Culture

44 The West Dorset Magazine, July 29, 2022 Culture International flavour to folk festival

International stars are set to descend on Purbeck Valley Folk Festival for four days of magic, set on farmland near Swanage from August 18 to 21. Headliners include Mexican party band, Los de Abajo, along with Guinea’s N’Famady Kouyaté, a master of the balafon – the traditional wooden xylophone from West Africa, and Gasper Nali from Malawi, who serves up Afro Beats from his one-string, home-made three-metre long Babatoni bass guitar. There is also a big helping of Americana/country from Amethyst Kiah, The Once, Laura Cortése & the Dance Cards and Dana Wylie. This year marks the return of global stars to the festival’s five stages after the pandemic prevented them attending last year. The festival also features English folk royalty – top roots duo Show of Hands. Other stars include veteran Scottish big band Shooglenifty, Radio 2 favourite Kathryn Williams, BBC Folk Award winning Rionnagh Connelly with her funkfolk band Honeyfeet, supergroup Magpie Arc and flute/whistle and uilleann pipes maestro Michael McGoldrick’s band. Tickets for the festival –set on a farm with views across Corfe Castle and the Swanage Steam railway running alongside – are selling fast. Festival director Catherine Burke said: “We are so glad to be back in full flow for PVFF22. Our incredible line-up would do justice to any folk festival and we are especially pleased to welcome back our international artistes. “Purbeck Valley Folk Festival is set on a unique and compact farm arena with professional stages in barns. It’s a little farm so it doesn’t take you ages to walk from one stage to the other, and it’s always easy to find your friends.” Children’s activities include storytelling, theatre workshops, fun crafts, puppet shows, bubble displays, baby/toddler rhyme time sessions, facepainting, a treasure hunt, bouncy castles, fancy dress, maypole dancing and Morris dance workshops. And all kids’ activities are free – included in the ticket price, so there are no hidden costs. And for musical kids there are youth music workshops and ‘Come and Try’ instruments try-outs which allow youths and adults the opportunity to try out instruments that they might not get a chance to otherwise without having to invest in them first. Tickets are on sale now from £150 (£75 youth/£30 child) for the weekend Thursday to Sunday, including camping. Any remaining tickets sold at the gate will be £165/£85/£30 n See purbeckvalleyfolk festival.co.uk/shop/tickets

GOING TO BLAZES: The breath-taking Pantheatrix

SHOCKIN’: Double denim alert at Rock n Ribs

More rock and more ribs as festival

REVIEW Rock n Ribs Festival Wincanton Racecourse By MIRANDA ROBERTSON

Having visited Rock n Ribs when it was held in Dorset last year, I can confirm the move to Somerset has massively paid off. More space, more to do and it just feels… more festivally. Organisers Bearfoot productions laid on a feast for metalheads, with tributes to more top rock bands than you could shake a Harley at, scores of gleaming American vintage cars and bikes, lots of Yankee scran on offer and even stalls where you could buy yet more denim, assuming you were not already fully kitted out already. A full three days and nights of entertainment was scheduled this year and the plethora of bands executed their sets impeccably – the Nirvana and Guns & Roses acts seeming to particularly energise the crowd. Queues were long but swift, and there was

COOKIN’: It’s a car-becue

Bridport Arts Centre has announced a series of exhibitions, live acts and movie screenings taking place until August. Until August 20, the arts centre will host an exhibition of photography by Sam Rose called Rewilding Unwrapped. The exhibition has been described as ‘quite simply marvellous’ by Eden Project founder Tim Smit. On Tuesday, July 26 there will be a live performance of King Arthur by The Last Baguette Theatre Company on the town’s Millennium Green at 4.30pm. Organisers describe the show as a ‘deliberately anarchic and anachronistic retelling of the Arthurian legend with live music, physical comedy and lo-fi acrobatics’. Circus Raj from Rajasthan will perform on the Millennium Green at 7.30pm on Wednesday, July 27. The cast includes aerialists, acrobats, musicians, slackrope walkers, dancers and puppeteers plus ‘eyewatering displays’ by the circus’s fakir. Feel free to pack a picnic, bring a blanket and chairs, and be prepared for all weather (suncream, umbrella, warm clothes, and waterproofs). On Saturday, July 30 at 11am there will be a screening of animated

USE YOUR LOAF: King Arthur from the Last Baguette Theatre Company and, inset, Circus Raj knife juggler A super summer series on way at town arts centre

movie Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazons (PG) at the arts centre. At 5pm on Saturday there will be a screening of Jazz on a Summer’s Day (U), a documentary on the 1958 jazz festival at Newport, which featured performances by Louis Armstrong, Dinah Washington and Chuck Berry among others. To donate £2 to support Bridport Arts Centre text ‘Bridport’ to 70085 (texts cost £2 plus standard network rate).

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enough there to do apart from the music to make it a truly enjoyable weekend for all. The campsite was well organised and close to the action and there were plenty of bins and cleaneruppers and security staff. Keep a look out for earlybird tickets for next year’s event – given how the festival’s grown in just a year I’d say it’s going to

Orlando’s roof-raiser

Acclaimed cellist Orlando Jopling will put on a concert in support of a church’s roof repair fund. Mr Jopling will play Bach Cello Suites 1, 2 and 3 at St Mary’s Church in Frome St Quintin on Saturday, August 20 at 6.30pm. Tickets are £25, including interval drinks, and are available by emailing sophie.stovin@hotmail.com

Oh, we do like to be b-side the seaside,

Poetry lovers can abseil to one of the acts at Portland’s b-side arts festival. Poet and climber Penny Newell will be making her first appearance at b-side this year with her Poetry Ledge. Inspired by the seacliffs and quarry walls of Portland, Newell unites poetry and climbing. Visitors can expect to journey via abseil to their one-to-one poetry workshop, taking place on Portland’s world-famous sea cliffs, to put their experience of the island on paper. The popular festival is back from September 8-11, celebrating the unique island and inviting guests to explore their relationship with the land. Portland will host local and international artists who will take festivalgoers on an experimental tour around this distinctive part of the UK, exploring its history through their creative visions. This year’s theme of Common Lands will encourage visitors to consider a range of connections to the land, including migratory, LGBTQ+ and environmental relationships. Attendees will be invited to reflect on their own experiences and to consider those of others, including how the land can become more inclusive to minority communities, its migratory history and the importance of preserving Portland’s unique ecology for future generations. Artist Babar Suleman takes the lead of b-side 2022 with his augmented reality artwork of sirens –mythical mermaids infamous for luring men to their deaths in classical tales such as The Odyssey. Using augmented reality on either a phone or tablet, visitors will be able to see the artwork brought to life on the side of Portland’s Grade II-listed lighthouse, Portland Bill. BBC radio producer and sound artist Steve Urquart will explore the island’s alternative realities by inviting visitors into the soundscape of Portland’s prisons. While working at National Prison Radio, Steve glimpsed into the realities of prisoners in Portland’s The Verne Prison through their letters. Now, he lets their voices and intriguing experiences be heard through sharing recordings from behind Portland’s mysterious prison walls. Portland is also set to become a hive of radical activity, as printmaker Caitlin Akers brings her

DESTINED FOR HIGHER THINGS: Poet Penny Newell Picture: John Laidler

ON SHOW: Clockwise from left,Caitlin Akers, one of Babar Suleman’s mermaids and Steve Urquhart

particularly if there’s an art festival

KENYA BELIEVE IT? Kenyan artist Kevo Stero

ORIGINAL ARTISTS: Claudia Antonius and Jörg Jozwiak, a Kneed banner and, right, Emily Tracey

Portland Print Workshop to the island. Festivalgoers who aren’t afraid to make a statement can take part in the art of activism by learning how to print their own posters and zines. In their uniquely tragicomic take on the island, Austrian artists Claudia Antonius and Jörg Jozwiak will explore the contentious issue of land use following their launch of the Easton Ridge National Park in 2018. The festival will close with this year’s Big Portland Parade, featuring banners created during Kenyan artist Kevo Stero’s banner making workshops, which will take place throughout the entire festival. Stero’s workshops will incorporate his signature revolutionary spirit, which encourages visitors to take action on environmental issues by using art as a mouthpiece. Alongside showcases from artist Emily Tracey and artist duo Kneed as part of b-side’s community-based heritage programme This Land, the festival will also see the launch of a brand new programme Who Do We Think We Are?. The programme will focus on movement and migration, with fresh perspectives ready to be unveiled. n For more information, go to b-side.org.uk and follow b-side festival on Instagram @bsidefestival, Twitter @bsidefest and Facebook @bsidefest

REVIEW Billy Mumford at the Electric Palace By Diana Holman

Bridport is artist Billy Mumford’s happy place. This is because the people of Bridport have always been so welcoming and so nice to him, says local businessman and art dealer James Hartey, who promotes Billy’s work in the town. I was privileged to go along to An Evening with Billy Mumford at the Electric Palace, and spent a most entertaining evening hearing this gentle and unassuming man talk about his life. His audience was spellbound as his monologue unfolded, more in the way of a friend chatting over a cup of coffee than as a dramatic theatrical performance. Born three years after the end of the war to Jewish working class parents in the East End of London, Billy made his entrance to the world just outside the hospital in his father’s fish monger’s cart. This was the only vehicle his father had to take his wife to hospital when she went into labour, and they didn’t quite make it in time! Growing up in the East End, life was very hard, and as a child Billy read everything he could get his hands on as a means of escape. After a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, he never looked back. Billy began painting as a young teenager, and his art teacher took him under her wing as her most talented student. He gained a scholarship to St Martin’s in London, gaining a place on a two-year fine arts course with the quality of his work rather than as a result of academic achievement. “But I was a drinker with a painting problem,” reflected Billy, “My behaviour was terrible, and I got thrown out. “Quite a lot of painting equipment left with me.” He sold his first painting for £25. Largely self-taught by copying the paintings of the great artists, he developed his own style but found it impossible to establish a successful career in the art world. Thus, he began his career as a forger of the works of the highly collectable artists. He became skilled in mastering widely diverse painting techniques, plus the supporting skills needed to present works as originals. Arrested in France, he spent six weeks in prison before being released. He also spent two years in Brixton prison. However, although 180 paintings went to 43 countries, only 14 were ever returned by their purchasers. When the time came for Billy’s release from prison, he was longing to get out as quickly as possible. He could see his beloved wife that he loves more than anything, outside in the car together with their dog, whose paws were up at the window. However, there was a delay! Prison canteen accounts had to be settled before a prisoner’s release, but Billy knew he had paid everything up. What could have gone wrong? It turned out that kind family members had been paying money into Billy’s canteen account for him to have treats and extras. He had used the account so little that there was £1,400 due back to him! Nobody was around the sign the cheque, hence the delay in his release. Audience members had the opportunity to ask Billy questions. Who was the artist whose style was the most difficult to emulate? After giving this careful thought, Billy said it was Jackson Pollock. A collection of beautiful paintings had been used to decorate the stage, and an interpretation of Claude Monet’s waterlilies was donated by Billy to be auctioned for Dorset Police Welfare Fund. Bidding was brisk, and the painting was sold for £450, no doubt to give its successful bidder years of pleasure. Indeed if a work of art has such quality and beauty, does it matter whether it was painted by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso or Billy Mumford?

IN THE FRAME: Artist Billy Mumford at the Electric Palace Spellbinding tale of master forger’s brush with prison

Burton Bradstock is celebrating its 40th festival of music and art for six days from Tuesday, August 16. A feast of classical, jazz and world music from internationally acclaimed performers and an exhibition of art and ceramics is promised, with a packed programme of music to suit all tastes as well as affordable highquality art and crafts on show to view and buy. From the evening of Tuesday, August 16 the village hall becomes an art gallery for six days. A Festival Evensong will also be held in St Mary’s Church that evening. The programme of concerts from Wednesday to Friday includes a jazz evening, a touch of tango, a lunchtime recital, a chamber music concert, and late night French Baroque music. It concludes with a Gala Concert which includes a Ukrainian accordion concerto in honour and solidarity with the wartorn country. The festival musicians are all internationally acclaimed performers who are hosted by local villagers and many have become friends over the years. Artistic director David Juritz said: “It’s wonderful to be back in Burton Bradstock and, after a two-year hiatus, we’re celebrating with a real musical jamboree. “The musicians will be working their fingers to the bone but it’s all so much fun that nobody minds!” Chair of the festival committee Jenny Malyon said: “Over time, the festival has grown to include an exhibition of local, affordable, art and craft. “We are looking forward to welcoming back musicians who have visited us for many years, as well as meeting some new faces at the concerts in St Mary’s, our beautiful

SIMPLY THE FEST: Harpist Eluned Pierce, chairman Janny Malyon and director David Junitz

Village celebrates 40 years of music and arts festival

MUSICAL JAMBOREE: David Juritz with Festival musicians Milos Milivojevic and Craig Ogden and, right, St Mary’s Church at Burton Bradstock

church in the heart of the village.” n Tickets can be bought through the Bridport TIC. More information at burtonbradstock festival.com