Winter 13 - Cultural Quarterly Online

Cultural Quarterly 

Winter 2012 

Kelly Richardson 

Tosca & Carmen 

Jerwood Drawing Prize

SOLD 

SOLD 

SOLD 

Charming Arts & Crafts Friston home 

Rural setting at Hankham 

Intriguing Old Town residence 

SOLD 

SOLD 

SOLD 

Delightful Jevington Cottage 

Magnificent Meads residence 

In 7 acres near Alfriston 

SOLD 

SOLD 

SOLD 

Edwardian house in Meads 

Family house in Stone Cross 

An agent for all seasons 

Off Meads Seafront 

The above are just a few of the picturesque homes we have sold in the first three quarters of 2012. This is 

a year that might be remembered for its unseasonal weather and unpredictable property market. 

Whatever is in store for us all in 2013 we know that our strong and experienced team will be able to 

advise our clients on how to achieve the best results through the rest of this winter into the New Year. 

The winter market often produces more able and focused buyers than are available in the Spring when 

many emerging buyers need to sell their own property before they can buy. 

Seasons Greetings from all of the team at Rager & Roberts. 

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Winter 2012 

Contents 

4 The Real and 

the Imagined 

CQ speaks to artist Kelly 

Richardson about her upcoming 

exhibition Legion at Towner. 

8 A Touch of Authenticity 

CQ talks to Ellen Kent 

about Tosca and Carmen, 

golden eagles and dramatic 

donkey rescues. 

12 Drawn to the Prize 

CQ speaks to Judith Alder and 

Felicity Truscott, shortlisted for 

the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2012. 

16 Head Turners 

CQ asks photographer 

Clive Sawyer what attracted 

him to Rye. 

18 Playing With Buster 

Jazz and classic slapstick will 

mix at the Under Ground 

Theatre in February. 

20 Links to the Landscape 

Towner Bon hiver will 

feature iconic works from 

the Towner Collection. 

22 A Talented Town 

New Eastbourne College new 

music director Nick Parrans- 

Smith has big plans for the 

Birley Centre. 

24 A Dark Shadow 

CQ talks to Tim Marriott and 

discovers how Dracula 

embodied the fears of an era. 

25 Unusual Inspiration 

CQ talks to artist Vicky Mappin 

about her work, art classes and 

upcoming exhibitions. 

27 Dancing in the Street 

CQ speaks to Clare Hackney- 

Ring about her street art and a 

host of musical legends. 

28 Eastbourne Presents… 

Information on this season’s 

events in Eastbourne. 

30 Art of Migration 

CQ asks Claire Gregory for an 

update on Compass Community 

Arts’ Martlet project. 

CQ Online 

On Cultural Quarterly’s website 

you can now see event listings, 

download back issues, sign up to our 

e-newsletter and follow us on 

Facebook and Twitter. 

www.culturalquarterly.co.uk 

www.facebook.com/ 

culturalquarterly 

@CQCulturalQuart 

See what events are 

on in your area

The Real and 

The Imagined 

CQ speaks to artist Kelly Richardson about her 

upcoming exhibition Legion at Towner. 

Legion, a retrospective of 

Canadian artist Kelly 

Richardson’s large-scale 

video installations at Towner 

on February 2 to April 14, 

combines the real and the 

imagined. Real landscapes 

are filmed and then digitally 

distorted until they become 

unfamiliar and foreboding. 

Legion is a touring exhibition 

organised by Alistair Robinson 

at the Northern Gallery For 

Contemporary Art (NGCA). 

The theme of a dystopian postapocalyptic 

Earth runs 

throughout Richardson’s work, 

which displays a delicate 

balance between the beautiful 

and the uneasy. 

Kelly said: “The exhibition 

will consist of a number of 

large-scale video installations 

that present part real, part 

imagined, sublime landscapes 

that illustrate beautiful but 

equally unnerving, 

ambiguous scenarios. The 

works offer visual metaphors 

for our modern ‘reality’, a 

wavering hybrid of fact and 

fiction, and allude to the most 

challenging political, cultural 

and environmental issues of 

our time. 

“In developing the show 

with Alistair over the last two 

years, the selection of the 

works for the NGCA quite 

naturally indicated that it 

would be a survey, as they 

covered the majority of the 

time that I’ve been a practicing 

artist. Having just produced a 

major new work that presents 

the most futuristic work to date 

set hundreds of years into the 

future, it’s also a very good 

time to look back at the 

sustained enquiry I’ve been 

working towards throughout 

the last 15 years. It’s been an 

illuminating endeavour 

actually, as the presentation of 

these works in the survey has 

made the larger narrative in the 

work quite clear.” 

The NGCA has exhibited a 

larger survey of Richardson’s 

work, and the Grundy Art 

Gallery in Blackpool and 

Towner will stage smaller 

selections. The exhibition will 

then leave the UK for further 

displays at the Albright-Knox 

Art Gallery in New York and 

the Contemporary Art Gallery 

in Vancouver. 

Kelly said: “The works 

selected for Towner present a 

concise collection of some of 

the works that I’m perhaps best 

known for, produced during 

the last five years. Eerily 

reminiscent of the severe 

weather in England over the 

past summer, upon entry the 

viewer will be met with a largescale 

three screen video 

installation entitled Leviathan, 

which presents a vast forest that 

seems to have experienced a 

flood of Biblical proportions. 

Within the water, there are 

Kelly Richardson: Legion 

Towner 

February 2–April 14 

www.townereastbourne.org.uk 

(Above) 

Erudition 

by Kelly Richardson. 

4 Cultural Quarterly Winter 2012

The Real and The Imagined 

swirling ribbons of yellow light 

that may indicate some kind of 

toxic spill or, as they 

move independently of the 

water’s movements, some form 

of life currently unknown. 

“Moving through the 

exhibition, the next work is a 

seven screen installation 

entitled The Great Destroyer, 

which attempts to digitally 

recreate a forest-scape, this 

time alive and well, or so it first 

appears. Weaving through the 

projections, the viewer 

becomes aware of unnatural 

sounds audible within an 

otherwise natural sound-scape 

– including chainsaws, cameras 

whirring and gunshots. As with 

most of my work, all is not 

what it seems; the unnatural 

sounds are, in fact, the result of 

the convincing mimicry of the 

male Lyrebird, who’s mating 

call in this instance 

has incorporated the sound of 

his territory being destroyed. 

“Next up is Twilight Avenger, 

a single screen work that features 

a forest clearing with one lone 

inhabitant – a magnificent stag, 

who inexplicably emanates a 

strange green vapour. Finally, the 

exhibition ends with the biggest 

installation entitled The 

Erudition, a three-screen work 

stretching 42 feet by eight feet 

that presents an enormous, 

lunar-like landscape almost 

completely devoid of life. Here 

the trees of the forest have been 

replaced by holograms. 

“Is this a site for proposed 

colonisation? Or perhaps some 

kind of homage to the past? 

Whatever the case, with no 

further signs of humanity and 

flickering, malfunctioning 

holograms, this landscape has 

been all but forgotten.” 

(Left) 

Exiles. 

(Below) 

Great Destroyer. 

“The works selected for Towner present a 

concise collection of some of the works that 

I’m perhaps best known for” 


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A Touch of 

Authenticity 

CQ talks to opera producer Ellen Kent about Tosca and Carmen, 

golden eagles and dramatic donkey rescues. 

Ellen Kent has been 

producing operas since 

1993, when she had 200 

Romanians flown into 

Manston airport in Nicolae 

Ceausescu’s old aeroplane 

for a show at Rochester 

Castle. Since then, the 

reputation of her productions 

has grown and they are now 

considered amongst the best. 

Ellen said: “I like big – 

hundreds of people, spectacle. I 

do very dramatic operas; I 

always have some spin. We have 

a menagerie on tour. You’re not 

getting all of the animals at 

Eastbourne, but you’re getting 

the golden eagle and a donkey. 

“Most of the donkeys are 

from rescue centres and donkey 

sanctuaries. I’m very animal 

orientated. I have a passion for 

animals the way my poor 

mother did, even though she 

ended up virtually bankrupting 

us when we lived in Spain. She 

was a sort of one-woman 

equivalent of the RSPCA.” 

Ellen’s parents retired to 

Spain in the early 1960s at a 

time when animal welfare was 

not a high priority for many 

people. Ellen’s mother soon 

began to take in stray animals. 

Ellen said: “I thought my 

mother was fairly normal for 

quite a long time and then I 

brought the cats into the house. 

And then it escalated a bit 

because we started rescuing 

things. She ended up having a 

couple of people to help her 

and we had about 50 cats, 30 

donkeys and lots of dogs. 

“She didn’t have any money 

to run it – whatever money my 

father had was completely 

wiped and everything went to 

looking after the animals. 

Nobody ever adopted any of 

them, they never got rid of any 

of them, they were just all there. 

“So we had all these 

donkeys, all rescued by us in 

terrible, awful, dramatic, 

hideous, stomach churning 

Tosca 

Congress Theatre 

8 February 

Carmen 

Congress Theatre 

9 February 

www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk 

(Above) 

Elena Dee in Tosca. 


A Touch of Authenticity 

moments. My mother was 

totally fearless. Donkeys were 

killed during festivals in villages 

in the mountains. We would go 

off to this village, money 

would exchange hands and the 

donkey would be put in the van 

and we’d charge off like a bat 

out of hell with donkey in the 

back, sometime with rifles 

going off – I’d have bullets 

whizzing past my head and I 

was only about 13 or 14! 

“My mother used to protest 

outside bullfights, which, in the 

days of Franco and the Guardia 

Civil police force, was not a 

wise thing to do. Sometimes 

she’d be arrested and my father 

would have to pay a lot of 

pesetas to the local police. But 

she was a one-woman protest 

outside a bullfight in Spain – 

can you imagine how 

dangerous that was?” 

Ellen is currently touring 

with productions of Tosca and 

Carmen, which she produces 

and directs. 

She said: “It’s got to be fun, 

it’s got to be over the top, it’s got 

to make me feel pleased. I’m 

having new sets built by Will 

Bowen. All my own costumes, 

international soloists, I really go 

over the top.” 

Tosca will include a scene in 

which Scarpia, the head of the 

secret police, will enter with 

Nabucco the golden eagle and 

his handler Derek Tindall. 

Ellen said: “Nabucco the 

eagle will make a starring 

appearance in Act 1. In this 

scene in a beautiful cathedral, 

in marches Scarpia and all the 

choirboys run for their lives – 

we’ve got a boys’ choir and a 

shepherd boy solo – and behind 

him comes Derek Tindall 

dressed in costume with eagle 

on arm with a seven foot 

wingspan – I mean, what sort 

of entrance is that?” 

Ellen’s production of 

Carmen will again see her 

rescuing donkeys. 

She said: “I have a little donkey 

who comes from a rescue centre 

and we will hopefully make a 

collection for them. In Act 1, it’s 

a market scene set in Seville’s 

main square and the donkey’s 

part of the scenery – he just 

walks up and down with 

panniers on his back with his 

handler. To have a donkey in a 

Spanish market scene just adds a 

touch of authenticity.” 

Carmen’s scenery and 

costumes have been inspired by 

the Spanish artist Goya. 

Ellen said: “Normally, we 

would have it set in some 

pretend time at the end of the 

18th century, but this is more 

17th century Goya. Goya was 

totally mad on bullfighting and 

I love the paintings of Goya. 

There’s going to be a fountain, 

palm trees, date palms, the lot. 

And then the final scene is 

going to be a replica of the 

bullring that is in Seville at the 

moment, so I think I’ve just 

about squeezed every ounce 

that I can out of it!” 

(Below) 

Nadia Stoianova in Carmen. 

“It’s got to be fun, it’s got to be over the top, 

it’s got to make me feel pleased.” 


Drawn to the Prize 

CQ speaks to local artists Judith Alder and Felicity Truscott, 

both shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2012. 

The shortlisted entries for this 

year’s Jerwood Drawing 

Prize will be displayed at the 

Jerwood Gallery in Hastings 

on December 8–January 6. 

The prize is the largest and 

longest running annual open 

exhibition for drawing in 

the UK. 

Out of the nearly 3,000 entries, 

two local artists, Judith Alder and 

Felicity Truscott, had their work 

included on the shortlist. 

Judith said: “The work I 

submitted for the Jerwood 

Drawing Prize is called An 

Unhealthy Obsession and 

consists of 17 biro drawings 

that are hand bound into a 

hardback artists’ book with the 

title embossed on the front 

cover. The drawings resemble a 

sort of hair-like growth 

spreading across the pages and 

each drawing is different. 

“I decided to submit the book 

for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 

because it felt like the most 

innovative piece of drawing I’d 

done this year and I thought it 

stood out as something a bit 

different – quirky and slightly 

humorous. It was selected 

earlier in the year for East Sussex 

Open at Towner and I’d enjoyed 

watching the reactions of people 

viewing it there and the fact that 

it often made them smile. 

“But it also has an underlying 

seriousness to it, as I made it as 

part of a response to my 

ongoing fascination with 

processes of natural and 

unnatural growth and a general 

unease about the idea of nature 

out of control, as often 

depicted in art, film and 

literature. This seems especially 

relevant today in relation to 

concerns about advances in 

contemporary bioscience and 

its applications.” 

Felicity submitted a charcoal 

and graphite drawing of a local 

hillside at Wilmington called 

Longman for the prize. 

She said: “I chose this piece 

Jerwood Drawing Prize 

Jerwood Gallery 

December 8–January 6 

www.jerwoodgallery.org 

(Above) 

Longman by 

Felicity Truscott. 


Drawn to the Prize 

because it has a distinct 

presence and is a work that 

represents a very physical, 

active drawing style using mark 

making, scraping and 

smudging. It’s not a traditional 

landscape drawing, as the 

hillside is obscured largely by 

deep shadow, which gives the 

work an abstract quality. My 

drawing hovers at the border of 

the abstract and the 

representational.” 

Both artists drove to 

Wimbledon College of Art 

during Wimbledon tennis 

season to deliver their work in 

person, with the reasonable 

expectation of having to make 

the trip again to pick it up when 

it was rejected. 

Judith said: “This is my tenth 

year of submitting work to the 

prize but the first time I’ve had 

work selected, so I’ve got used 

to the routine of optimistically 

delivering work one week and 

then repeating the journey a 

week later to collect it when it 

was refused, so it was a great 

feeling this year to have the 

work chosen and not have to 

make the return journey!” 

Felicity added: “I checked 

my emails at midnight the 

following Friday expecting to 

travel back up to Wimbledon 

the next day and was stunned 

to see I had been selected for 

the Drawing Prize 2012. This is 

the first time I’ve entered such a 

competition and I literally ran 

around the flat celebrating. 

Needless to say, I didn’t get 

much sleep that night.” 

Karolina Glusiec won the 

£8,000 first prize of the 

Jerwood Drawing Prize 2012 

for her hand drawn animation 

Velocity, with second prize 

going to Bada Song. Two 

student awards went to Katie 

Aggett and Min Kim. All the 

shortlisted works have been 

exhibited at JVA at Jerwood 

Space in London and will tour 

to venues across the UK. 

Judith said: “The news that 

my piece was one of the 78 

works shortlisted for the prize 

was very exciting and fulfilled a 

long-term ambition. I’m sure 

I’ll enter the Jerwood Drawing 

Prize again. Even though it’s so 

competitive, it’s a great 

opportunity to show work 

outside of one’s immediate 

geographic area and I think it’s 

really important for artists to be 

ambitious about developing 

new audiences for their work 

and exhibiting further 

afield...and, of course, there’s 

always the chance of winning!” 

Felicity added: “The Jerwood 

Drawing Prize is accessible to 

anyone willing to make the 

effort to enter. For me, this effort 

was worth it and, so long as I am 

making work I feel has a realistic 

chance of being selected, I will 

keep entering in the future. As 

my drawing practise evolves, I 

hope it will continue to match 

the Jerwood prize, which 

represents excellence in all areas 

of drawing.” 

(Below) 

An Unhealthy Obsession 

by Judith Alder. 

“The Jerwood Drawing Prize is accessible to 

anyone willing to make the effort to enter.” 


Head Turners 

CQ asks travel and location fine art photographer 

Clive Sawyer what attracted him to Rye, where he 

opens a second gallery in February. 

Clive Sawyer has been 

commissioned to photograph 

in more than 55 countries. 

His work has been published 

extensively throughout the 

world in all forms of media 

and chances are, if you have 

picked up a travel book or 

magazine, you could well 

have had one of Clive’s 

pictures looking back at you. 

The hustle and bustle of life 

on the road – and in the sky and 

on the sea – cannot keep Clive 

away from the Sussex town he 

has fallen in love with. Just back 

from his seventh photo shoot in 

New York, Clive cannot wait to 

get his new gallery opened on 

Rye High Street in February. It 

will feature new and old works 

and multimedia displays, as well 

as his popular photos printed 

onto brushed aluminium. 

There is one photo that almost 

every customer’s eye lands on. 

“I have taken photos on 

almost every continent in the 

world but that photo of Rye on a 

snowy day says it all,” said Clive, 

adding that it’s one of the biggest 

head turners in his gallery on 

Hilder’s Cliff, Rye. Standing 

proud alongside vibrant 

gondolas, Prague cityscapes and 

sultry sand dunes, the poetic 

picture of Rye is captivating. 

Clive began as a freelance 

photographer in 1972 and 

opened his gallery in Rye five 

years ago, with collection on 

collection to show. A steady 

stream of locals and 

international tourists has 

prompted him to take a large, 

more central gallery, but he is 

determined to stick in Rye, 

where the visitors have a certain 

type of appreciation for his work. 

He said: “It’s a very popular 

tourist area with a lot of 

continental tourists who have 

driven over. Rye may be a 

medieval town but they find my 

gallery offers them something 

quite different, and one of the 

things you often hear people say 

when they enter my gallery is 

‘I’ve never seen anything like it 

before’. I would say they are 

intrigued and they have a great 

appreciation for the wide range 

of views I have collected over 

the years.” 

Photography has taken Clive 

in many directions – literally 

and metaphorically. As well as a 

travel and location fine art 

photographer, he has owned a 

photo agency and deals in 

commercial photography. Each 

of Clive’s works is a limited 

edition and signed and 

numbered, and larger pieces 

come with a certificate of 

authenticity. 

www.clivephotographer.com 

(Above) 

Rye In Winter. 

(Below) 

Lagoon Venice. 


Clive Sawyer 

PhotoArtist 

A wide and varied collection of fine art images 

printed to the highest standards on fine art 

paper, canvas, acrylic or very contemporary 

brushed aluminium alloy. Most images are 

reproduced in very limited numbers and come 

signed and numbered. 

Recent additions to the collection include 

images of Venice, Prague, New York, Bexhill-on- 

Sea and the Marshes around Rye. 

All materials used will ensure lifelong durability 

and fade resistant. 

Images include local and international 

landscapes, cities, abstract detail and multi 

composite layouts. 

Visit the Gallery next to the Landgate Arch, 

Hilder’s Cliff, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7LD or 

view online at www.clivephotographer.com 

or www.theartofphotography.co.uk 

Tel : 01797 222213 / 07738 715354

Playing With Buster 

Jazz and classic slapstick will mix when Buster Plays Buster 

comes to the Under Ground Theatre in February. 

Drummer Buster Birch will 

bring a combination of 

classic film and jazz to the 

Under Ground Theatre on 

February 8. The Buster Birch 

Quartet will add a live 

soundtrack to Buster 

Keaton’s 1924 silent film 

Sherlock Junior. 

Buster said: “I’ve always 

loved Keaton – he was a genius. 

Not only did he direct and star 

in those movies, but the stunts 

are incredible. The slightest 

miscalculation in his 

positioning or timing would 

have meant certain death for 

him. Now that is what I call 

being committed to your art! 

“Sherlock Junior is definitely 

one of Keaton’s greatest. He was 

really pushing the boundaries 

with this movie, not only with 

the amazing stunts, but also his 

clever use of special effects. 

“It’s a film within a film, and 

the scene where he walks into 

the movie screen is amazing. 

His use of perspective is perfect 

and, for years, no one could 

figure out how he did it. 

Apparently, it was only after his 

death that they found lots of 

surveyors’ equipment that he 

had used to painstakingly 

measure every angle and 

distance of each prop and 

camera shot. 

“I’m not a great fan of plinkyplonky 

ragtime piano music 

played by classical pianists with 

very little swing. I wanted to 

create a score that included the 

sort of music I would usually 

play with my band on a gig that 

also featured improvised solos 

and that enhanced each scene of 

the movie, as it should. But I also 

wanted the score to work on its 

own too, so that we could almost 

just play it as a concert without 

the film and it would make sense 

musically. So this was the 

challenge I set myself – to try 

and balance the need to 

accompany the action without 

being too subservient to it, as 

well as balancing the amount of 

scored music so it would stay 

cohesive with improvised music 

to give these great jazz musicians 

a chance to really play.” 

Buster has drawn the 

musicians for his quartet from 

the different bands and 

ensembles he works with. 

He said: “Choosing the 

musicians for this project was 

really easy for me because we 

have all played together for many 

years in various different 

ensembles on a very regular 

basis, so it was kind of already a 

band. Having said that, it really is 

quite a challenging thing to do 

and requires musicians who are 

absolutely first class in three 

disciplines – reading, improvising 

and playing to click track. So it 

did narrow the field quite a bit 

and made me appreciate all the 

more how lucky I was to have 

such great musicians around me 

all the time.” 

Buster Plays Buster 

Under Ground Theatre 

February 8 

www.busterbirch.com 

(Above) 

The Buster Birch Quartet. 


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Links to the 

Landscape 

Towner’s new exhibition Bon hiver will feature iconic 

works from the Towner Collection displayed for the first 

time in the gallery’s new building. 

Towner’s collection display 

Bon hiver on December 

1–March 3 will bring the 

winter landscape to life, 

extending the landscape 

theme of the Exhibition 

Gallery’s display by Canadian 

artist Kelly Richardson. 

Bon hiver will feature iconic 

works from the Towner 

Collection, such as Eric 

Ravilious’ Downs In Winter 

and The Forked Forest Path by 

Olafur Eliasson, whose artwork 

The Weather Project remains 

one of Tate’s most popular 

Turbine Hall installations. 

Towner acquired the tree 

installation The Forked Forest 

Path through the 

Contemporary Art Society in 

2004 and it is being shown for 

the first time in the gallery’s 

new building. 

Julie Brown, assistant 

curator at Towner, who is 

curating the exhibition, said: 

“The original Towner 

collecting policy on the 

opening of the gallery in 1923 

was ‘views of Sussex’. This has 

expanded over the last ninety 

years to encompass works from 

a range of periods, styles and 

subject matter, but links to 

landscape have always 

remained at its core. 

“Now, Towner is renowned 

for its collection of landscape 

works from the eighteenth 

century to the present day by 

artists as diverse as Eric 

Ravilious, William Gear and 

Olafur Eliasson, which reflect 

the gallery’s unique setting in 

the South Downs National 

Park. It’s therefore appropriate 

that this collection display, on 

the theme of winter 

landscapes, will lead the gallery 

into its ninetieth birthday year. 

“It will also unfortunately be 

the final collection display under 

our current artistic director 

Matthew Rowe, who will be 

moving on in the New Year to 

take up the post of director at 

firstsite in Colchester. It’s 

therefore very fitting that the 

Eliasson and Koester works will 

be on display at this time, as 

they are some of his key 

purchases for the collection 

during his tenure and the 

exhibition will be celebratory of 

his time at Towner.” 

Eliasson’s The Forked Forest 

Path was acquired as part of the 

Contemporary Art Society 

Special Collection Scheme, of 

which Towner was an early 

partner. The Collection Gallery 

will be transformed into a 

forest of saplings that visitors 

must navigate. The trees are all 

sourced from the local area, as 

stipulated by the artist, and are 

indigenous to the UK. 

Julie said: “This is the work 

we have based the rest of the 

display around. Towner retains a 

strong commitment to making 

contemporary purchases for the 

collection and juxtaposing them 

(Above left) 

Horse In Snow by Tom Hammick. 

Image courtesy of the artist. 

(Above right) 

Downs In Winter by Eric Ravilious. 


Links to the Landscape 

Bon hiver 

Towner 

December 1–March 3 

www.townereastbourne.org.uk 

(Right) 

The Forked Forest Path by 

Olafur Eliasson. 

Image courtesy of Whitworth 

Gallery, Manchester. 

in displays alongside more 

traditional works. 

“This work has never been 

shown before in the new 

building and the theatrical, 

atmospheric installation is very 

fitting for this time of year, 

when the trees have lost all their 

leaves and the nights are 

drawing in. I think it will be 

interesting to see the audience’s 

response to what may be an 

eerie, disorientating and fun 

experience in the gallery space.” 

Being displayed at the same 

time as Bon hiver, Canadian 

artist Kelly Richardson’s digital 

video works all take landscape 

as their reference point. 

Julie said: “We are hoping to 

include some of her 

photographic work in the 

collection display at the same 

time. Other works featured will 

be classics, such as Eric 

Ravilious’ Downs In Winter – 

which was the first Ravilious 

work ever purchased for the 

collection, directly from the 

artist in 1936 – and Winter 

Landscape by the Scottish 

abstract artist William Gear, 

who was actually curator of the 

gallery from 1958 to 1964. 

“A recent acquisition from 

Sussex based printmaker Tom 

Hammick will have its preview – 

a large woodcut entitled Horse 

In Snow. Another key highlight 

will be a work by the Danish 

artist Joachim Koester, which 

again has never been seen in the 

new building. 

“Nordenskiöld And The Ice 

Cap is a slide projection featuring 

photographs of the journey of 

the artist to the Greenland 

icecap, retracing the footsteps of 

the renowned Swedish scientist 

and explorer A E Nordenskiöld 

and his expedition to the same 

area in 1870. Images of the 

landscape appear alongside 

fragmented quotes from 

Nordenskiöld’s own diary. 

“Every day, the artist 

unzipped his tent and the 

landscape in front of him had 

moved and completely changed, 

as it’s in a constant state of 

transformation. It’s easy to lose 

your orientation with no 

constant reference points and 

the vocabulary in the text 

reflects the feelings of the artist 

as he started questioning his 

own sanity. The Arctic appears 

both as a real and imagined 

landscape in the work.” 

Cultural Quarterly Winter 2012 21

A Talented Town 

Since joining Eastbourne College in September, new music director Nick 

Parrans-Smith’s feet have not touched the ground. The former musician 

has big plans for the Birley Centre and the performers in our town. 

The Birley Centre, part of 

Eastbourne College, is proving 

to be an exciting venue for the 

whole community, hosting art 

exhibitions, drama and music. 

As Eastbourne College’s new 

music director, Nick Parrans- 

Smith is hoping to use his 

skills as a former musician 

and educator to encourage 

performers in Eastbourne 

to use this unique venue to 

full advantage. 

Nick said: “Part of my job is 

to get more things going on at 

the Birley Centre and that’s 

exactly what we’re doing. It’s 

not just a school, it’s a 

community venue.” 

One of the most exciting 

additions to the Birley Centre 

will be a resident professional 

jazz quintet, and Nick plans to 

use his connections as a 

musician to enable school 

students from across the town to 

rehearse and perform alongside 

professional musicians. 

Nick said: “The Birley Centre 

Quintet – Paul Kimber on double 

bass, Raul D’Oliveira on trumpet, 

Joe Hughes on drums, Phil 

Merriman on piano and me on 

trombone and vocals – is the 

nucleus, with others joining us. 

We’re very excited about getting 

to work with the town’s talented 

singer/songwriters. We really 

hope young people will come 

along to sing with the musicians.” 

Nick has many plans for the 

Birley Centre, which include a 

concert on March 5 called Swing 

Easy; regular workshops and 

performances, including a biweekly 

Glee style community 

gospel choir, open to everyone; 

open mic nights with the resident 

band; a bi-weekly Birley Centre 

Brass Ensemble, and a reggae 

night next term. Old successes 

will also return, including Birley 

Unplugged and the Eastbourne 

Symphony Orchestra’s annual 

Young Soloist Competition, 

which sees youngsters 

performing everything from 

classical to Michael Buble. 

Nick said: “We want open 

mic nights once a month in the 

auditorium or the foyer for 

anyone to come to. We want 

singer/songwriters to come 

along on a Sunday afternoon to 

rehearse with the resident band 

and perform in the evening. It’s 

a unique opportunity and more 

than just an open mic night 

because they get to work with 

the band. I’m very keen to see 

people using this and we hope 

to start that next term too. 

“From a classical point of 

view, we are hoping to do 

something with the Arensky 

Chamber Orchestra, a new up 

and coming orchestra. It will be 

a collaborative project with 

other colleges and schools.” 

The Birley Centre also plans 

to collaborate with 

Glyndebourne on other 

projects, for example, next 

year’s Britain’s Centenary. 

www.eastbourne-college.co.uk 

(Above) 

Nick Parrans-Smith. 


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A Dark Shadow 

CQ talks to Tim Marriott and discovers how 

Dracula embodied the fears of an era. 

Eastbourne College will 

present Dracula on December 

4–8. A 40 strong cast drawn 

from every student year will 

tell the dark tale of the 

infamous Count arriving in 

England to wreak havoc. 

Eastbourne College’s 

director of drama Tim 

Marriott, who will direct the 

play, said: “Dracula is one of 

the texts that the English A 

Level students are studying. 

The head of English suggested 

it and I thought it a really 

great idea to do Dracula 

at Christmas. 

“We had to do our own 

adaptation, which is something 

we’ve done before. I write a fair 

deal and Paul Turner, my 

assistant in the drama 

department, is an experienced 

writer and incredibly 

knowledgeable about Dracula 

and the vampire legend. 

“I went to a lecture on the 

novel and reference was made 

to the dark shadow that the late 

Victorians and Edwardians saw 

on the horizon but didn’t 

identify. German expressionists 

painted apocalyptic landscapes. 

Carl Jung was tortured by a 

recurring nightmare of a flood 

sweeping northern Europe, 

rivers of blood. The monstrous 

imagery in the newspapers and 

magazines was often used to 

describe the politics of the time 

– German expansionism, 

German imperialism. Paul and 

I both found it fascinating, the 

unconscious awareness of 

this terrible dark cloud 

approaching Europe.” 

Bram Stoker’s novel reflects 

this unconscious awareness of a 

threat to Europe’s peace. 

Tim said: “Dracula is from 

the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

He’s this monstrous figure that 

sweeps up through northern 

Europe and invades England, 

killing its young on the way – 

the parallels are there to see. 

“The kids get to grapple 

with a wonderful classic text, 

albeit adapted, which has 

fantastic meaty themes to get 

their teeth into, plenty of 

humour but latterly a couple of 

great fight scenes – plenty of 

blood, guts, gore, teeth in the 

veins and swordfights. 

“Dracula’s not the biggest 

part – Van Helsing, Jonathon 

Harker and Quincy Morris are 

all fantastic roles, as is Mina, the 

girl that Dracula believes to be 

the reincarnation of his wife, 

and Lucy, because she’s the one 

who gets bitten and ultimately 

has to be dealt with in her 

vault. There’s a nice symmetry 

to it in that her suitors are 

the ones that ultimately deal 

her deathblow.” 

The play will include 

audiovisual elements to 

transport the audience to the 

gothic era. Goulash and red 

wine will also be offered to 

enhance the Dracula experience. 

Dracula 

Eastbourne College Theatre 

December 4–8 

eastbourne-college.co.uk/thearts 

(Above) 

Toby Marriott as Dracula. 


Unusual Inspiration 

CQ talks to artist Vicky Mappin about her work, 

art classes and upcoming exhibitions. 

www.vickymappin.co.uk 

Lewes based botanical 

painter Vicky Mappin’s style 

is easily recognisable and 

her work includes detailed 

flower, fruit and vegetable 

paintings. Her work is 

currently being displayed at 

Bill White & Company in 

South Street, Eastbourne, 

which will celebrate its first 

birthday in December. 

Vicky said: “Recently, I 

gained inspiration from Bill’s in 

Lewes. He had wonderful 

bunches of vegetables that 

were so artistically arranged. I 

like to find unusual subjects 

and it’s the colour and form 

that attracts me first. 

“I met Richard from Bill White 

& Company during the 

Michelham Priory Christmas Fair 

2012. He invested in both my 

flower and vegetable prints for his 

delicatessen. The deli is definitely 

a showcase for my work.” 

Richard Halfhide, owner of 

Bill White & Company, added: “I 

chose Vicky’s work as I loved the 

astonishing detail and vivid 

colour she uses within her work.” 

Vicky finds time to attend 

many local art fairs to exhibit 

her work. 

She said: “I’m a member of 

the East Sussex Guild of 

Craftworkers and 

I’m exhibiting with them at 

Wakehurst Place in December 

and Batemans in July, where I 

show my cards, prints and small 

unusual originals. I’m also 

showing my work at Great 

Dixter at their Christmas Fair.” 

Vicky has been teaching art 

classes at Rodmell Village 

Hall for the past six years, 

helping artists to grow in 

confidence and technique. 

Vicky said: “It’s a mixed 

ability class, with students 

working at their own pace. I 

run three ten-week terms 

throughout the year.” 

Vicky also runs weekend 

courses in the summer from 

her home in Rodmell. 

She said: “We spend time 

observing the structure of 

plants, practice drawing and 

different painting techniques 

with emphasis on colour, 

shades and tones.” 

Not only has Vicky painted 

menu card covers for Sussex 

Historic Hotels and magazines, 

she has also been commissioned 

by Glyndebourne to paint flowers 

in the Glyndebourne garden. 

The paintings have been made 

into cards and printed onto 

branded mugs. 

Vicky is currently developing 

a range of her own household 

products that will showcase her 

work and be available from her 

website. 

She said: “At present, I’m 

working towards Vicky Mappin 

Designs, which is very exciting. 

This will involve having my 

images printed onto aprons, tea 

towels and anything else I can 

think of!” 


Thai House 

Register to receive CQ’s e-newsletter by 

February 15 and be entered into a prize 

draw to win lunch for two at Thai House or 

two tickets to Starlight Express at the 

Congress Theatre. 

Email your name, address and telephone 

number (so we can let you know if you’ve 

won) to faye@prgltd.co.uk with the subject 

heading ‘CQ competition’. 

You can keep up to date on Eastbourne’s artistic and theatrical 

events from your home with an annual subscription to 

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they are published and be entered into the prize draw. 

Send to: Cultural Quarterly, PRG Ltd, The Point, 

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Starlight Express 

You can pick up a free copy of Cultural Quarterly at any of the following outlets: 

All Saints Chapel, Darley Road 

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Birley Centre, Carlisle Road 

Middle Farm, Firle 

Chalk Gallery, Lewes 

Nigel Greaves Gallery, Compton Street 

Charleston, Firle 

Pelham House, Lewes 

Chatsworth Hotel, Royal Parade 

Plantations Coffee Shop, Carlisle Road 

Congress Theatre, Carlisle Road 

Premier Inn, Willingdon Drove 

De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on sea Priory Meadow, Hastings 

Devonshire Park Theatre, 

Eastbourne Central Library, Grove Road 

Compton Street 

Rebel Gallery, Hastings 

Eastbourne College Theatre, 

Saffron Gallery, Battle 

Old Wish Road 

St Anne’s Galleries, Lewes 

Eastbourne Central Library, Grove Road 

Stables Theatre & Art Centre, Hastings 

Eastbourne Framing Centre, 

Station Parade 

The Star Inn, Alfriston 

Emma Mason Gallery, Cornfield Terrace St Wilfrid’s Hospice, Mill Gap Road 

Enterprise Centre, Station Parade 

Tourist Information Centre, 

Cornfield Road 

Farleys Farm House, 

Muddles Green, Chiddlingly 

Tourist Information Centre, Hastings 

Francis Perry, Susans Road 

Town Hall, Grove Road 

Grand Hotel, King Edwards Parade Towner, Carlisle Road 

Harte Reade, South Street 

Under Ground Theatre, Grove Road 

Hastings Art Forum, St Leonards on sea University of Brighton, Darley Road 

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery 

Urban Ground, Bolton Road 

Hop Galley, Lewes 

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Dancing in 

the Street 

CQ speaks to artist Clare Hackney-Ring, 

who has brought a host of musical legends 

to Eastbourne with her street art. 

(Above) 

Musical legends Amy Winehouse 

and Elvis Presley in Clare Hackney- 

Ring’s mural. 

Local artist Clare Hackney- 

Ring has created a mural on 

empty shops at the junction 

of Langney Road and Seaside 

in Eastbourne with the help of 

Eastbourne Can, an 

independent group of local 

residents and small business 

owners. One of the group’s 

aims is to spruce up empty 

shops around the town. 

Clare said: “I heard that the 

council wanted a mural on 

these shops, which were no 

longer usable. There’s no 

ceiling in one of them and the 

other two are leaking badly. 

Councillor Steve Wallis put me 

in touch with Will Callaghan at 

Eastbourne Can as the council 

had given them some funding. 

“The landlord put marine ply 

over the whole thing so that it’ll 

stand the weather, because I 

think it’s important that, if I’m 

putting my time and energy 

into it, that it’s going to be there 

at least a couple of years, so it 

needs to be weatherproof.” 

Clare wanted a theme for the 

mural that would engage people. 

She said: “I thought, we all 

need cheering up at the 

moment and music is 

something that people can all 

relate to, so I thought I’d bring 

some musical legends to 

Eastbourne.” 

Local residents are thrilled 

that something positive is 

happening in their part 

of town. 

Clare said: “A woman came 

up to me and said, have you 

noticed nobody’s graffitied it 

yet? She said everybody really 

likes it, luckily. She said people 

have seen how hard I’ve been 

working on it and she thinks I’ll 

be safe because everybody 

respects it.” 

Clare was given many 

suggestions for musical legends 

to be included in the mural. 

She said: “People are coming 

up with ideas all the time but 

it’s my job to refine it to ones 

that will work within the 

composition. I quite like that 

I’m going to put people 

together who are not from 

the same time. I wanted to 

create this feeling of a party 

building up. 

“I’d like to do more, I’m 

really enjoying it. It’s not really 

suitable for every empty shop 

because it’s got to be there for a 

few years – the funding for this 

is fairly small. A lot of it I’m 

doing voluntarily because I 

want to do something I’m 

really proud of. 

“I had thought that I would 

just knock something up 

quickly in the amount of time 

they’re paying me for but I 

thought, hang on, this is a 

marvellous opportunity for me 

to do the biggest painting I’ve 

ever done and really enjoy it. 

I want something in my 

hometown that I can be 

proud of.” 


Eastbourne Presents... 

A POINT OF DEPARTURE 

TOWNER 

Sat 12 May–Sun 11 November 

IAN BREAKWELL: 

KEEP THINGS AS THEY ARE 

DE LA WARR PAVILION 

Sat 6 October–Sun 13 January 

COLLECTIVE OBSERVATIONS: 

FOLKLORE & PHOTOGRAPHY 

FROM BENJAMIN STONE 

TO FLICKR 

TOWNER 

Sat 13 October–Sun 13 January 

DUET FOR ONE 

DEVONSHIRE PARK THEATRE 

Tue 27 November–Sat 1 

December, 7.45pm 

Wed & Sat Mat, 2.30pm 

WINTER LANDSCAPES 

TOWNER 

Sat 1 December–Spring 2013 

See page 20 

REFLECTIONS 

UNDER GROUND THEATRE 

Sat 1 December, 

10.00am–12.00pm 

10CC 

CONGRESS THEATRE 

Sat 1 December, 7.30pm 

TRAFALGAR TRIO 


Sun 2 December, 2.45pm 

DANCING QUEEN 



RICHARD DURRANT 

HAILSHAM PAVILION 


SWAN LAKE 


Tue 4–Wed 5 December, 7.30pm 

Wed Mat, 2.30pm 

BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA 

EASTBOURNE COLLEGE THEATRE 

Tue 4–Sat 8 December, 7.30pm 

See page 24 

SLEEPING BEAUTY 


Fri 7–Sat 8 December, 7.30pm 

Sat Mat, 2.30pm 

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR 


Fri 7 December, 10.00–2.00pm 

FIONA HOSFORD 


Fri 7 December, 7.30pm 

JERWOOD DRAWING PRIZE 

JERWOOD GALLERY 

Sat 8 December–Sun 6 January 

See page 12 

KEVIN BARBER 



10.00am–12.00pm 

LAUREN SAMUELS & GUESTS 

ROYAL HIPPODROME THEATRE 

Sun 9 December, 2.30pm & 7.00pm 

LONDON PHILHARMONIC 

ORCHESTRA 



CHRISTMAS MUSICAL 

CABARET 

BIRLEY CENTRE 

Mon 10–Wed 12 December, 7.30pm 

SLEEPING BEAUTY 

DEVONSHIRE PARK THEATRE 

Thu 13 December– 

Sun 13 January 

OPEN STAGE NIGHT 


Thu 13 December, 7.30pm 

FOTT: THE LIFE & SONGS OF 

FRANZ SCHUBERT 

TOWNER 


ANDY DICKENS JAZZ BAND 



THE BOTTICELLIS 



10.00am–12.00pm 

BEYOND THE BARRICADE 



ST AGNES FOUNTAIN 



THAT’LL BE THE DAY 



CHRISTMAS WITH THE 

RAT PACK 


Tue 18 December, 7.30pm 

CHRIS HARRIS 



10.00am–12.00pm 

GABRIELLE STEPHENS 



10.00am–12.00pm 

ART UNDER GROUND: 

ANDREW FORREST 


Fri 4–Sat 26 January, Fri & Sat 

10.00am–4.00pm 

STRAY DOGS 


Sat 5 January, 10.00am 

SCARLET TIGER BAND 



LEWIS SCHAFFER 


Sat 12 January, 8.00pm 

NORMAN BEAKER BAND 


Sun 13 January, 7.30pm 



Thu 17 January, 7.30pm 

SARAH MOULE JAZZ TRIO & 

ANDY PANAYI 


Fri 18 January, 8.00pm 

BRIAN WORLAND & 

JENNY BECKWITH 



CHAMBER MUSIC 


Sun 20 January, 2.45pm 

LARRY 


Fri 25 January, 7.45pm 

R ‘N’ R 



Congress Theatre Devonshire Park Theatre Winter Garden

Visit CQ Online at www.culturalquarterly.co.uk 

for more information on events. 

ONE NIGHT IN VIENNA 


Sat 26 January, 7.30pm 

LONDON PHILHARMONIC 

ORCHESTRA 



GIGSPANNER 

LAMB THEATRE 



RUPERT DENYER 


Fri 1–Sat 23 February, Fri & Sat 

10.00am–4.00pm 

KELLY RICHARDSON 

TOWNER 

Sat 2 February–Sun 14 April 

See page 4 

SHAUN GLADWELL 

DE LA WARR PAVILION 

Sat 2 February–Sun 23 June 

BOB TAYLOR & ADELA RYLE 


Sat 2 February, 10.00am 

STEVE KNIGHTLEY 


Sat 2 February, 7.30pm 

IN EXTREMIS 


Sun 3 February, 3.00pm 



Thu 7 February, 7.30pm 

TOSCA 


Fri 8 February, 7.30pm 

See page 8 

BUSTER PLAYS BUSTER 


Fri 8 February, 8.00pm 

See page 18 

CON BRIO 



CARMEN 



See page 8 

ECLIPSE 



THE BLUE DAHLIA 



MY GAY BEST FRIEND 



JOHN CAVE 



GIBBS QUARTET 



CAPE FEAR 



BOOGIE NIGHTS 



RICK TOWNEND 


Sat 23 February, 

10.00am–12.00pm 

MATT COOPER 



ANTON & ERIN 

GO TO HOLLYWOOD 



JUAN MARTIN FLAMENCO 

DANCE ENSEMBLE 



STARLIGHT EXPRESS 


Tue 26 February– 

Sat 9 March, 7.30pm 

Thu & Sat Mat, 2.30pm 

OTIS GIBBS 

LAMB THEATRE 



CHRIS LIDDIARD 


Fri 1–Sat 30 March, Fri & Sat 

10.00am–4.00pm 

ALAN BARNES 

CLARINET TRIO 


Fri 1 March, 8.00pm 

ARCHWAY CHOIRS 


Sat 2 March, 10.00am–12.00pm 

THE REMNANT KINGS 


Sat 2 March, 7.30pm 

To Book Tickets: 

Birley Centre, Eastbourne College Theatre: 

01323 452255 boxoffice@eastbourne-college.co.uk 

Congress Theatre, Devonshire Park Theatre, Winter Garden: 

01323 412000 www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk 

De La Warr Pavilion: 

01424 229111 www.dlwp.co.uk 

Friends of The Towner (FOTT): 

01323 411906 www.friendsofthetowner.org.uk 

Hailsham Pavilion, Lamb Theatre: 

01323 841414 www.spyboy.co.uk 

Jerwood: 

01424 728377 www.jerwoodgallery.org 

Little Theatre: 

01323 744298 www.littletheatre.biz 

Towner: 

01323 434670 www.townereastbourne.org.uk 

Under Ground Theatre: 

08456 801926 www.undergroundtheatre.org.uk 

Eastbourne College Theatre/Birley Centre 

Under Ground Theatre 

Towner

Art of Migration 

CQ asks Claire Gregory for an update on Compass Community Arts’ 

Martlet project, which is moving into its final stages. 

Compass Community Arts’ 

first large-scale community 

heritage project has 

successfully brought together 

a range of people at local 

heritage sites. 

Claire Gregory, arts manager 

and Martlet project officer at 

Compass Community Arts, 

said: “We organised a variety of 

events throughout the spring 

and summer. As part of 

Eastbourne Festival, artists 

offered free workshops at 

Langney Shopping Centre 

and people tried out 

printmaking, creating a 3D 

moving bird and recording 

important journeys on a world 

map, as well as learning about 

the Martlet story. 

“Community officer Michael 

Blencowe from the Sussex 

Wildlife Trust led a tour that 

heard 20 species of birdsong in 

10 minutes and saw a nesting 

family of peregrine falcons and, 

later in the day, local 

printmaker Mark Greco helped 

the group create their own lino 

print based on local birds.” 

Other groups attended 

outdoor rambles at Frog Firle 

Farm with National Trust 

education officer Natasha 

Sharma and worked with local 

artists to create wildlife based 

artwork, including plaster cast 

fossils and bird sculptures from 

found objects, such as leaves 

and wool, and traditional crafts, 

such as sheep hurdle fence 

making. Claire said: “The 

groups had a brilliant time with 

lots of positive feedback and 

the charity has had many repeat 

requests to run these sorts of 

events again.” 

A local heritage interest 

group is researching the 

catholic links of the Martlet 

emblem with artist Fenya 

Sharkey and creating tapestries. 

Compass volunteers also took 

part in an event for BBC2’s The 

Great British Story at Lewes 

Castle, where people mapped 

their family’s migration in the 

county or journeys around 

the world. 

Local dancer Cat Ben Abbes 

choreographed dances based 

on bird movements for Ratton 

School’s dance festival and the 

dancers wore bird costumes 

created by project volunteers, 

and writer Kay Syrad ran a 

creative writing course for 

Sussex Oakleaf service users, 

who wrote poetry on the 

Martlet theme. 

Claire said: “The project is 

now moving into the final 

stages with a booklet being 

designed, and Fenya Sharkey 

and I are to begin work on a 

textile piece based on the local 

wildlife and landscape using 

fleece from the Seven Sisters 

Sheep Centre with a 

community group assisting. 

We hope to hold a touring 

exhibition with free creative 

workshops in the early spring.” 

www.themartletproject.co.uk 

(Above) 

Compass Community Arts 

organised events for its 

Martlet project, including 

walks and art and craft days. 

Photos by Rob Walker.

Winter 13 - Cultural Quarterly Online

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