Welcome to the House of Fun
RACHEL ATTFIELD
Walking along my road in Hastings recently, I found myself delighting in the abundance of plants growing through the cracks in the pavement. Dandelions, grasses, tiny flowers, plants I couldn’t name were everywhere. This change is due to a local petition many, including my partner, had signed asking the council to stop using weedkiller on the streets. Now I could see how that small act had made space for nature to bloom everywhere. Not planted, not designed, not officially invited, but there anyway.
As a basket maker and craft forager, these pockets of wild mean I can find plants that become materials in my work. What some people see as weeds, I see as possibilities, and this made me think about culture in Hastings.
So much of what makes this town interesting does not wait for permission. It happens in the gaps: in pubs, kitchens, gardens, streets, shared buildings, community rooms, studios, workshops, campaigns, conversations and acts of neighbourliness. Hastings is not a town that waits politely for culture to be delivered to it. People here make things happen, often with very little money, a lot of invention, and a strong feeling that places belong to the people who use them.
Culture is fluid. It constantly changes through our interactions with others: family, friends, neighbours and people we may only just be meeting. It’s something we make together. That’s why Hastings feels like such a natural place for Fun Palaces.
Fun Palaces is a UK-wide movement supporting people to create their own local cultural events. Each October, people across the country make Fun Palaces in the places where they already live, work and gather: libraries, parks, pubs, schools, streets, cafés, museums, community centres and homes. No big budget, no professionals and no permanent building required. It might begin with a recipe, a walk, a story, a song, craft making, a game, a piece of local knowledge, a repair skill, a conversation or an activity. It’s about people sharing what they love, creating something local with and for the people around them.
The theatre director Joan Littlewood was the inspiration behind Fun Palaces. She recognised something radical: people don’t need to be taught how to be creative, or to be given culture, because they already have it.
Along with architect Cedric Price, she imagined the Fun Palace in the 1960s as a ‘laboratory of fun’ and a ‘university of the streets’. It was never built, but the idea behind it remains relevant. Joan believed that creativity did not belong to experts or institutions alone. She believed that everyone had something to contribute. Perhaps that’s why her famous phrase, “Everyone an artist or a scientist”, still resonates today.
As Hastings looks towards its bid to become UK Town of Culture 2028, I hope this breadth of culture is part of the story too: the grassroots, generous custom of people sharing what they know, making things happen together and inviting others in. Not because institutional culture doesn’t matter, but because culture exists in many forms, and we sometimes need reminding to place greater value on the things people are already doing themselves and with others.
When hundreds of these things happen across the country at the same time, with thousands of people taking part, something remarkable begins to emerge. It becomes a collective shout. It reminds us that we are connected to other people and places and that small local acts can become powerful when they are part of something shared.
I would love to see many Fun Palaces happen across Hastings, because the town is so full of cultural activities that are worth shouting about. For me, the power of Fun Palaces lies in recognising what is already here: the knowledge, humour, skills, memories, passions and care that exist in every place.
Like the plants in the pavement cracks, perhaps the work is partly to notice what’s already growing, and make more space for it.
That feels like Hastings to me. And it feels like a good place to begin.
If you like the idea of making a Fun Palace in Hastings or want to talk through what it could look like, I’d love to hear from you: [email protected]. You can also find out more at funpalaces.co.uk
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply