Fulham Palace est 704 (Museum Cafe 01)

Along with another Kids in Museums volunteer (Laura) I set out on a very sunny Tuesday to view the charming setting of Fulham Palace museum. Neighbouring the Thames but hidden away in the autumn colour trees the retired Bishop of London’s residence has been on this site since 704. We decided to first ramble around their beautiful walled garden and the orchard, before we entered the house through the main court yard and past the exquisite fountain centre piece. As we had some time to kill while waiting for the exhibits to open (Saturday – Wednesday, 1pm – 4pm) we headed to the Drawing Room Café.

 

                                   

Situated at the back of the property the café offers a fine view onto the lawn. The waiters were incredibly welcoming and we sat contemplating what to snack on. We both ordered a latte and agreed that it was good quality coffee. We were easily persuaded to get a cake as they promptly rolled out of the kitchen and into our view. There was a vast collection including for the free-from eaters a gluten free cake and some seasonal spooky snacks. I had a toffee chocolate brownie and Laura ate carrot cake. Both were delicious, reasonably priced and of high quality.

The space was modestly decorated and had hints of its previous use as a drawing room. The Fire was lit while we sat there but it was already very cosy. The facilities were outstanding, I especially liked the extra family room that housed toys for the young children and also the outdoor tables that meant the children could go off and play while their parents relax, keeping an eye on them from a distance.

When the museum spaces opened we ambled through. Although the exhibits aren’t particularly big the research information and displays were well laid out and presentable. Staff were chatty and even told us unique stories that weren’t on the display boards. The only thing it could have done with was more obvious signage to say the Chapel was also open as this area is quite a distance from the main visitor area.

                               

I’ll finish by saying that it was a tranquil and sweet little place with the fattest squirrels I’ve ever encountered. Overall they have done a very good job with the exhibition space and created a family friendly atmosphere.

For more information on the museum click on the links.

The seasons are changing

We can all feel it. The chilly evenings are more frequent and our hot water bottles are being brought out of the cupboard, it's turning into Autumn QUICKLY! It's not the end of the world though, for us Brits this presents more topic of conversation and we all got an extra hour over the weekend! As for me, the Welsh girl in London, well I’ve got lots to talk about as I’ve been taking on more exciting commitments.

Recently I attended a get together with the organisers of the Kid In Museums charity based in Old Street. It was a sweet little gathering for potential volunteers and I gained oodles of information and facts about the charity that I can use for networking. I committed to working one day a week in their office, helping the Office Manager (Kathryn) with administration. I also offered to tweet on their @yourmuseumcafe account. Tweeting has been a new ground for me but I'm getting there regarding what it's all about! I think this project is exactly what I need to understand it all so start following and keep up to date with the best cafes Britain has to offer in some of our favourite museums.

Work has been prosperous, and through the new agency I’ve been working in several schools and I’ve secured two days a week at the same school near Mile End. However it's half term and although I'm not really ready for a holiday it seems I'm getting one anyway. This week will be busy though, as I'll be attending the Research and Archive training as part of my involvement with the St. John's Church Organ Project. I’ll also be taking on the first review of a museum cafe for the tweets. Don't worry I'll be posting my report here soon. Fulham Palace Museum I'm on my way.

So not only the seasons are changing but I too am busier than ever in London and really getting stuck into Museums and Galleries.

You know it's Autumn when you're talking about the weather with a squirel while standing on a giant fern cone!

                                    

End of the week art splurge!

After a successful interview and perking up to the realisation of joining the working world again, I decided after a month and a half of applications and cover letters I deserved an art catch up.

TimeOut has got to be one of the best resources for all events going on in London. I scoured the web to see what was being raved about and as it started to rain I decide to go for the closest venue, Tate Modern.

On entering I came across the best opportunity of people watching I had experienced in my life. I don’t know if you enjoy sitting in a café and watching the world and the people go by, seeing how they interact and socially mingle but I found the performance art piece by Tino Sehgal, 'Three Associations' did just that. Deciphering the dancers from the general public was difficult, they moved at varying speeds, bowling though the turbine hall. Jutting and pivoting around each other but seemingly not touching. No pattern emerged and this meant I was drawn to it for longer, waiting to work out WHY?

I rumbled through the rest of the exhibitions and thoroughly enjoyed the space, the only draw back was the millions of visitors. Of course it's fabulous to see people roaming the space but it was getting a bit crowded and this made it difficult to see all the pieces at their full potential.

Encapsulating sculptures where the grafter actually stripped back the layers of bark to reveal naked looking trunks.

Retro music and visuals was just one of the many video projections in the Tate



A synthetic piece which invites visitors to not only touch but walk over. Although I think there should be a sign as I didn't see anybody take on the task and even I was nervous of the concept and I knew it was okay!



The week continued to a transformed and a dry Friday meant I could venture further afield to the Moniker Arts Fair in Shoreditch. There was a cool array of colourful art work and I was surrounded by many different mediums.

Possibly my favourite image as it plays on Van Gogh’s sunflowers in a modernistic fashion

Possibly my favourite image as it plays on Van Gogh’s sunflowers in a modernistic fashion

Surreal gothic representations reflected throughout the pitch literally from the mirrored walls

Surreal gothic representations reflected throughout the pitch literally from the mirrored walls

Screening of An oversimplification of her beauty - Terence Nance

I'd been keeping a keen eye on www.artsjobs.org and managed to pick up an event coordinator position. The organisation running the show was deep black and the venue was a quaint little cafe and gallery space suitably named C.A.F.E. Gallery. Part of the venue was under the arches creating a beautiful projection space for the screen and centre stage. The main café space was suitable for displaying the work of Pia Cabble's work. I arrived at 12 to get the space prepared. We curated the work into the best place. Her work is very diverse and so this was challenging but the space looked inviting and jazzy before our visitors arrived.

Managing a team of two door staff, we welcomed 65 people to the screening at 4.30pm. One of my roles was to introduce the performance acts at their scheduled time. Connie Bell's singing assisted by the djembe drum was explosive; she got the crowd going and filled the arch space with enthusiasm for the next act. To follow was a group used poetry and dance to relate their experiences of the fanatical emotions linked to celebrities all in all they were compelling.

After this we got the film going, everything ran smoothly until about half an hour through, a technical hitch meant we had to take an unscheduled break while restarting the computer, if something doesn’t work turn it off and on again! It was a little worrying how the audience might react but everyone was understanding and relaxed about the situation. Once it was up and going again it ran without problems and we concluded the evening with a Skype connected question and answer session with the director Terrance Nance in America.

The feedback I received as visitors left was brilliant,

“It was like I was sitting on my sofa at home”

And,

“The atmosphere here has been wonderful”

So I think it’s fair to say we did a good job!

For more information about the performers, the film and the C.A.F.E. Gallery click on the links above.

A break from the hustle and bustle

After several months of fumes and crowds we took a timely break to north Wales. Ian’s parents invited us to a house they’d rented in The Snowdon National Park. The building was huge, an old slate manager’s residence and comfortably housed all 10 of us!
















We did all sorts of activities even though the rain persisted, but our diligence paid off with some sunshine on the way up Snowdon. After a trek to the top in a neat 3 hours, everyone dug into a cold bottle of 1085 beer and a hot cup of Alex’s home made tomato soup and we took in the view.

One of the nicest things during the weeks though had to be sharing a drink around the large dining table and taking part in Jack and James’s pool competition! Not to mention Paul’s impression of Bob Hoskins this had us all with tears of laughter and struggling to talk for sometime afterwards!

 

 

Time to go home

Now time for music! Julietta

Waking early on a Saturday morning is not always easy but with the motivation of tickets to watch the dress rehearsal of an English National Opera performance in mind I sprung out of bed quite easily especially when one of the singers was someone I knew!

It all came about a week or so earlier I received a text from my twin sister saying,

"bet you'll never guess who I saw yesterday?" Going off on a tangent of celebrities she reined me in and said,

"she's not famous yet!" So I narrowed it down to a school friend, of which most of our friends are in London these days! And by picking names at random I finally got it...Samantha price! A beautiful sweetie from Archbishop. Probably partially influenced by her father’s role as the Music teacher in school she was into her music taking the lead in many of the school productions, and when I thought about it I realised I hadn't seen her for years!

So there we we're, Ian and I, watching an old friend dressed as a man singing beautiful opera! Her voice was powerful and her synchronised part within the Three Gentlemen allowed her voice to bounce back and forth between them cleverly.

The story was extremely contemporary, and I constantly wondered where we as the audience would end up next. Considering Julietta was written in the 30's the impact of this modern piece must have been tremendous. The orchestra was sublime! The enthusiastic composer was visible from our seats and he was leading the group very well. The ingenious scene makers had gone all out with extending accordions and stepping stones for keypads! The idea of forgetfulness was haunting and the frustration reflected a possible harsh reality. I found the whole morning thoroughly enjoyable and certainly worth getting out of bed for!

Sandys Row Synagogue - C.A. Mathew, Photos from the past

Designed by James Brown

Volunteering alongside Jeremy Freedman, we worked as a coordinated team to invite and celebrate the opening of Sandys Row Synagogue to over 100 visitors. It was the first time this established synagogue had opened its doors to show off an art-based exhibition. Jeremy, who had been working on the project for 6 months, discovered the quite fitting exhibition. He came across negatives bearing images taken by the photographer over 100 years ago. He cleaned and edited them down to produce 15 high quality prints despite the clear damage on some of the negatives, which adds to their historic character.

The night was a success and there was a huge sense of gratitude from the visitors as they reminisced about the past, one woman thought that one of the faces was a distant relative and many people compared London with how these streets look now. These black and white prints create nostalgic glimpses of the Jewish quarter.

The highlight of the night was Bernard Kops speech and poetry recital, he dawned on the emotions he felt when he walked thought the streets of Spitalfields and many visitors commented on they're happiness of hearing his words.

The exhibition is still on going and anyone can drop into the Synagogue to take a look.

  

 Sandys Row Synagogue

A little catch up!

It has been hectic in London. There sure is a fast pace and things are changing all the time. I feel I need to offer a little catch up with what has been going down.

So I've been working hard to get into arts and culture not only as a past time but professionally too as I feel I can completely engage with creative people. I love it when something talked about finally becomes a real life thing: born from imagination. I feel London is the time and place to do this and so I've started to volunteer for things to boost my experience and make contacts.

Site Eye -
A time lapse film about the process of preserving skeletons using maggots, shown in 3D



Loki Music -
The Zori Trio play in the wilderness of Ham House



My first event was at Ham House this August and was run by The Young Curators. The National Trust venue is hidden in the trees beside the start of the Themes river, in what feels like the countryside, (I saw cows and fields and boats along the green stretch of the water). The event itself was a series of performance art expressions, workshops, talks, music, comedy and damn right Larkin around! My role on the night meant I could rotate around the different things going on and I had to make narrative photos of the evening. We had splendid weather and everyone who came appeared to thoroughly enjoy the occasion.

Larkin' About - Catherine explains the urgency of finding the remedy to stop the end of time. Visitors ran around like children to find the correct herb combination before the OTHERS catch them

Gypsy themed tunes played by the Kavona duet

KK Sound Archive made illuminating sounds acorss the picnic blankets by plucking at the kora.

A drawing workshop created by Alexa Galea,
entertained children in the cherry garden.
It used fancy dress outfits worn by volunteers
that related to the historical ghosts of Ham House.

Lee Sullivan's print workshop allowed people to create their own personal 3d prints of a selection of objects.

         



Carl Gent performed a solemn and explosive illustration of desecration as he sledgehammered clay at dusk.

Carl Gent performed a solemn and explosive illustration of desecration as he sledgehammered clay at dusk.




A chaser in Larkin' About spies for victims through their monical glass



Click here for more information about National Trust Young Curators or Ham House

The First Summer

Well I can hardly name it "The First Month" as it has been sometime since we set up here in this massive city, but despite its huge expanse I feel like navigating is getting easier everyday. As most people know I've been biking all over since I got here and it really has been incredible (when it hasn't rained)! For all you nervy bods, it's something you should really try because the roads aren't that scary and it's the pedestrians you have to watch more than anything. Advise to those who are still unsure use your bell! They won't see or hear you and they never expect you!

Also it's true that there is always something to do and I've been to so many exhibitions and events it's unreal! We quickly realised that from our rooftop we had been given one of the best views in London. For the fireworks of the Paralympics closing ceremony and lasers from the opening of the Sharde we could see it all in our slippers and with a cup of tea!

Probably the best experience I've had so far though was walking across the bridge from embankment, and hearing the fantastic sounds of a live band playing music. This wasn't just any band though and for a privilege crowd spread along the banks of the Themes Bryn Terfel was coming together with numerous Welsh Male Choirs. Ian and I felt lucky we had happened to walk this way and we stood staring up at the group of Welsh Male Choir’s as their tune lingered over the spectators. I felt emotional knowing I wasn't in Wales but Wales had been brought to me and I will admit I had a tear in my eye as a fine old gentleman sung along with Bryn to Ar Hyd y Nos knowing the word off by heart in welsh.