beautiful, incredibly fine kimono cloth by Japanese weaver Ikuko Ida, who will be visiting Stroud to see in the exhibition, and exquisite scarves and hangings by Stroud-based British weaver Tim Parry-Williams. Contemporary work is complemented by historic textiles on loan from The National Wool Museum (The National Museum of Wales), the Crafts Study Centre (the UK’s museum of modern crafts), private collections, and Stroud Museum collections. These include fascinating mill sample books from Japan offering a glimpse into almost forgotten fashions and fabrics of past eras, 20th Century apparel cloth samples produced in Stroud mills, for suits, skirts and dresses sold by stores such as Marks & Spencers, and warm wool shawls from the Welsh valleys in traditional plaids and checks. It also includes a rare chance to see woven textiles by pioneering 20th Century weavers Rita Beales, Ethel Mairet and Elizabeth Peacock, on loan from the Crafts Study Centre collections. Across all these textiles, colours and patterns in plains, stripes and checks, appear and re-appear, echoing each other across time and place.
The exhibition is accompanied by special events and family activities, and will delight and intrigue anyone interested in textiles and design. Open Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4pm, and Saturday and Sunday 11am to 4pm. Admission free, donations appreciated, accompanying exhibition booklet £4. For further details see www.museuminthepark.org.uk
Crossings at Museum in the Park
Posted by Culture Vulture in Art, Events on October 19, 2010
crossings – An unexpected transformation of ideas into paintings.
This exhibition is the first ever collective showing by the Gloucestershire-based Parkbench Artists: Noela Bewry, Terry Cripps, Marianne Hellwig John, Penny Prince, Sue Rae, and Maggie Shaw.
These talented abstract artists have exhibited locally, nationally and internationally, and the Museum in the Park is delighted to be hosting their first UK group show in its purpose-built art gallery. Its also the first ever abstract art exhibition to be held at this venue.
The Parkbench group was founded by artist Terry Cripps as a web based marketing operation to sell prints of work from the artists’ back catalogue. The website was launched in 2005 and offers hand finished prints direct from the artist. The aim is to promote those involved and deliver the maximum financial reward back to the artists, as well as delivering high quality hand-finished artists’ prints direct to private and public clients.
Colourful, uplifting, moving, invigorating …. this exhibition is worth making a special visit to see. Influences range from the wild northern landscapes of Scandinavia, to the rhythms of contemporary jazz, human gestures and interactions, and the local Gloucestershire landscape. Experience the paintings and meet the artists, who are stewarding the gallery.
Group and school visits welcome
Exhibition admission free
Open Tuesday – Friday 10am to 4pm
Open Saturday & Sunday 11am – 4pm
Closed on Mondays. Exhibition open until 31st October 2010.
Crucible
Posted by Culture Vulture in Art, Crafts, Events on September 16, 2010
Crucible is one of the largest and most important exhibitions of contemporary sculpture to take place in Britain during the past decade.
The exhibition will show over 75 works from 48 artists – a who’s who of contemporary British sculpture – from the “New Bronze Age” sculptors of the 1950s to current household names like Damien Hirst and Antony Gormley.
Crucible is a joint venture between Gallery Pangolin and Gloucester Cathedral. Most of the works were made in Gloucestershire, by the talented craftsmen working at Pangolin Editions foundry in the Stroud valleys, or by artists from Gloucester Cathedral.
The Very Reverend Nicholas Bury, Dean of Gloucester Cathedral says: “The Cathedral is a great work of art in itself, where masons and sculptors have worked for centuries. It makes a truly wonderful setting in which to see the great works of contemporary artists. We are thrilled to be working with Pangolin and to be welcoming local and international audiences to contemporary sculpture in this inspiring space.”
As the Dean of Gloucester Cathedral prepares to retire, this world-class exhibition is a fitting tribute to his commitment to the arts in Gloucestershire.
The exhibition will take place throughout the building and grounds, including the crypt and cloisters. Crucible runs until 30th October 2010 & entry to the exhibition is free of charge - www.crucible2010.co.uk
Forest Views
Posted by Culture Vulture in Events on August 11, 2010
‘A World Apart – Photographs of the Forest of Dean’ is an exhibition of recent black and white photography by Jonathan Attree. Showcasing the beautiful views of the Forest, the exhibition runs until 12th September at Taurus Crafts, Lydney.