If you are in Palmers Green for Open Studios weekend, why not make some time to pop along to the Hazelwood Schools Animal Fair for animal themed festive fun, face painting, a few bargains and an ice cream? I do hope that there really will be meercats!
An exciting new venue has been announced for this weekend’s Open Studios and Art Trail. The building, on Southgate Circus and formerly occupied by Blockbusters, is part of Charles Holden’s station complex built in the 1930s, and is set to provide a stunning showcase for the weekend.
Open Studios connects a love of the area with a love of the creative arts, says organiser Dan Maier.
“Our aim is to connect the public with creatives in the area and show the sheer quality and variety of work which is going on on our doorsteps and in our community. At the same time, we want to show the potential of our high streets, and the way in which art and local creativity could act as a regenerator.
We only have one weekend a year, but we hope the effects will reach far beyond and encourage people to support local businesses – not just those who work in arts and crafts and local workshops, but all kinds of local businesses – cafes, shops, galleries and a range of other venues.”
Over the last two weeks the team has been working with shops and businesses in the area to create window displays, with stunning results – worth a wander round Palmers Green, Southgate and Winchmore Hill in itself to explore. This year, thanks to an Arts Council grant, the weekend also includes a number of free workshops, alongside the opportunity to view work by over 30 artists, designers and crafts people, and a chance to buy from them direct. Why not download the guide to plan your weekend?
Meanwhile, as we write, the Open Studios team are completing work on a special installation at the new venue in Southgate, focusing on their mission to make our high streets more vibrant and stop the rot of empty shops. Handover of keys was yesterday morning, and the installation needs to be ready by 10.30 on Saturday. It’s a tough call, but you know that somehow they will do it, and what’s more, that it will be amazing.
The Wave is a modern German take on an incident that took place in 1967, at the Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California. World History teacher Ron Jones was asked about the Holocaust by a student “Could it happen here?”.
Jones came up with an unusual answer. He decided to have a two week experiment in dictatorship. His idea was to explain fascism to his class through a game, nothing more. He never intended what resulted, where his class would be turned into a Fascist environment – where students gave up their freedom for the prospect of being superior to their neighbours.
A terrifying and fascinating film, the Wave is the next film to be shown as part of Talkies’ First Thursdays season at the Dugdale Centre. There still a few tickets left for this Thursday’s showing at 7.30, but hurry. – book now
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HbsHatqKqc[/youtube]
A few days ago Richard McKeever of Bowes and Bounds Connected posted a wonderful story about Spyros Andrea, the kinky cobbler of Myddleton Road, who cobbled for Paul Raymond’s Revue Bar, Joan Collins, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. I highly commend it to you – click here. Richard warns that some of the information in the article comes from some ‘specialist’ parts of the internet, so he has not included links to sources!
Around the Corner Cinema returns in July with two new screenings as part of the 2013 Mimetic festival.
As with February’s screenings, the emphasis is on the wonderful, silent and seldom seen.
“The Mimetic Festival aims to celebrate the very best emerging mime, puppetry and cabaret in the UK – its a fantastic programme of theatre and arts, and experimentatation, and we will be showing arguably two of the best silent films ever made,” says Around the Corner’s John Stewart.
Made in 1924 and showing at Enfield Grammar School Hall on 16 July, the Last Laugh follows the story of an elderly doorman at a famous hotel who is demoted to washroom attendant and tries in vain to conceal his shame from friends and family, with tragic consequences – or are they?
The film was highly praised on its release, and is unusual in using almost no intertitles – more unusual still, when they are used, they do not represent dialogue on screen. Director F W Murnau described his story in the Last Laugh as absurd – on the grounds that everyone knows that a washroom attendant earns more than a doorman!
This screening will feature live, improvised piano accompaniment from British Film Institute silent film pianist, Costas Fotopoulos who works internationally as a concert and silent film pianist, and as a composer and arranger for film, the stage and the concert hall. There will also be an introduction from Pamela Hutchinson; Editor of Silent London, and Features Production Editor for The Guardian.
Showing on July 25th, also at Enfield Grammar School Hall, the Kid is one of Charlie Chaplin’s most celebrated and most personal feature films. The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) and an abandoned child (Jackie Coogan) triumph over life’s hard knocks in the landmark film that changed the notion of what a screen comedy could be. An award winning short film (The Girl is Mime) directed by Tim Bunn, and starring Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office), will be screened beforehand.
For tickets and further information, visit the Around the Corner website.
For further information about other events in July’s Mimetic Festival visit http://www.mimeticfest.com.
The Grovelands Park centenary celebrations continue this bank holiday weekend with three walks lead by City of London guide and storyteller Joe Studman (Jaywalks) in association with the Southgate District Civic Trust.
The weekend kicks off on Saturday with a spooky foray into the Dark Side of Winchmore Hill, including stories of old railway workers, black dogs and sinister doings in the woods. Meet at Winchmore Hill Station at 8.30.
On Sunday, Joe will be regaling fellow walkers with some nuggets from the history of Palmers Green including Billy Biscuit of Cullands Grove (the alleged coiner of the phrase ‘readin, riting and rithmatic’), John Donnithorne Taylor’s one man green belt policy, and Palmers Green’s links with the Spencer family of Cannonbury Tower including a touching story of kindness from Elizabeth 1. The walk starts at 2.30 from Palmers Green Station.
Joe’s final walk of the weekend tells the story of Southgate, including its gradual emergence from two villages, and some of the characters who have lived there and shaped its history – the owner of the first motorcar in Southgate, the lawyer who played with matches and got burnt, and the Walkers and how they shaped the area. Meet at Southgate Tube at 2.30 on Bank Holiday Monday.
Tickets are £5 – visit the Jaywalks site for further information, or just turn up on the day.
A highly entertaining way of spending the Bank Holiday.