HOUSE OF LIGHT EUROPEAN MARITIME DAY WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP CARGO: POOLE’S GLOBAL HERITAGE
LIGHTHOUSE NEWSLETTER EDITION 16 01202 280000 www.lighthousepoole.co.uk
LIGHTHOUSE SUPPORTS EXCEPTIONAL TALENT DEVELOPMENT Lighthouse is enormously proud to welcome delegates from across the continent to European Maritime Day. It is an honour for Poole, and for Lighthouse, Poole’s centre for the arts, to host such a timely and important conference. We hope you have a productive and stimulating time during your stay in this beautiful part of the UK and that you leave with only good impressions of our town and our venue. Your visit is a timely reminder to us of the importance of partnership, of shared objectives and continued discussion and debate to ensure that when we face common challenges together we are able to find more effective ways of doing things. A highly developed sense of partnership working underpins every aspect of the creative arts industry. Whatever our job we know we can only do it to the best of our ability because of the efforts of others and as we strive for excellence in all aspects of our work we develop an even greater understanding of the vitality of a collaborative creative process. Nowhere is this more evident than in the performance of orchestras such as Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, for which Lighthouse is home; or for the international circus artists we work with, whose very life is dependent on catching or supporting or sometimes throwing each other correctly. Lighthouse is thrilled to be working with a range of incredibly talented and hard working artists whose energy and creativity we are glad to help nurture and develop. These are the partnerships that power our Lighthouse and illuminate our position as the region’s primary cultural provider. We believe collaboration not only improves the quality of the work, but that this work – the artistic culture we passionately believe in – is of benefit way beyond the stages, screens and gallery walls on which we present it. By exploring new ways of working, finding new partners and exploring fresh ideas, we aim to improve what we do and maybe, just maybe, enable the arts to do what they do best – entertain, stimulate and enhance our lives.
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Elspeth McBain, Chief Executive, Lighthouse
EUROPEAN MARITIME DAY As Poole celebrates the part played by the sea in its past, present and future, Lighthouse is preparing to welcome heads of government, EU Commissioners, senior ministers, industry leaders, scientists, academics and campaigners to the European Maritime Day. It is the first time the prestigious two-day conference has been held in the UK and brings together around 1000 industry leaders, policy makers and maritime experts to address the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy promoting economic growth, skills, technological innovation, environmental concerns and sustainability across Europe. Titled ‘Future of our Seas’, the conference programme includes more than 30 stakeholder workshops and project pitches on themes of Innovation & Growth, People & Skills, Safety & Security, and Sustainability & Governance. Among the delegates are Transport Minister John Hayes; Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment Maritime Affairs & Fisheries; Julie Girling MEP; Vasco Cordeiro, President of the Azores; Fiona Harvey, The Guardian; Greek environment minister Sofia Loukmidou and Therese Coffey, minister for flood and coastal management.
Jon Copley of Southampton University, the scientific consultant for BBC’s The Blue Planet 2, will deliver a keynote speech. European Maritime Day aims to advance contracts and relationships between maritime stakeholders, promote and support development of integrated approaches to maritime issues, raise awareness of the potential opportunities across Europe’s maritime and marine assets, encourage the sharing of innovative ‘Blue Economy’ ideas and practices, and raise the profile of maritime sectors. ‘Having worked on the EMD project since 2013, it will be fantastic to see the project come into fruition and an excellent opportunity for the team here to be part of such a high profile event. Lighthouse is not your ordinary venue and as such lends itself to not only performance based activity, but also to large scale conferences at an international level such as EMD.’ Emma Bovey, Lighthouse Event Manager
MAKING MORE BY WORKING TOGETHER For nearly 40 years Lighthouse has worked with other groups and organisations in our community and further afield to bring the very best the arts has to offer to our town. And partnership working is going to become even more important in the future as Lighthouse, like all arts organisations, considers how it’s going to pay for itself and how to get best value from the funding it does receive. That support is already enabling creative alliances to be forged with national agencies, other National Portfolio Organisations, education providers and artists to deliver outstanding and often nationally important events within the southwest region. This includes a regular programme of concerts and performances hosted at Lighthouse by community performers, schools and regional choirs and orchestras. This year as we welcome conference delegates to European Maritime Day and introduce them to Poole Maritime Festival, we are working towards the fruits of new partnerships, such as the Jazz By the Sea festival from 11 to 16 June. Bigger in size and scope than in previous years, with Lighthouse as a concert venue the festival has attracted a number of international recognised jazz performers including BBC Radio 2’s Clare Teal, Cuban violinist Omar Puente and Italian sax ensemble the Tommaso Starace Quartet. “We are delighted to be collaborating with Lighthouse,” says festival director Gerry Clarke. “It offers an excellent venue for all our ticketed events – with our opening show with Clare Teal and her Hollywood Orchestra in the main Concert Hall and the Sherling Studio is perfect size for the day-long World Jazz Jamboree on the final day. “Lighthouse is a local centre of excellence and we look forward to working closely in the future as we develop the festival for the benefit of people living in Dorset and the wider region.” Lighthouse is continuing to work with Bournemouth Symphony Chorus to provide participation opportunities for singers of all ages and abilities to develop their performance skills with the now annual Lighthouse Big Sing and, should additional funding be found, with a regional choral festival.
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In 2018, 2020 and 2022 Lighthouse is committed to supporting Activate Performing Arts with staff, finance and expertise to deliver the Inside Out Dorset festival as a local partner working alongside the local authority. In 2019 we will co-host the biennial British Dance Edition with Pavilion Dance South West to showcase the best of British dance to promoters from around the country and internationally. This will provide mid-scale performance space for British dance companies as well as networking and development to the UK dance sector. We already work collaboratively with PDSW on co-productions and to promote dance within each other’s venues. Dance Along the South Coast is a new joint initiative that has developed a unique partnership between four venues: Lighthouse, The Mayflower, The Point at Eastleigh and Pavilion Dance South West to promote and develop audiences for dance through joint marketing and audience development. An additional outcome has been a good learning support network that will be developed further and we intend to explore with other venues for other art forms.
SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP Lighthouse launched its first ever partnership schools programme in April as eight local schools became official partners for the next academic year. The partnership sees each partner school committing to bring students to see live performances at Lighthouse and be champions for the arts within their communities. “These schools have shown a commitment to cultural education for children,” says artistic producer Stephen Wrentmore. “They will give Lighthouse ongoing help developing and refining its outreach programme for the whole community.” In return, partner schools will be invited to see behind the scenes, get priority access to outreach workshops, receive careers talks from Lighthouse staff and access a range of other opportunities. The partner schools for 2017/18 are: Avonbourne/ Harewood Colleges (Bournemouth), Carter Community School (Poole), Oakdale Junior School (Poole), St Aldhelm’s Academy (Poole), Winchelsea School (Poole), Queen Elizabeth’s School (Wimborne) and Lytchett Minster School.
Tommaso Starace Quartet
BBC Radio 2’s Clare Teal
Cuban violinist Omar Puente
WHY I LOVE LIGHTHOUSE‌ Cllr Xena Dion, Mayor of Poole Before Lighthouse, there was nowhere in Poole to see a great band, watch film and theatre and enjoy a range of arts. I have laughed at comedians, been scared out of my wits in live theatre and been totally awed by the musical magic played by the musicians of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. I have watched world-class ballet, the most diverse cultural talents possible and art exhibitions I would have had to travel far and wide to find. But Lighthouse brings even more than that to us. I have watched the delighted faces of children; and seen young people and adults with learning and physical disabilities achieve the most amazing theatrical skills and experiences. Lighthouse brings inclusivity to the broadest range of arts. Sometimes I think one has to imagine life without something to appreciate it even more. Can we imagine life in Poole without Lighthouse? What a loss that would be? When we secured the bid for European Maritime Day to come to Poole, I was slightly nervous that the venue, Lighthouse, might not match the expectations of the EU Maritime Directorate team, who were used to purpose-built, large, city conference centres. We invited the team to view Lighthouse before we proceeded with the work to host this internationally important event. When they came to Poole and saw the venue we had to offer, they were totally charmed by the artistic ambience and atmosphere of Lighthouse and loved the intriguing warren of corridors, stairs, rooms and spaces. We knew then it was going to be a great conference.
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CARGO
If there’s a single place that encapsulates Poole’s long and varied maritime history, then it must surely be the Quay. From there the sea has brought the wonders of the world to Poole’s doorstep and, in return, taken the people of Poole to the four corners of the Earth. And still they come. And still they go. CARGO is a new HLF-funded project delivered by the everinventive Valise Noire Storytelling Theatre. It’s both a show and an exhibition, but also a learning, sharing and celebratory experience for thousands of people to find out about Poole’s global heritage. More than 2,000 local school children have already contributed to the project in workshops, writing letters and poetry and making drawings. CARGO begins on Thursday 18 May with a free performance on Poole Quay from 8.45pm when the Queen Galadriel, a Baltic Trader owned by the Cirdan Sailing Trust, docks at the Quay and her crew unloads an unusual and interactive ‘cargo’ in illuminated boxes that carry the history of Poole as well as the music, artworks, stories, prose and poetry created for the piece. The performance continues as the work is carried in procession to Anthony Caro’s refurbished Sea Music sculpture on the Quay.
“We’ll be involving the audience as we go, handing things out to them so they can take part, so it’s an interactive as well as an immersive experience,” explains Hazel Evans from Valise Noire. “It’s also a great way for delegates to the European Maritime Day conference to experience Quay-life and the history of Poole through art.” There’s a second performance on Saturday 20 May from 6.45pm and the Queen Galadriel will be moored on the Quay for a week. A final ticketed performance and talk at Lighthouse on 25 May heralds the opening of the CARGO exhibition in a specially created space on the first floor. “It’s a smallish black space with room for 10 to 15 people at a time, again very immersive,” says Hazel. “Visitors will be able to see inside the boxes, examine the artefacts, listen to the music and watch a film created during the performances on the Quay.” Stephen Wrentmore, Artistic Producer for Lighthouse adds: “Cargo provides a great opportunity for the whole community to get involved. We’re delighted to be hosting the exhibition here and celebrating such an important project highlighting Poole’s maritime heritage.”
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ONLY CONNECT There is lots in this newsletter about partnership and collaboration. We can read how working collaboratively can help us to square up to big problems together and find workable solutions. We know how, by working with partners, we can achieve so much more and touch so many more lives. At Lighthouse, we like to see our donors as partners too. While we are grateful for any support we are given, our vision is that the people and organisations that support us financially will see their role not simply as giving money, but as sharing in our mission to entertain, stimulate and inspire those in the community around us. Being partners means that we can all experience the satisfaction of knowing that we have helped a vulnerable and timid child to grow in confidence and express herself as she takes part in a drama workshop. As partners, we can share in a sense of achievement when we have been responsible for making a theatre full of people laugh or cry as they are touched by a live performance. Our partnership means that, together, we have nurtured and encouraged some of the finest young talent in the arts world. The plain truth is that we at Lighthouse couldn’t do what we do without our partners so, “Thank you!” to those who are already working with us and “Welcome!” to those who are thinking about joining us.
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HOW CAN I HELP? Your donation – large or small – can be earmarked for a particular area of work (for instance, it can help us create opportunities for local children to learn, rehearse and perform in a state-of-the-art professional venue), or it can be made available to use where the need is greatest. However you choose to do it, by making a donation you can play an important part in ensuring that Lighthouse remains a worldclass arts venue right here in Poole. To find out more please contact Eifron Hopper on 01202 781 327 or email eifron.hopper@lighthousepoole.co.uk