ArtsEast Spring 2023

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Spring 2023

Artist Profile: Ricky Minns a.k.a. Ruddy Muddy

Celebrate creativity at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival

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Dedicated to the arts in the Eastern region YOURS FREE
Visual Arts l Theatre & Film l Music l What’s On

MARISA ARNA

DESIGNER & GOLDSMITH

VISITING US :

The studio & gallery are usually open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am-5pm. Also Tuesdays to Thursdays 5pm-7.30pm by appointment only.

The jewellery gallery specialises in showcasing beautiful jewellery by UK-based designer-makers like Marisa. Generallly, to discuss a commission with Marisa it is advisable to book an appointment. To be the first to hear our news and take advantage of exclusive offers please sign up to our newsletter on our website.

Marisa Arna designs and makes her jewellery at her studio in Thorpe-le-Soken, near Frinton-on-Sea, in Essex. She originally set up her ceramic studio in 1997, making fine, thrown porcelain but since 2007 she has been working exclusively as a jeweller and goldsmith. Marisa uses traditional goldsmithing techniques, combined with some modern technology, to make her jewellery by hand and then also set the gemstones. Silver, gold or platinum, her work is long lasting and comfortable enough to enjoy wearing every day. There is a contemporary feel about Marisa’s designs, with different textures and contrasting finishes on the surface but also a timelessness. It can be a ready-to-wear, inexpensive necklace or a bespoke engagement ring, for a variety of budgets. Everyone is welcome to discuss a design with Marisa as a commission or just to treat themselves to something already made, from a changing selection of jewellery, displayed in the gallery. When possible, Marisa can also melt and remodel old or heirloom gold jewellery into new, more wearable pieces. Her new creations may themselves become heirlooms of the future, to be enjoyed for many more years to come...

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www.marisaarna.com
High Street, Thorpe-le-Soken, near Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, CO160EA, Tel:01255-862355, email:studio@marisaarna.com Celebrating 25 years of contemporary design on
the High Street

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Published by Falcon Publications

Editor’s Welcome

Welcome to the Spring edition of ARTSeast Magazine.

In this issue we look ahead to the upcoming Sean Scully exhibition at Houghton Hall. We also feature the Ipswich PrintWeek, the Art For Cure exhibition at Helmingham Hall, Big Women at Firstsite and the Felixstowe Book Festival.

Our artist profile features the incredibly talented Ricky Minns - also known as Ruddy Muddy - whose famous van paintings are the tip of the iceberg of his talent. For our coffee and a chat feature we caught up with Hammond organ guru James Taylor ahead of the James Taylor Quartet gig at the Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich in April.

In our news pages, we round up some of

the best exhibitions, concerts, shows and events across the region. We also have some great prizes on offer including tickets to the Marina Theatre, Lowestoft and the chance to win a family ticket to the East Anglian Game & Country Fair.

If you have anything you would like us to cover in our next issue, please drop us a line. We love to hear from you. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this latest edition.

Sarah Veness

Competition winners from the previous issue: Tickets to see Girl from the North Country at Norwich Theatre Royal on February 28thDavid Wolfenden from Bungay

Tickets to see The South at The Apex, Bury St Edmunds on February 19thNick Knowles from Sudbury

See Artist Profile pages 9-11

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Dedicated to the arts in the Eastern region YOURS FREE Spring 2023 Artist Profile: Ricky Minns a.k.a. Ruddy Muddy Celebrate creativity at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival WIN FREE TICKETS Visual Arts l Theatre & Film Music What’s On
Bird Tattoo by Ricky Minns
©

Visual Arts News

Artist Profile: Ricky Minns

Sean Scully at Houghton Hall

Art For Cure at Helmingham Hall

Ipswich PrintWeek

Big Women at Firstsite

Art Book Round-Up

Coffee & a Chat: James Taylor

Theatre & Film News

Marina Theatre Competition

Norwich Moves

Norfolk & Norwich Festival

Music News

What’s On News

Felixstowe Book Festival

Last Voyage of the Gloucester

East Anglian Game & Country Fair Competition

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Contents 13 18 31 9 16 29

Visual Arts News

Anglian Potters Spring Exhibition

In its 40th Anniversary year Anglian Potters will once again be mounting a fullscale exhibition of members’ work at the The Undercroft Gallery in Market Square, Norwich. Over 50 exhibitors will show an amazing display of ceramic work from sculptures and wall hanging pieces to studio pottery and domestic ware. Everything is for sale and entrance is free. The Undercroft is a huge space under the Memorial Gardens outside the City Hall and its cavernous space is transformed into a magical grotto by the display lights and the multi-coloured work in the show. Pottery is alive and well and Anglian Potters has more members than ever, making it the largest such regional organisation in the UK The exhibition opens on Saturday April 8th and runs every day until Sunday April 23rd (10am-4.30pm). anglianpotters.org.uk

4-Ways Art Exhibition

The Spring Art Show

The Spring Art Show at the Forum, a staple event in Norfolk’s art calendar, will return for its tenth anniversary this April. The exhibition will gather together an eclectic mix of artists from across the East of England, working in a range of art forms and styles. Organised by Norwich artist Brian Korteling the exhibition

runs from April 5th-9th. Brian Korteling said: ‘We aim to put on a diverse and inspiring exhibition of artwork so this year we have introduced a selection process for the first time to give us more curatorial control. Hopefully this will make for an even better exhibition.’ Annually attracting thousands of visitors, the original artworks and prints on show will all be for sale.

www.springartshow.co.uk

From April 6th-23rd, The Handa Gallery at Wells Maltings is home to a group exhibition for four artists from four different places. Each of them creates a sense of place and time through their visual art. Dave Mercer’s inspiration comes from the North Yorkshire moors where he lives. He paints acrylics and mixed media and also creates digital art. Caroline Murtagh is an oil painter who lives and works in County Cork where she is surrounded by beautiful landscape and seas. Caroline’s work has increasingly moved towards abstraction. Carol Pairaudeau is a print maker and a painter. Vandy Massey paints predominantly in watercolour and mixed media. Her work is inspired by the natural environment and often features trees and plants. Carol Pairaudeau and Vandy Massey will be running workshops in gel plate printing and watercolour painting on Saturday April 15th and 22nd. Bookings can be made via wellsmaltings.org.uk

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Three Painters, One Sculptor

Running until April 16th, at Stapleford Granary near Cambridge, this exhibition presents 48 paintings and sculptures by four artists. Tom

Benjamin’s landscapes are painted swiftly outdoors as the light changes, capturing a moment of sun on water, dappled shade on trees or dusk over the city. Philip Maltman’s vivid flowers suggest the wild and untouched. The addition of his spidery and graffiti-like handwriting on the paintings is suggestive of urban wastelands where nature finds a way to co-existpoignantly, stoically - alongside man-made structures. Ian Turnock’s sculptures are inspired by patterns formed by trees against the sky and the empty spaces left between leaves and branches. His silhouettes are cut digitally into large circular discs of steel, aluminium and copper, compressing the subject matter into a flat two-dimensional form. Susan Laughton’s landscapes reveal the world as if seen through a half-glimpsed mist or from the windows of a train. Barely-there outlines of farm buildings, trees, rooftops and power lines are subsumed in cool early-morning tones, lending an ethereal quality and a delicacy to their everyday functionality and solidity.

www.staplefordgranary.org.uk

Three Make Art: celebrating decades of making art in Palgrave

In April & May, Mike Webb, Jenny Goater and Jane West host a joint exhibition at Longs Farm Palgrave, near Diss (IP22 1AD). Mike Webb has lived in the village since 1969 and is most famous for his cartoons in the Diss Express that have run for a staggering 50 years. He has exhibited throughout East Anglia and has had a regular bi-annual show at the Corn Hall in Diss. His beautifully observed watercolours focus nostalgically on rural East Anglian life, though more recently he has veered to a freer, more whimsical style. Jenny Goater is renowned for her animal sculptures in mixed media. Jenny developed a technique whereby plaster or concrete was worked onto an open armature, but slowly the armature took over leading to her present method of free sculptural wirework. She has recently been commissioned by a magician’s friend and created a 9ft giraffe, life-size alpaca and

Norfolk Life in Cromer

From March 18th - April 4th, The Gallery Norfolk in Cromer is hosting an exhibition of work by the talented Sam Robbins. The exhibition, entitled Norfolk Life, mark Sams’ new move into figurative work, looking at people’s behaviour on the beach, without any special focus on faces. The paintings convey the colours and the vibe on the beach from adults chilling out staring at the sea, to children wriggling as the Factor 50 gets put on by a parent. There is a lovely feeling of spontaneity. Sam sketches tiny works whenever he is on the beach then develops a chosen few as soon as possible thereafter into a larger work, the final piece is very closely linked to what he has observed that day. Sam’s fascination with Norfolk light and landscapes has turned to the times and locations where the environment and people collide or collaborate, creating these hugely atmospheric paintings. There is a timelessness to his art.

www.thegallerynorfolk.co.uk

baby elephant, and a large cobra aiding his master. Jane West has been making art for 20 years and creates ceramics, prints and sculptures. Much of Jane’s work is figurative, producing thoughtprovoking pieces as well as those that raise a smile. She will be exhibiting in the Raveningham Sculpture Trail again this year. The exhibition is open on April 29th-30th, May 1st, 6th-7th,13th-14th, 20th-21st, 27th-28th and 29th from 11am-5pm.

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8 l www.artseast.co.uk 3rd annual exhibition of Printmaking 20 -27 May 2023 Whistler Gallery, Jerwood DanceHouse, Ipswich www.towerstprintproject.org.uk

Artist Profile: Ricky Minns

Known to many as Ruddy Muddy, painter of vans, Ricky Minns is actually an artist of exceptional talent and diversity.

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As you’re driving around Norfolk, you may be lucky enough to spot Ruddy Muddy’s van, sporting one of his amazing works of art on the back.

Ricky uses current events to inspire the mud paintings he painstakingly undertakes. They are intricate, topical and often breathtaking.

He’s come a long way from doodling colleagues in his previous job as a delivery driver.

‘I’ve always loved drawing and would often draw pictures of my colleagues when we were on our break,’ he says. ‘Art was a hobby but nothing more.’

As the driver of a white van that easily became muddy, Ricky would often find rude words scrawled on his vehicle. One

evening, instead of wiping the words off to hide them from his children, he decided to doodle over the top of them.

That snap decision was to ultimately change the course of his life. He started painting mud pictures on his van whenever it got dirty enough.

‘It wasn’t long before the lads at my golf club started commenting that I should set up a Facebook page for my van drawings,’ says Ricky. ‘I was getting stopped quite often at petrol stations too.’

Then one evening a producer from Look East drove past Ricky’s van. The rest is history.

‘I found myself on the TV and the subject of many newspaper articles,’ says Ricky. ‘ I even appeared on The One Show,

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painting three vans during the course of the programme. That was tricky as they weren’t muddy so I had to find a way of putting the dirt on them myself.’

Ricky created the persona of Ruddy Muddy as his Facebook followers went through the roof.

The success of his van paintings ignited a flame in Ricky.

‘I signed up for some art lessons which was the best decision I ever made,’ he says. ‘I’d always been able to draw but now I was able to learn the fundamentals of painting. They taught me the techniques I was missing to make the most of my skills.’

Since then Ricky has honed his art, working mainly in oils. His paintings are beautiful and accomplished.

‘I have done many scenic paintings but I also love figurative

art. I love detail,’ he says.

He’s also worked out a way to lift his mud paintings to get a print and now sells a range of merchandise through his website and Facebook Page. He is also available for commissions, including pencil drawings.

Ricky is holding an exhibition of his work at Harrods of Hingham for the month of August.

While Ruddy Muddy’s van paintings are amazing, it’s clear that Ricky is a diverse and talented artist who deserves far wider recognition.

www.ruddymuddyart.com

Facebook: Ruddy Muddy art

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Visit our exhibitions of handmade ceramics throughout the year across the region, for example: The Undercroft Gallery, Norwich, 8-23 April 2023 Christmas at All Saints Church, Cambridge, 18 November -10 December 2023 Delightful ceramics as sculpture, domestic ware and studio pottery from dozens of local makers at these and other venues See anglianpotters.org.uk for more details Free entry www.gainsborough.org
ANGLIAN POTTERS
The new national centre for Thomas Gainsborough
10am to 5pm
Open Mon to Sun

Sean Scully at Houghton Hall

Smaller Than The Sky

World-renowned artist Sean Scully is staging a major exhibition of outdoor sculpture at Houghton Hall

This spring one of the world’s most celebrated artists Sean Scully will take over the grounds and historic interiors of Houghton Hall in Norfolk for an exhibition that will showcase the full range of the artist’s sculpture. In the Hall and Contemporary Gallery, the artist will also show a significant group of paintings and works on paper. Sean Scully at Houghton Hall - Smaller Than The Sky will open on April 23rd and run until October 29th .

Houghton Hall was built in the 1720s for Britain’s first Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, and the 2023 exhibition will showcase Sean Scully sculptures in a wide range of materials sited in the Palladian house and around the extensive formal gardens.

Several new works will be included in the exhibition including stacks made of sandstone, wood, glass and marble.  The sculptures range in scale from small maquettes to monumental

open structures in steel, such as Crate of Air, and a new Wall of Light sculpture, constructed from locally sourced limestone.  The exhibition will be a showcase of Scully’s outdoor sculptures in dialogue with works in other media.

The exhibition will also include a selection of paintings and works on paper made over the past few years but with key reference to works from earlier in Scully’s career. These works will be displayed in the grand rooms of the house and in the North Colonnade and the Contemporary Gallery.

Smaller Than The Sky is the latest edition of Houghton Hall’s celebrated series of contemporary exhibitions that have featured James Turrell (2015), Richard Long (2017), Damien Hirst (2018), Henry Moore (2019), Anish Kapoor (2020), Tony Cragg (2021), and Chris Levine (2021).

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Sean Scully  Crate of Air, 2018 Corten steel, 3.6 x 19.2 x 7.2 m © Sean Scully; Courtesy Lisson Gallery and Thaddaeus Ropac gallery

Sean Scully’s concern for the environment and his focus on nature is reflected in the title of the exhibition. An important component is his book, Endangered Sky, a collaboration with the poet Kelly Grovier, focusing on the plight of bird life, memorializing those already extinct and those which are close to it, which will be launched at Houghton and will be shown in vitrines as part of the exhibition.

The exhibition is curated by the art historian and museum director, Sean Rainbird, formerly Director of the National Gallery of Ireland (2012-2022) and a Senior Curator at Tate.

Sean Scully said: ‘England, as we’ve seen from the fabulous paintings by Constable, is a country very informed by sky. People talk about the sky all the time. They talk about the weather, or the clouds, the wet. So, it’s a source of inspiration.

When you put sculptures outside, you are aware that the sky is illuminating them, and conditioning how they look. Whatever you put out there is always humbled by the bigness of the sky.’

Lord Cholmondeley, owner of Houghton Hall, said: ’As a long-time admirer of Sean Scully’s work, I feel extremely proud to be able to bring this major exhibition to Houghton. Scully’s paintings and sculptures often evoke landscape and architecture, and will look sensational against the backdrop of the house.’

Born in Dublin, Sean Scully came to prominence primarily as a painter in the early 1970s, evolving a distinctive form of abstraction in the course of the decade.  This led him away from the geometric purity of minimalism to an expressive, multilayered abstract painting.  The works with which he gained

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Sean Scully  Aix Wall 2, 2021 Oil on copper, 50 x 50 cm. © Sean Scully; Courtesy Lisson Gallery and Thaddaeus Ropac gallery

Murano glass, 270 x 108 x 108 cm

85 x 75 in. (215.9 x 190.5 cm)

international recognition comprise coloured bars and horizontal beams, some with inset or relief elements.

Scully established himself in New York, where he moved in the mid-1970s. The artist currently lives and works in New York and between several European cities, including London. He is widely celebrated for his watercolours drawings, pastels and prints, as well as for his photography. Increasingly over the past two decades, he has made critically acclaimed sculptures including the monumental Opulent Ascension installed at San Giorgio Maggiore for the 2019 Venice Biennale, which drew over 360,000 visitors. More recently, Oak Stacks was created from historic local Danish timber to stand in Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Square, Copenhagen for the start of that city’s 2023 designation as the World Capital of Architecture. Scully

exhibits internationally, and his work is held by many major museums and galleries across the world.

The exhibition is organised by the Houghton Arts Foundation with the support of Lisson Gallery and Thaddaeus Ropac gallery and key assistance from the artist and his studio. A fully illustrated catalogue will include a text by Sean Rainbird.

The Houghton Arts Foundation continues to build a collection of contemporary art at Houghton Hall, including a number of site-specific commissions.  With links to colleges and public institutions across the region, the Foundation’s aim is for Houghton Hall to become a focus for those who wish to see great art of our time in an historic setting.

www.houghtonhall.com

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Sean Scully  Wall Landline Uranus, 12. 2022 Oil on aluminum, © Sean Scully; Courtesy Lisson Gallery and Thaddaeus Ropac gallery Detail of: Sean Scully  Glass Stack, 2020 © Sean Scully; Courtesy Lisson Gallery and Thaddaeus Ropac gallery Houghton Hall

Outdoor Sculpture at Helmingham Hall

From April 28th Helmingham Hall, one of the country’s finest Elizabethan stately homes, plays host to a stunning exhibition of outdoor sculpture in the award-winning gardens designed by Chelsea Gold medal winner Xa Tollemache.

The sculpture exhibition - running until September 17th - is raising money for the care and cure of breast cancer. ART FOR CURE is one of the UK’s most successful breast cancer charities, raising money for vital breast cancer research and support services, through the sale of contemporary art, ceramics and sculpture with 30% of all sales going directly to their non-profit, voluntary fundraising.

The exhibition is a unique curation of sculpture from over 50 eminent sculptors in the UK including deeply human and expressive figures by Carol Peace and Beatrice Hoffman, hanging, mesh wire sculptures by David Begbie and seated figures by Rachel Ducker. Also including Suffolk-based Paul Richardson’s Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Show sculpture, including ‘Falling Leaves’ and favoured bronze stags, hares and dogs by Tanya Russell and Andrew Kay authentic in the backdrop of the spectacular deer park. Contemporary ceramicist Emma Fenelon’s intriguing terracotta towers work as well indoor as outdoor.

Alongside the exhibition is an opening 3-day exhibition of contemporary paintings and ceramics (April 28th-May 1st) inside the historic interior of the Hall, usually inaccessible to the general public.

A new collection from over 30 artists with contributions from eminent figurative painter Henrietta Dubrey whose strong and beautiful women are always first night sell-outs. Stylish painter Penny Madden, wife of Marigold Hotel film director John Madden will launch a new theme of botanical works with successful painter Kate Giles expressing her intimate interpretations of the rural East Anglian landscape.

Sophie Cook, Kate Reynolds and Laura Hutson who reside in East Anglia and exhibit work on an international platform will fill the 500-year-old historic home with their colourful, contemporary ceramics.

artforcure.org.uk

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Large Herd: Andrew Kay Falling Leaves: Paul Richardson Etruscan Couple 2: Beatrice Hoffman

Ipswich PrintWeek

The third annual Ipswich PrintWeek runs from May 20th-27th and features another exciting exhibition of printmaking at the prestigious Whistler Gallery, on the Ipswich Waterfront. PrintWeek was devised by Oyster Community Press CIC, an Ipswich based community arts organisation that teaches printmaking, because they couldn’t deliver workshops or exhibit during Lockdown, and they wanted to provide fellow printmakers, including emerging printmakers, with an opportunity to promote their work again. They also wanted to give people who may not know about printmaking a chance to find out about the art form, so they provide free events during PrintWeek for the public too.

Al Smyth, Creative Director at Oyster Press says; ‘Ipswich PrintWeek is about supporting printmakers and giving the public a chance to enjoy printmaking across all disciplines.’ One of the ways they do this is through their acclaimed exhibitions. These showcase work from fine art students from the University of Suffolk, alongside established printmakers, and members of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, to deliver

a diverse and fresh exhibition every year, which stands out from others you may see in Suffolk. They differ in other ways too.

Al says ‘We want to encourage people to both exhibit and to buy work at our exhibition, so we don’t charge commission on sales. This means work at our exhibitions is very affordable and the full price you pay goes directly to the artist, helping printmakers of the future to thrive.’

To exhibit you must be a printmaker living or working within twenty miles of Ipswich and able to email jpegs of your work to the 2023 selection panel of printmakers to view, by April 28th.

Full entry criteria and an entry form are available on www. towerstprintproject.org.uk.

Any printmakers who are interested in helping at this year’s event are most welcome says Al, and you are invited to email him at oysterpress.cic@gmail.com or call 07990 553662 for more information.

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BIG WOMEN: Curated by Sarah Lucas

Sarah Lucas, one of Britain’s most celebrated artists, will curate a major exhibition at Firstsite in 2023 - and it’s going to be very BIG.

Under the headline BIG WOMEN, the Colchester gallery will showcase work by leading female artists; Renata Adela, Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Kate Boxer, Yoko Brown, Angela Bulloch, Phillippa Clayden, Vanessa Fristedt, Maggi Hambling, Pam Hogg, Rachel Howard, Merilyn Humphreys, Patricia Jordan, Princess Julia, Abigail Lane, Tory Lawrence, Millie Laws, Polly Morgan, Clare Palmier, Georgina Starr, Gillian Wearing, Sue Webster, Erica Åkerlund, Sonia Coode-Adams and Lucas herself.

The exhibition, running until June 18th - promises a wealth of diverse artworks to enjoy - and a few surprises too.

The seed for BIG WOMEN was planted when Lucas took a trip to Venice with her friend, fellow artist Kate Boxer, in 2017. As Sarah explains: ‘I can’t put an exact age on when we stop being ‘Miss or ‘Señorita’ and start being ‘Madam’, or ‘Señora’, but by the time you’re in your mid-fifties you’ve definitely arrived. We got talking about what great fun it can be to be a Señora and talked about the concept of Señora with our women friends and it proved to be

a very uplifting idea. Even as an idea it has the power to shift one’s outlook on life – in a positive way.’

The initial result of those conversations was a group exhibition in Vienna, SEÑORA! The show explored a number of themes and questions relating to womanhood. Inspired by its impact, Lucas and her colleagues began to follow up SEÑORA! with a corresponding exhibition, purely featuring British women artists.

‘So here it is. BIG WOMEN at Firstsite’ she says. ‘An exhibition of sculpture, painting, film and fashion. So much emphasis in our culture is on youth. When the media wants to arouse our sympathy, it’s all about children. The fashion and advertising media concentrates on young female beauty. The older woman is often overlooked, irrelevant, without currency. We live in an increasingly ageist society and this affects women disproportionately. I see BIG WOMEN as both an endorsement and a celebration of women’s achievement in the creative field. It aspires to be thought provoking, funny, serious, attractive and fun. God knows we need it in these times dominated by male aggression, politicking, greed, war and pig-headedness.’

As part of the exhibition, BIG WOMEN will also include a festival/ fete day complete with bands, DJs, food and drink. firstsite.uk

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Yellow Chair Hair 2022 © Sarah Lucas Lilith I - Hammerhead Venus, 2018 wax and steel, 38 x 22 x 22 cm / 15 x 85/8 x 85/8 in © Renata Adela, courtesy The Artist.

Vermeer - The Rijksmuseum’s major exhibition catalogue

Pieter Roelofs (Editor)

Gregor J.M. Weber (Editor)

Published to accompany the once-in-alifetime exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, this is the first major study on Vermeer’s life and work for many years.

Vermeer’s intensely quiet and enigmatic paintings invite the viewer into a private world, often prompting more questions than answers. Who is being portrayedare his subjects real or imagined? What details do we know of Vermeer’s personal life? How did it affect his painting style, and how did he create such an unrivalled sense of intimacy?

For the first time in its history, the Rijksmuseum is staging a dedicated exhibition of this beloved Dutch master, featuring nearly all of Vermeer’s masterpieces in the context of a new investigation into his life and art. Including three extensive scholarly essays, and a series of thirteen thematic sections which bring together diverse strands of the artist’s professional and private life through his paintings, this publicationdesigned by Irma Boom, the ‘Queen of

Books’ - will be required reading for all art-lovers as well as devotees of this most admired of painters.

Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd

RRP: £50

and painting skills and create realistic and representational art.

Publisher: Rockport Books

RRP: £18.99

All the Beauty in the World: A Museum Guard’s

Adventures in Life, Loss and Art

A revelatory portrait of life in a great museum and the moving story of one guard’s quest to find solace and meaning in art.

Plein Air Techniques for Artist: Principles and Methods for Painting in Natural Light by Aimee Erickson

Take your plein air artwork to the next level through easy-to-understand workshop-style lessons and skill-building exercises.

In Plein Air Techniques for Artists, awardwinning artist and respected workshop instructor Aimee Erickson demystifies how to capture a variety of light effects and guides you in strengthening your plein air skills through practice. This accessible book covers materials and gear, composition and value, colour, light effects and design and visual ideas. Featuring exceptional still lifes, figures, and landscapes by other noted artists working in a range of mediums, Plein Air Techniques for Artists gives artists at all levels of experience the guidance they need to grow as a plein air artist.

The For Artists series expertly guides and instructs artists at all skill levels who want to develop their classical drawing

Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase into New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. Patrick Bringley never thought he’d be one of them. But when his brother was diagnosed with fatal cancer he quit his journalism job, and sought peace in the most beautiful place he knew.

To his surprise, this temporary refuge becomes his home away from home for a decade. Bringley enters the museum as a ghost, silent and almost invisible, but soon finds his voice and place among the lively subculture of museum guards. As his bonds with colleagues and the art grow, he learns how fortunate he is to be walled off in this little world and how much it resembles the best aspects of the larger world to which he gradually, gratefully returns.

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

RRP: £25

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Here we take a look at some of the best newly-released or soon to be published art books out there for you to enjoy...

Here we catch up with Hammond Organ Guru James Taylor as he brings the ever-impressive James Taylor Quartet to Norwich’s Maddermarket Theatre.

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For over 30 years, the James Taylor Quartet have set the standard for the coolest sounds in funky acid jazz. On dozens of mighty albums and at their legendary gigs at home and around the world, they’ve become a byword for distinguished British creativity.

On April 21st, they bring their magic to the Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich for what promises to be a very special night.

Performing in front of an audience has always been James Taylor’s passion.

‘I did my first concert at 17 - I was completely baptised and changed. It’s the interaction between the musicians and the audience…what goes on in the space between,’ says James. ‘Lots changes hands and it’s always fascinated me. Each performance is unique and every audience is completely different. I first played in Norwich in 1987 and I’ve always found Norwich audiences very responsive.’

For James, performing live connects to something primal.

‘Humans have performed sounds and music around campfires for thousands of years,’ says James. ‘They needed that connection 50,000 years ago and they still need it now. Jazz clubs are like churches - something happens between the audience and the player. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

For James, music really does have the power to heal.

‘A good gig leaves everyone feeling happy and well,’ he says, ‘I’ve seen many musicians start a gig with a bad back and by the end of the show they come off saying the pain has gone.’

The James Taylor Quartet was formed in 1985 and is now on its third line up.

‘I still call these the new boys even though this current line-

up has been together for 17 years,’ says James. ‘What we do at gigs is largely improvised. We just try to get sparks flying!’

James’ passion for what he does shines through every word he says.

‘I feel blessed to have made a career out of something I love for so long,’ he says. ‘If it wasn’t my job, I’d be doing it anyway.’

Famed for his skill on the Hammond organ, James was introduced to the instrument by a school friend.

‘I was learning piano at the time when a friend showed me a Hammond Organ and I was hooked,’ says James. ‘When I finally got my hands on one, we had to cut it in half to get it into the house. Since then, I’ve worked hard on it to make sure it gives the sounds that I want’.

It is a true labour of love to maintain this 70-year-old instrument.

‘I drive all the way to Milan which takes 15 hours to get it repaired and serviced,’ says James. ‘Despite this, as we are setting up for a gig, it often stops working and I’ll have to get my soldering iron out to get it going again!’

And thank goodness James works so hard to maintain the instrument. Without his dedication, we wouldn’t be lucky enough to witness the magic the James Taylor Quartet bring to the stage.

The James Taylor Quartet are at the Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich on April 21st. www.maddermarket.co.uk

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22 l www.artseast.co.uk Halesworth Gallery SteepleEnd,Halesworth,SuffolkIP198LL OppositeSt. Mary's Church Admissionfree01986873064 OpenMay-October 11amto4pmMonday-Saturday Unique,volunteerrungalleryspace showinginterestingartbyEast Anglianartistsinabeautifulold almshousesince1966 www.halesworthgallery.co.uk
Spring 2023 l 23 Courses, Open Access & Gallery 01223 892380 www.curwenprintstudy.co.uk To advertise in the Arts & Crafts Directory pages call Gary on 01379 773347 or email Dedicated to the arts in the Eastern region YOURS FREE Spring 2023 Artist Profile: Ricky Minns a.k.a. Ruddy Muddy Celebrate creativity at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival WIN FREE TICKETS Visual Arts Theatre & Film Music l What’s On gary@artseast.co.uk www.thegallerynorfolk.co.uk 01263 515745 @thegallerynorfolk 3 Church Street Cromer NR27 9ER SAM ROBBINS NORFOLK LIFE 18th March – 4th April 2023

Theatre & Film News

Of Mice and Men comes to Cambridge

Birmingham Rep, Leeds Playhouse and Fiery Angel present a brand-new production of the stage adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men at Cambridge Arts Theatre from April 19th-22nd. George and Lennie are migrants with a dream; a dream of a better life, a place where they can belong, where Lennie feels safe and George can be somebody. But this is the Great Depression, not many dreams come true in a time where a few have plenty but most have nothing. When the friends take a job on Curley’s farm, tragedy unfolds leading to a heart-breaking decision. John Steinbeck’s classic novel is more than 80 years old, but with themes of economic migration, racism and prejudice, it remains a parable for our times.

www.cambridgeartstheatre.com

The Infamous UpShoot Cabaret

Head to the Fisher Theatre, Bungay on April 28th as members of Upshoot Theatre Company’s Community Theatre branch come together to delight, soothe, surprise and entertain with a feast of song, monologues, poetry, music and sketches, presented around a theme. There is something for everyone, guaranteed to keep you enthralled. An extraordinarily talented group with stars from ‘Into the Woods’, ‘Guys and Dolls’, ‘Moulin Rouge’ and more, MC’d by the irreverent Darren France for a night you won’t forget. This a fundraiser for the theatre. fishertheatre.org

A Perfect Likeness at the Maddermarket

Head to the Maddermarket Theatre Norwich on March 31st for a night celebrating two of the country’s biggest literary names. Reclusive writer and photographer Charles Dodgson (also known as Lewis Carroll) invites celebrity author Charles Dickens to his Oxford home to pose for a portrait. Dickens is so intrigued by the whimsical “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” that he accepts. What ensues is a baring of two creative souls, the one private and fastidious, the other boisterous and irreverent. As Dodgson struggles to capture a “perfect likeness” of Dickens, Dickens craftily pries into Dodgson’s personal life to get a handle on one of the most curious men he has ever met. The result is a hilarious and revealing conversation between two quirky, fascinating, and completely different men. www.maddermarket.co.uk

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Steam - A Musical reimagining of Dicken’s Hard Times

Against the backdrop of Britain’s industrial revolution in the 1850s, the abandoned circus-girl Sissy Jupe and an amazing array of Dickens characters transform Hard Times into two hours of entertainment, comfort and joy.  Award-winning critic and director Chris Tookey has written an innovative steampunk musical inspired by the nineteenth century novel most relevant to our own times.16 talented actor-singers from North Norfolk combine with a 500-piece, digital orchestra in the most ambitious spectacle ever mounted at the Wells Maltings. The run is between April 10th-15th and in aid of Homes for Wells and the Ukraine Crisis Appeal. It will be the largest production ever staged at the venue. The production is written and directed by Chris Tookey, who was the film critic at the Daily Mail for 20 years. Chris and his family have lived in North Norfolk for 28 years. In 2000, an earlier version of the show had a well-reviewed run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket with Brian Blessed and Roy Hudd. www.wellsmaltings.org.uk

Eastern Angles raise the curtain on medieval East Anglia

This spring, Eastern Angles are inviting people to become a local heritage ‘detective’ with its Medieval Miracles. “East Anglia was the Broadway or West End of 15th Century English Theatre” so said a stage historian – and Eastern Angles are not only bringing that buzzing theatre scene up to date with their touring show Medieval Miracles, they’re also launching a largescale heritage project with activities for all across the region! The Medieval Miracles project will focus on the “N-Town Cycle”, a series of 42 plays that tell the story of the world from creation to doomsday. Eastern Angles’ Artistic Director Ivan Cutting says; “Everyone knows about the famous mystery cycles in the northern cities of York, Chester and Wakefield, but East Anglia not only had a bigger one, but a bunch of other plays too which were performed all over the places from villages to big towns.’ There will be opportunities for participants to put their hands to embroidery, design a stained-glass window, or step into the

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

You’ll believe a car can fly! That’s the promise of an ambitious new youth production of the smash-hit musical fantasy Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Snape Maltings in July 7th-9th. But creating an out-of-this-world car at Snape that sails the seas and flies through the air is a huge challenge for the Co-op Juniors Theatre Company. Director Oliver Brett say; ‘We’re fortunate to have the fabulously realistic flying version of Chitty! It transports inventor Caractacus Pott and his family on a series of adventures and close scrapes, and audiences will see it magically rise into the air. There are lots of other surprises too, the whole show is packed with wonderful musical numbers and our cast are throwing themselves into it.’ The Ipswich-based Co-op Juniors have built a reputation for ambitious productions with their annual Christmas Spectacular! at Snape Maltings. Along with their Theatre Academy, providing training in dance, singing and drama for more than 200 pupils, the group has been part of the Suffolk arts scene for 80 years, a landmark they’re celebrating this year. coopjuniors.co.uk/chitty

medieval history of their local area by joining a guided heritage walk. Tickets are already available for the Medieval Miracles play that will visit venues across the East of England from 16th March – 20th May. To keep up to date with all the latest project news and events head to easternangles.co.uk

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Lowestoft’s Marina Theatre celebrates opera and musicals

The Opera Boys are back at the Marina Theatre, Lowestoft on May 26th with their sell-out show A Night at the Musicals. Completely updated with brand new musical medleys, stunning solo performances and a few surprises, the audience will be delighted with the sound of classic light opera and modern-day musicals.

The boys trained at some of the UK’s finest schools, including The Royal Academy of Music, and have each become highly successful performers in their own right.

Between them they have performed lead roles on London’s West End and on Broadway in New York. They have performed as backing vocalists to some of the world’s biggest superstars including Russell Watson, Robbie Williams, Tom Jones and Elton John, and in 2015 one of the boys appeared as part of the Belgian entry for The Eurovision Song Contest, performing to a global audience of 200 million, and placing a very respectable 4th in the competition!

They have been invited to perform at a number of prestigious events including the 10th Anniversary of the world’s most famous cruise ship, Cunard’s superliner Queen Mary 2, and the inaugural voyage of P&O’s largest cruise ship Britannia, launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Whether you’re a fan of modern-day smash hit musicals like Mamma Mia, Hairspray and Jersey Boys, prefer the classics from

the likes of Gershwin and Rodgers & Hammerstein, or adore the definitive masterpieces like Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera and West Side Story, this show has something for everyone and is perfect for musical theatre lovers both young and old. With beautiful vocal arrangements, spectacular close part harmony and a great line in humour, The Opera Boys have been delighting audiences all over the world with their unique show combining beautiful, powerful, and emotional music with funny, engaging and light-hearted entertainment.

www.marinatheatre.co.uk

Competition

WIN TICKETS

ARTSeast has teamed up with The Marina Theatre, Lowestoft to offer one lucky reader the chance to win two tickets to see The Opera Boys on May 26th.

To be in with a chance of winning, please email your name, address and telephone number to:

sarah@artseast.co.uk

Closing date: May 5th.

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Beautiful new co-production musical for the summer

Buxton International Festival and Norwich Theatre launch a beautiful new co-production for 2023, The Land of MightHave-Been.

This bold new musical is built around Ivor Novello’s songs and is inspired by the early life of Buxton’s pioneering feminist and pacifist Vera Brittain and the intriguing loves and motivations of those closest to her, all change-makers in war-torn 1900s Britain.

Michael Williams, who has written the book and lyrics for the show, said: “This is such an extraordinary story of love, hope, resilience and the rebellious spirit of young people. It throws new light on stories we thought we knew and also brings together the parallel but separate lives of Ivor Novello, the most successful British musical theatre composer of the early 20th century and Vera Brittain, the author of the most powerful memoir of that time, Testament of Youth. Both young people were caught up in the tangles of forbidden love, war and terrible loss. It’s fitting and very poignant to be telling Vera’s story through Ivor’s beautiful songs.”

The story follows Vera, her soon-to-be fiancé Roland, and

Vera’s brother Edward and their close friend Bobbie over a long hot summer in Buxton in 1914. They all have their own ideas about their glittering futures but are faced with the prejudice and conventions of their time. The war in Europe shatters all their hopes and dreams when Vera’s “three musketeers” are lost, and she embarks on a life-long campaign for peace and equality.

Speaking about the show Chief Executive and Creative Director of Norwich Theatre, Stephen Crocker, said: “This is a story of resilience, hope and the promise of youth, themes which are still hugely relevant today. In a fairer world, what might have been for these inspirational characters? We are delighted to be working with Buxton International Festival to bring this beautiful story to the stage.”

The Land of Might-Have-Been premieres at Buxton International Festival on Friday, 7 July, then onto Norwich Theatre Royal between 25 - 30 July.

For more information or to book visit: norwichtheatre.org.

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Advertorial

Norwich Moves at Norwich Theatre

From ballet and breakdance to physical theatre and everything in between, Norwich Theatre is celebrating all things movement based and encourages you to try something you might not have seen before.

Shows under its new Norwich Moves branding provide an opportunity to experience storytelling in a way where words are not the focus. They have been selected to feature world-class and celebrated choreographers, dancers and artists.

During April, Norwich Theatre Royal will welcome Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty (April 4th-8th). You will enter a wondrous world of magical fairies and vampires, where the timeless tale of good vs evil is turned upside-down, creating a supernatural love story that even the passage of time itself cannot hinder.

At Norwich Theatre Playhouse check out Joss Arnott’s Tin Man (Apr 14th-16th) and Rosie Kay’s award-winning show,

5 Soldiers (April 20th-22nd). Tin Man is a visually stunning dance production for families and children aged 7+ and explores a re-imagined story seen through the rusty eyes of the Tin Man. Rosie Kay’s 5 Soldiers is a thrilling and humane portrait of army life, stories of four men and one woman serving on the front line, don’t miss the post-show discussion to explore the themes in more depth.

Norwich Theatre is particularly proud and excited to be hosting the world’s biggest hip-hop dance festival at Norwich Theatre Royal, May 27th. Breakin’ Convention is a complete takeover of the building, with jaw-dropping performances, DJs, graffiti artists and freestyle sessions.

If you want to get moving - Look out for the Norwich Moves sticker on Norwich Theatre’s website and brochure for more movement shows and activities to try.

norwichtheatre.org

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Sleeping Beauty Photo by Johan Persson Tin Man Soldiers Breakin’ Convention

www.fishertheatre.org

01986

WHAT’S ON: March-May 2023

Live Streaming-TURANDOT

Wednesday 22nd March - 7.15pm

Tickets £13.30 & £10 (Bungay Film Club members)

Theatre-THE MAN THEY CALL G

Friday 24th March - 7.30pm

Tickets £15

Theatre-THE SHOW MUST GO ON

Saturday 1st April - 2pm & 7.30pm

Tickets £20 & £17

Music-The ELO Encounter

Saturday 8th April - 7.30pm

Tickets £16

Live Streaming-LIFE OF PI

Thursday 4th May - 7pm

Tickets £13.30 & £10 (Bungay Film Club members)

OPENING TIMES

Music-STIPE R.E.M. TRIBUTE

Friday 12th May - 7.30pm

Tickets £20 & £15 (U18 & students)

Box Office: 1Oam-3pm, Mon-Sat.

Theatre & Bar: 6-1Opm on show days

10 Broad Street, Bungay, NR35 1EE

Theatre-A LIFE IN THE DAY OF ARTHER LAGER

Saturday 22nd April - 7.30pm

Tickets £15 & £12 (Students)

Music-SHADES OF SIMON

Friday 26th May - 7.30pm

Tickets £17.50 & £15 (Over 65’s)

For further information, times and prices: www.fishertheatre.org

BOX OFFICE: 01986 897130

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897130
The Fisher Theatre fishertheatrebungay

Norfolk & Norwich Festival lights up the county

The fantastic Norfolk & Norwich Festival runs from May 12th28th with artists from around the world and across the region sharing exceptional arts experiences, exploring the unique physical and cultural identities of the city and county.

A weekend of free family fun across Norwich opens this year’s Festival. The two day street party Welcome Weekend will include theatre, dance, circus and comedy and on the Saturday night Gorilla Circus will present their aerial circus show Unity featuring dance trapeze and wire walking in the heart of Festival Gardens. Across the weekend, pop-up performances include: ancient dance forms and uplifting song from South Asian dance company Akademi; Avanti Display; Candoco Dance Company and choreographer Jamaal Burkmar present new duet dance performed by disabled and non-disabled dancers; a fun filled interactive game show that uses food to tell cultural histories - The Game Show Part 2; a dance show about the history of tea - Teabreak; In Oh Europa! a motorhome doubles as a recording studio for you to sing love songs in; and Working Boys Club serves up brass not beer at their bar in Serving Sounds.- a multi-sensory sound installation. Circus returns to the Adnams Spiegeltent in Festival

Gardens with international troupe Chelsea McGuffin & Co. headlining across ten nights from May 17th with their raucous vaudevillian adventure Le Coup. Magician and illusionist Vincent Gambini returns to the Festival on May 17th to present his critically acclaimed This Is Not A Magic Show. On May 19th-20th Sadiq Ali brings The Chosen Haram, a performance of extraordinary movement on two Chinese Poles, telling the story of two queer men and their chance meeting through a dating app.

More theatre highlights include multi-award-winners Sh!t Theatre bringing hit musical comedy Evita Too, telling the story of the first ever female president who shares a name with the iconic Eva Peron. Artist-in-residence Zineb Benzekri presents their work in progress La Zanka Cosmic Care exploring the use of water in self care and curing. Norfolk based sensory theatre makers Frozen Light return for a second Festival run of Fire Songs, their immersive sensory sound experience for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). Around the county, Jason Parr will present Broken Spoken, a unique Norfolk spoken word night showcasing local talent in Great Yarmouth and Neil Brand will tell the touching

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story of the world’s greatest comedy team in Laurel and Hardy in Diss Corn Hall.

In 2023 the Festival continues to combine a core-classical repertoire of music with exceptional new commissions. On May 19th, conductor-less string collective 12 Ensemble and piano and percussion pair GBSR Duo join forces to present works by Mica Levi from the 2014 film Under The Skin, electronic and acoustic Flowing Down Too Slow by Fausto Romitelli, the world premiere of TOMB! a Norfolk & Norwich Festival co-commission by Laurence Osborn reinventing the tombeau genre - works written by one composer on the death of another -  and Ambient 2, a major work of the ambient genre written by pioneering British artist Brian Eno with Harold Budd.  Across the 17 days, the adventurous string ensemble Solem Quartet will be artists-in-residence, presenting three concerts spanning Beethoven, Bartók, Steve Reich, and Kate Bush with world premieres from Bushra El-Turk and Edmund Finnis.

The City of Literature Weekend returns to the streets, gardens and historic buildings of Norwich for the final weekend of the Festival featuring: Caleb Azowah Nelson, Jyoti Patel, East

The Visual Arts programme sweeps across Norfolk with a range of free shows and exhibitions including: a live art trail in which the audience become pilgrims in Anne Bean’s In Search of the Miraculous; the  the first solo exhibition by illustrator Gemma Corral I Have No Idea What I’m Doing; Waste Not, an exhibition redefining waste through creative approaches to resource use and resilience at Groundwork Gallery in King’s Lynn; new works from Julian Stair OBE in Art, Death and the Afterlife at Sainsbury Centre; Lucy Stein and Sarah Hartnett undertake a pilgrimage along the Mary ley line, using the journey as a feminist quest for producing collaborative work in Ex-Voto at PRIMEYARC in Great Yarmouth.Glen Jamieson and Rob Filby explore Norwich’s mediaeval wall in Wall Existing at Norwich Castle Museum and Gallery. On the final weekend of the festival, Barbican Artistic Director and former BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz will be in conversation with London-based artist Rana Begum.

nnfestival.org.uk.

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Anglian Sarah Perry, Amy Key, Dr Roopa Farooki and Raymond Antrobus. Sh!t Theatre Norwich Festival © Mary Doggett Photo: JMA Photography

Music News

Paul Weller to rock Thetford Forest

Paul Weller will be playing at Thetford Forest on June 15th as part of Forest Live 2023, the summer concert series presented by Forestry England. He has enjoyed an incredible 50 years making music. From his era-defining breakthrough with The Jam, reinvention via The Style Council, and formidable career as a solo artist, Paul has scored a string of Number 1 albums and singles. Paul will be supported by Far From Saints, a new band comprising Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics, Patty Lynn and Dwight Baker from US band The Wind And The Wave. Forest Live is a major outdoor live music series that introduces forests to new audiences in unique, natural woodland arenas around the country.Going to a concert helps Forestry England create beautiful places for people to enjoy, run important conservation projects and keep growing trees. Other acts confirmed for this summer’s concert series include Tom Grennan, Anne-Marie and Jack Savoretti. www.forestryengland.uk/music

Suffolk artist releases debut single

Hugely talented Suffolk singer Lauren Jennifer has just released her debut single Full Throttle. Affectionately known as The Goth Cowgirl, Lauren is an Americana singer with a rock and roll soul.  Naming influences Miranda Lambert, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton and Stevie Nicks, she has perfected an original country pop performance which is attracting a fast-growing following. You can buy a coffee and watch Lauren rehearse at the Aspal Theatre, Stonham Barns every Sunday at 1pm. Alternatively, Lauren will be performing at the CTG American Car Show, Stonham Barns on July 23rd. To find out more about Lauren and details of other local gigs head to her website.

www.laurenjennifer.uk

Photography: Foyers

Stowmarket’s resident choir brings a performance of Mozart’s final mesmerising masterpiece, his Requiem, to the John Peel Centre, Stowmarket on March 18th featuring soloists of the Royal Opera House Extra Chorus Covent Garden. The choir will also sing the Ave Verum and the concert programme will include the opera arias ‘Per questa bella mano’, ‘Torna di Tito a lato’ and the duet ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’. The soloists are: Kathryn Jenkin (Soprano), Maria Brown (Mezzo Soprano), Phillip Conway-Brown (Tenor), Mark Saberton (Bass-Baritone) & double bassist Clare Larkman. Both Mark

and Clare have local connections; Mark being from Sudbury and Clare from Woodbridge. Conductor is Benedict Collins Rice and William Baldry will be playing Chamber Organ.

www.johnpeelcentre.com

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Stowmarket Chorale presents “Mozart 1791” Photo: Derek D’Souza
34 l www.artseast.co.uk Books by the sea! 16-25 June 2023 Calling all book lovers! Now in its’ 11th year For full details and to book tickets go to www.felixstowebookfestival.co.uk Join us for our season opener! www.longshopmuseum.co.uk or Telephone 01728 832189 Sunday 26th March 2023 10am—4pm

What’s On News

Kate Mosse: Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries

International bestselling author Kate Mosse OBE comes to The Apex, Bury St Edmunds on April 4th as part of her first ever theatre tour. Her new book, ‘Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World’ is a celebration of nearly 1000 amazing women from history, and also a detective story. Addressing this centuries-old discrepancy, ‘Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries’ seeks to put women back into the history books: Mothers of Invention; warrior queens and pirate commanders; women who dedicated their lives to the natural world or to medicine; engineers and explorers, lawyers and scientists; women of courage who fought for what they believed; and the unsung heroes of stage, screen and stadium. Audiences can expect a fabulous evening of entertainment with storytelling, music and images as we meet those who fought for what they believed and those who reached for the stars.

www.theapex.co.uk

Stand Up in Southwold

20th Anniversary of Cambridge Literary Festival

In its 20th anniversary year, Cambridge Literary Festival is delighted to announce the programme for its Spring 2023 edition, bringing the best writers, thinkers and speakers together in beautiful historic venues across the City of Cambridge. Alongside established and emerging writers of fiction and poetry, there are household names from the world of politics, food, music, television, art, environment, and wellbeing including Jon Snow, Carol Ann Duffy, Maggie O’Farrell and Michael Morpurgo. With a range of talks to entertain, inspire, and shine a light on pressing current issues, the festival leads the cultural conversation across five days with over 50 events and 74 speakers.

www.cambridgeliteraryfestival.com

Another fantastic line up from WCB Comedy comes back to Southwold Arts Centre on April 28th with the night being headlined by hilarious TV comic Seann Walsh. Comedy fans will know Seann from all the main panel shows, Live at the Apollo and even Tonight at the London Palladium. In more recent times Seann has entertained living rooms on BBC’s ‘Strictly’ and in the jungle on ‘I’m a celebrity.’ Seann has a fantastic support line up including Britain’s got talent Welsh funnyman Noel James, award-winning stand-up comedian and actor Philip Simon and brilliant local MC John Mann. www.southwoldartscentre.co.uk

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Felixstowe Book Festival

Meet highly acclaimed authors this summer in Felixstowe at the prestigious Harvest House. Award-winning authors including Rachel Joyce (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry), Comedian Robin Ince – as part of his tour Bibliomaniac, Political Scientist Ben Ansell, Festival Patron Terry Waite, and Fiction writer Rebecca May Johnson whose new book (Small Fires) is due out also in June.

Among the guests this year will be Louise Doughty, author of nine novels including the number one best-seller, Apple Tree Yard which has been made into a TV series. Louise will be talking about her latest book Platform Seven. More guest speakers are still to be confirmed and one of the events even includes a cream tea!

Join the team from the Felixstowe Book Festival from June 16th-25th for your chance to meet some of the worlds’ most popular authors rubbing shoulders with debut writers.

“A flourishing festival, with a programme to catch the imagination.” Esther Freud, Festival Patron

Like their Facebook page or go to the website and sign up for their newsletter to be first to hear the latest on this years’ festival programme.

www.felixstowebookfestival.co.uk

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Rebecca May Johnson Photo: Sophie Davidson Robin Ince Photo: Steve Best

Last Voyage of The Gloucester at Norwich Castle Museum

Artefacts from a 17th century royal shipwreck have been unveiled for the first time in an immersive exhibition exploring its last voyage and the historical mysteries raised by its discovery off the coast of Norfolk.

Featuring research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the latest technological innovations, The Last Voyage of The Gloucester: Norfolk’s Royal Shipwreck, 1682, runs until September 10th at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery.

The Gloucester sank in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk in 1682 while carrying the future King of England and Scotland, James Stuart. After lying on the seabed for 325 years, the ship was discovered in 2007 by Norfolk brothers Julian and Lincoln Barnwell and their friend James Little.

Due to the age and prestige of the ship, the condition of the wreck and the accident’s political context, the discovery has been described as the most important British maritime discovery since the Mary Rose.

Now for the first time the public will be able to explore the story of the ship’s fateful final voyage and the painstaking work to retrieve, conserve and research some of its artefacts, in an expansive exhibition co-curated by Norfolk Museums Service and UEA.

Key objects include the Gloucester’s bell – the discovery of

which in 2012 confirmed the identity of the wreck – alongside personal possessions of the passengers and crew that serve as poignant reminders of a disaster that cost hundreds of lives.

Visitors will view wine bottles encrusted with barnacles, the ship’s navigation tools, and personal items including a pair of spectacles along with their wooden case, combs and clay pipes, all of which have survived centuries on the seabed. Together they illuminate the wide range of social classes and professions of those onboard the ship.

Digital elements include a film exploring the discovery of the wreck, a 3D diver’s eye tour of the wreck site and a specially commissioned animation examining the circumstances of the sinking of the ship.

Alongside objects from the wreck, prestigious museums in Britain and Europe are loaning key paintings, documents and objects associated with the maritime, political, cultural and social history of the period to set the wider context for the Gloucester’s story. The objects rescued from the Gloucester wreck site appear in this exhibition with the permission of the Ministry of Defence and Norfolk Historic Shipwrecks.

Tickets to the exhibition are free with museum admission. It is recommended to book tickets in advance.

museums.norfolk.gov.uk

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Bellarmine bottles © Norfolk Museums Service, Norfolk Historic Shipwrecks Ltd Ship’s bell © Norfolk Museums Service, Norfolk Historic Shipwrecks Ltd Spectacles - close up © Norfolk Museums Service, Norfolk Historic Shipwrecks Ltd

The East Anglian Game & Country Fair

The East Anglian Game & Country Fair takes place on April 22nd - 23rd at the prestigious Euston Estate, just off the A11 at Elveden, home to The Duke & Duchess of Grafton.

Main Arena displays confirmed for this year include The Tigers Army Parachute Display Team, The Squibb Freestyle Motorcross Show performing breath-taking jumps and stunts and the Horseboarding UK Championships where speed, agility and bravery are all required!

The fantastic line up of free events includes the much-loved British Scurry and Trials Driving Championships, Lowestoft Dog Agility Display Team, Fishing demos with World Champion Fly Caster Hywel Morgan, the hilarious Sheep Show, Traditional Ferreting Demonstrations with Simon Whitehead, Live Craft demonstrations and much more!

Try out a range of country activities from clay shooting with John Bidwell’s High Lodge instructors or enter the 40-bird re-entry shooting competition for men, women and juniors. Fly fishing and coarse fishing on the Black Bourn River, ferret racing, archery and axe throwing. Try the air rifle range, enter your dog into the pet dog show or watch the Landrovers take on the off-road 4x4 course.

There are over 350 shopping stands with a wide variety of products from fashion and footwear to gun makers and fishing

products. Children’s activities, traditional fun fair, food and drink hall with Game Fair Country Kitchen, craft and gift marquees and much more.

Advance discounted tickets are available to buy until midday April 17th online at www.ukgamefair.co.uk. Under 5’s are free as is car parking. VIP Memberships and Camping weekend tickets also available at discounted rates if booked in advance.

@EastAnglianGameFair @eastangliangamefair

@EAGandCFair

Competition WIN TICKETS

ARTSeast has teamed up with the East Anglian Game & Country Fair to give five lucky readers the chance to win a family general admission ticket*. To enter just email your name, address and phone number to Sarah@artseast.co.uk. Closing date: April 3rd. There is no cash alternative to the prize.

*A Family one-day admission ticket is valid for entry to the show either Sat 22nd or Sun 23rd April 2023. Family ticket admits two adults and two children (516yrs) under 5s are FOC and Parking FOC.

38 l www.artseast.co.uk
Spring 2023 l 39 The annual guide to the visual arts across Norfolk & Suffolk Pick up your free copy around Norfolk and Suffolk or contact us on 01379 773347 www.artseast.co.uk
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