Tag Archives: World War I

Books and Postcards, Events, Festivals, Heritage

Strike a Light at Legacies of First World War Conference – This weekend

Our creative director Nicola Benge is pleased to be speaking at the Legacies of the First World War Festival in Birmingham this weekend.
She will be looking at some of the projects Strike a Light have worked on over the past four years with a special focus on those which explore the black and minority ethnic contributions to the war. 
These projects include Dr Blighty, Trench Brothers and The Unremembered.
 
This two day community history conference is free to attend and has the noted historian David Olusoga as keynote speaker on the first day.
 
Come and experience some great histories and legacies of WWI.
You can book for any or all of the events including both conference days, and the evening event. Come join us!
 
Voices of War and Peace: the Great War and its Legacy is a First World War Engagement Centre funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council and in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The University of Birmingham Centre is a joint initiative across the Midlands with Birmingham City University, University of Wolverhampton and University of Worcester, and further afield with Cardiff University, University of Durham, Manchester Metropolitan University and Newcastle University.
The Engagement Centre is based in the Library of Birmingham and supports a wide range of community engagement activities, connecting academic and public histories of the First World War as part of the commemoration of the War’s centenary.
Books and Postcards, Events, Festivals, Heritage

Strike a Light at Legacies of First World War Conference

Our creative director Nicola Benge will be speaking at the Legacies of the First World War Festival in Birmingham on 22nd and 23rd March 2019.
 
This two day community history conference is free to attend and has the noted historian David Olusoga as keynote speaker on the first day.
 
Come and experience some great histories and legacies of WWI.
You can book for any or all of the events including both conference days, and the evening event. Come join us!
 
Voices of War and Peace: the Great War and its Legacy is a First World War Engagement Centre funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council and in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The University of Birmingham Centre is a joint initiative across the Midlands with Birmingham City University, University of Wolverhampton and University of Worcester, and further afield with Cardiff University, University of Durham, Manchester Metropolitan University and Newcastle University.
The Engagement Centre is based in the Library of Birmingham and supports a wide range of community engagement activities, connecting academic and public histories of the First World War as part of the commemoration of the War’s centenary.
Books and Postcards, Events, Heritage

Lewes during the Somme

Stories Seen Through a Glass Plate, 1916: Lewes Remembers – 29 October to 20 November 2016

An exhibition of 80 light boxes in 65 windows throughout Lewes, 1916: Lewes Remembers will show work from the years of the First World War by Benjamin Reeves, grandfather of the present Reeves owner Tom Reeves.

This will include individual and group portraits of soldiers and their families, as well as civilian life during the war, and photographs of the thousands of men billeted in the town.  To help bring things to life, the photographs will be shown around Lewes in locations relevant to their subjects.
The Lewes Tourist Information Office will supply a free map of the light box trail.
In addition to the lightbox exhibition, there will be:
An exhibition in Lewes Town Hall bringing together photos of men from WWI and contemporary veterans, taken by Benjamin Reeves and Tom Reeves;
An exhibition in the Edward Reeves Studio gallery of studio portraits and town views taken by Benjamin Reeves during WWI;
Study Day in the All Saints Centre on Sunday 30 October 2016, featuring the 1916 War Office film The Battle of the Somme;
Also on Sunday 30 October 2016: Walk & Talk Tours of the light box display; Edward Reeves Studio Open Day featuring WWI exhibits, music, and readings 2-4pm; Town Hall Exhibition 1-4pm;
Remembrance Sunday event at the Lewes War Memorial, 13 November 2016;
Esterhazy Chamber Choir concert, Saturday 19 November 2016 – on the day after the Battle of the Somme ended 100 years ago the choir performs Songs of Farewell at St Michael’s Church, Lewes, 7:30pm.
See more about the Reeves archive here
Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Events, Festivals, Heritage

DR BLIGHTY – ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

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Strike a Light is engaging with community groups across the city to promote the project, research this period of history and gather information, meeting with key WWI projects including Gateways to the First World War and East Sussex in WWI.
We are setting up free creative and heritage activities with groups such as the Black and Minority Ethnic Elders, alongside Indian themed activities with artist Jane Lyster, setting up public talks with Co-Artistic Director Ajay Chhabra of Nutkhut, and attend Dhavinder Dhillon’s plaque unveiling, which honours Subedar Mir Dast, a Indian soldier who received the Victoria Cross, at the Indian Gate by the Royal Pavilion.
Events are being planned currently, so do follow our blog for further updates. 
Dr Blighty outreach workshop dates with Strike a Light – Brighton and Hove

  • Brighton and Hove Hindu Women’s Group – Wednesday 20thApril (2pm)
  • Memories Past Group – Tuesday 3rd May (2pm)
  • BME Elders session – Thursday 5th May 12pm.
  •  Metamorphosis Art Group – Friday 6th May (2- 3pm)
  • Gujurati Cultural Group – Tuesday 10th May (8.30pm).
  • Brighton and Hove U3A session (with Jo Palache of Brighton Museum) – Wednesday 11th May (2.30pm). Venue: Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton, open to all

 
Diya making Artists workshops 

  • Brighton and Hove Hindu Women’s Group – Wednesday 27th April (2pm). 
  • Jewish Care dementia session – Thursday 5th May (3-5pm).
  • BME Elders session – Thursday 12th May (12pm).
  • Brighton and Hove U3A session – Thursday 12th May (3pm). 
  •  Metamorphosis Art Group – Friday 13th May (2-4pm), Mezzanine bar, The Dome
  • Going to see Culture Together (from Fabrica gallery) – Tuesday 24th May (11-1pm)

To find out more, and how to participate at sessions free of charge, please contact Strike a Light by email: strikealight@rocketmail.com or call 07727 006538
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Arts, Events, Heritage

The Boys on the Plaque – new heritage project

RP_Limbless-hospital-1916Fabrica gallery, in partnership with Strike A Light and Brighton & Hove Library Services, has received £9,300 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a project, The Boys on the Plaque, in Brighton & Hove. Awarded through HLF’s First World War: then and now programme, the project will highlight a recently uncovered FWW memorial plaque situated in the former Holy Trinity Church which houses Fabrica gallery.
Supported by a team of archivists, artists and historians, the local community will come together through research, creative activities and heritage events to discover the hidden histories of the 95 soldiers commemorated on the plaque and consider the personal experiences of ordinary people during the war.
A team of volunteers will receive training and will access local archives to research and collect the stories of The Boys on the Plaque through genealogy, photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, letters and photos of keepsakes, as well as family tales passed down, to help them build an understanding of what life was really like during this time.
Activities with local older and younger groups will use creativity and reminisence to further explore these experiences and create new legacies for our local history. A series of Conversation Café’s with members of The University of the Third Age will explore local knowledge, personal mementos and family history through discussion and shared discovery. Younger people will connect to the personal histories of The Boys on the Plaque at creative graffiti workshops, considering memorium and identity through contemporary practice.
A range of public events for all ages will share what we have found and provide opportunities for our local community to come together to remember and learn more about the First World War.
The Boys on the Plaque represent so many of the sons, brothers, fathers and uncles who fought and fell in the First World War, and this project will pay tribute to these men by telling their stories and considering the wider impact on the local community.
In 2017 it will be the Bi-Centennial of this church, which was built in 1817, and it will be a fitting time to honour and celebrate the history of the building and its continuing presence as a place of contemplation and community in Brighton & Hove.
The project findings will be digitally recorded and an on-line interactive archive will be created where everyone can access and contribute information.  The archive will allow the public to discuss, contribute, share and research information about The Boys on the Plaque. Working with Strike A Light and Brighton & Hove Library Services will bring the project to the wider community through exhibitions and resources, to continue the legacy of The Boys on the Plaque into the future.
Commenting on the award, Liz Whitehead, Co-Director of Fabrica, said: “We’re so delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund is supporting this two-year project which enables us to explore the history of our building, Holy Trinity Church with and through our local community, especially as the project’s culmination in 2017 will mark the chapel’s bicentennial.”
Explaining the importance of the HLF support, the head of the HLF in the South East, Stuart McLeod, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £70million in projects – large and small – that are marking this global Centenary; with our small grants programme, we are enabling even more communities like those involved in The Boys on the Plaque to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help local young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”
For further information, images and interviews, please contact
Clare Hankinson, Project Manager – The Boys on the Plaque
Fabrica
40 Duke Street, BN1 AGH
01273 778646
clare.hankinson@fabrica.org.uk
boysontheplaque.wordpress.com
@fabricagallery #boysontheplaque




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