About
This exhibition brings together images, sound pieces and artefacts from events across the London Borough of Newham, celebrating creative collaborations between artists, communities and Newham Council over the past year. With Stratford as a hub of activity building up to the Olympics, the range of performing and visual arts opportunities in the area is steadily expanding, and public events play a key role in Newham's cultural landscape.
The images and sounds exhibited highlight four key projects, exploring the ideas behind the work, creative collaborations, the interest and trepidation of new local partners and their delight at the final outcomes.
James Corner and Jayne Quinton's sound pieces provide us with viewpoints from both sides of the âfourth wall', giving us an insight into the backstage and pre-production of events, the life of the performers, and interactions with local organisers and communities. So many different specialisms contribute behind the scenes to bring such performances to life. The photographs by Andrew Baker and Sarah London capture moments from just some of these events over the year, from visual arts exhibitions to aerial acrobatics, carnival scenes, musical collaborations and captivated audiences.
On 6 April 2008, Newham became a hive of creative activity for the Beijing
2008 Olympic Torch Relay as seven torch-bearers carried the Olympic flame through Stratford, home of the 2012 Olympics. A range of activities took place on the streets of Stratford including spectacular aerial performances, music and dance. The day combined free events for the community to take part in including sporting demonstrations, creative activities inspired by athletics and Tate Gallery Collections, Get Set London, visual arts exhibitions, street performers, carnival and live music from local musicians, the Newham Young People's Chorus, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chinese Cultural celebrations, to name but a few. East London Dance and Scarebeus Theatre collaborated with the Council to choreograph a roof-top dance and aerial performance.
Each year a four-day music festival, Under the Stars, takes place in the borough, drawing more than 40,000 people to diverse musical performances. World music, swing, salsa, soca, Asian dance, and classical music have all featured. An established partnership with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has ensured a high-quality finale together with performances from local, talented young musicians, enhanced by a magnificent display of fireworks and special effects. The festival now also includes creative activities for children. Under the Stars
was first held in 2000, so 2009 will mark its tenth anniversary. Over the decade, the event has evolved continuously. It offers a unique entertainment experience for Newham residents of all ages.
The Mayor's Newham Show, which takes place each July, focuses on community participation, celebrating and showcasing the borough's diversity and its wealth of local talent. The show provides a mass of opportunities for local people of all ages to participate in cultural, community and sporting activities, including cabaret, music, dance, fashion shows, tea dances, sports, games and competitions, together with a colourful carnival procession through the streets of East Ham.
This year's Newham Carnival drew more than 500 young people in costume and 2,000 people behind the procession. Many thousands more see the carnival as it moves through the streets. The carnival is the culmination of costume design and construction sessions led by Masquerade 2000. These take place in schools and community venues for several months beforehand. Parents are encouraged to get involved and work alongside teachers and pupils, making this an extended community event. Now that the carnival has an established route and a core group of helpers and participants, there is scope for more and more schools and community centres to take part.
Cultural events have played an important role in Newham's civic calendar for many years now. Such events create a sense of place, improve quality of life and community cohesion. They have a unique ability to bring together diverse groups of people in celebration, crossing cultural divides and providing new opportunities for social interaction.
This year has also marked the beginning of a new series of artist commissions, providing new ways for the Council to support and engage artists living and working in Newham. Light-artist Laurent Louyer from Creatmosphere worked in residence at three venues in Stratford, producing temporary light installations at St. John's Church and The Heights, as well as creating a âlight pathway' between Theatre Square and Station Street, to coincide with the East Festival. These installations used light and sound to transform trees and structures in the area, highlighting Newham's architectural assets. The artist also worked with Active 8 and other local groups to create an installation in Stratford Circus.
Visual artists John Lee Bird, Mariwan Jalal, Biggi Stiller and Gudrun Haraldsdottir were selected to exhibit work at the launch of the new exhibition space at the Old Town Hall in Stratford. The establishment of this space as a new exhibition venue is intended to support visual arts in the area for the benefit of creative practitioners and audiences alike. Since the launch, it has become a regular exhibition venue for artists living and working in Newham.
The Iroko Theatre Company has been commissioned as part of Newham Council's Culture & Community department's Commissioning Programme for a series of performances and workshops in African drumming, dance and theatre. These dynamic professional performers have been introducing performance arts and African theatre art forms to children and adults across Newham, through local schools, community groups and events.
This exhibition has been made possible by the generous support of Breyer Group and Pellings.
