ARTS DIARY
Black Joy! Up Close and Personal
Long Gallery, Hastings Museum
4 May – 25 August
Hastings Museum is proud to present a thought-provoking exhibition, Playing The Race Card. Curated by Lorna Hamilton-Brown RCA MBE, the show highlights over 40 talented black artists from the South East. The contemporary art works, including painting, sign-writing, fashion, textiles, sculpture, collage, photography, and video, invite you to explore the beauty and complexity of Black Joy. Don’t miss the vibrant accompanying programme of live events, workshops, talks, and tours.
hmag.org.uk/see-and-do/exhibitions/black-joy-up-close-and-personal
Beyond Bach
Christ Church, Silchester Road,
St Leonards
17 April, 7:30pm
Max Baillie will be collaborating with the Hastings Philharmonic Singers and Marcio da Silva for a programme featuring some amazing music for choir and solo violin, including the monumental Bach Chaconne with its ever-evolving variations, a truly mind-blowing feat of musical imagination. Please join us!
stlconcerts.co.uk/event/beyond-bach/
Manuel Mathieu: The End of Figuration
Ground Floor Gallery, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, Until 27 May
‘Unique, alternative, inclusive, inspiring, beautiful, delicate …’ These are just some of the words used by visitors to describe our current exhibition of Haitian-Canadian artist Manuel Mathieu. The End of Figuration, his first major solo exhibition in Europe, continues in the Ground Floor Gallery, giving visitors plenty of time to explore the exhibition for themselves.
See the interview on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=ZQtLz 34O_BI
Pearls of the Sea: The Sea and Me
Hastings Contemporary
27 March – 2 June
A vibrant exhibition showcasing the work of 400 local students is now showing at Hastings Contemporary. Pearls of the Sea: The Sea and Me is the culmination of a year-long collaboration between Hastings Contemporary and eight local schools. The gallery’s flagship schools programme showcases and celebrates the students’ creations. Since its launch in 2015, Pearls of the Sea has given thousands of local students the opportunity to respond to modern and contemporary art works, explore their own creativity in the gallery’s learning studio, and get inspired by seeing their art displayed alongside internationally-celebrated artists. Throughout the academic year students from eight local schools have been working with local artists. Teachers are provided with training to enhance their Arts delivery skills. This year the 400 students have collaborated on eight pieces exploring their relationship with the local coastline and environmental issues. Media include cyanotype banner, mosaics, and clay.
The Bobby Kennedy Experience
By Russell Lucas
The Stables Theatre,
27 April, 7:30pm
JFK has been shot. What now? The Bobby Kennedy Experience studies the life of the most famous man never to have become president. Robert F. Kennedy was the younger brother of JFK. After JFK was murdered, Bobby picked up his brother’s projects and would go on to prove himself to be a formidable force, emerging out of the political wilderness to crusade for civil rights, the relief of poverty, and finally for the American Presidency itself. Meanwhile Fate had a cruel plan.
stablestheatre.co.uk/bobby-kennedy-experience/
Suntou Susso with Ross Grant
Crown House, Marina, St Leonards
26 April, doors open 7pm, music starts at 8pm
Brilliant and unique, Suntou Susso recently played with Max Baillie in the St Leonards Concerts series. Here he returns in a different combination, this time with English folk violinist Ross Grant in the less formal setting of the Regency Room, Crown House. Don’t miss this, especially if you missed his last performance, which was very special.
Tickets and details: www.sounds-stleonards.co.uk/
Barefoot Opera Fundraiser: Cinco De Mayo
Jenny Miller
Opera Music Room,
The Uplands, 6 Maze Hill,
St Leonards
5 May, 5:00-7:30pm
Zoe Ashdown will be singing latino-influenced jazz, soprano Kristina Nikiforova and pianist Satoshi Kubo will offer a mixed programme including Spanish zarzuelas to create a party atmosphere in the garden and the Music Room at the Uplands. Bar also available. Proceeds to help fund Young Artists Tour 2024. Limited space, hurry!
Tickets £25, to include a cocktail
or beer, aperitivos, and music: barefootopera.com/shop-category/tickets/
Feast of Fiddles Spring Tour
Izzard Theatre, Bexhill
22 April, 7:30pm
The Feast of Fiddles set out on their Spring Tour in 2024 following a successful post-covid return. Born in 1994 as a one-off special concert, Feast of Fiddles has done 28 spring tours, 26 festivals and has 7 CDs to its name. Not bad for a bunch of old folk-rockers! Past fiddlers include Garry Blakely (local folk duos, also worked with the late great Dave Swarbrick), Ian Cutler, Marion Fleetwood, Brian McNeill (multi-instrumentalist and composer), Peter Knight, Tom Leary, and Dave Mattacks, legendary drummer with Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. Exact line-up to be confirmed.
See facebook.com/Feastoffiddles for more details and all up-to-date information.
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