Coastal Currents Arts Festival 2023
The organisers write:
2023 Coastal Currents is upon us and this year we have done it entirely without Arts Council funding! First, then, thanks must go out to our biggest supporters: Love Hastings, blackShed Gallery, East Sussex College, and all the other lovely advertisers and Open Studios participants who have helped make this happen.
Tina Morris, our Director, who first got involved way back in 2011 and has now kept the Festival afloat since Hastings Council funding ended in 2017, says:
“Truly a festival of the town in 2023, we are so thankful to still be here through pure community support. But this is unsustainable, so we also know we have to look at other ways to keep this festival alive, including making donations to our crucial crowdfunder at gofundme.com/coastal-currents-audiotrope-2023. We want to see this festival return year after year as it is vital to supporting the local creative economy. I will keep putting in my energy and passion but you all need to as well!”
Tina Morris, Co-Chair of 1066 Music City (for her creation of community music project Audiotrope) alongside Hannah Deeble from Fat Tuesday, incorporated all of these elements into the Opening Party for the Festival this year. This free celebration of music and art welcomed everyone last Friday. This was a great chance to hear some fantastic local live music as well as doing some networking, and the back room of The Pig was heaving! The line-up included Lucas the Peaceful Poet, Message from the Ravens, Chimer (acoustic), Reshad & Friends, Bad Pedestrian, Fluorescent and, just back from supporting Greentea Peng, we have Kid Cruise headlining.
An unmissable show is the launch of Folde at the Observer Building on Cambridge Road, an exhibition showing contemporary works exploring clay and curated by Rowan Corkill and including a host of incredible local artists including Martin Brockman, Rosalind Farem, Carla Wright and more. This launches on Friday 8 September from 6pm, and the show itself runs from 7 – 11 September, so get it in your diary quick.
Open Studios was last weekend and this weekend (9-10 September) across the region. We have an interactive map on our website at coastalcurrents.org.uk or you can pick up one of our aubergine and neon brochures found in most galleries and independent shops. Support local by visiting the studios, buying a piece, commissioning something you’ve always wanted or even just engaging with the artist themselves. Our creative economy needs you and Coastal Currents exists to celebrate this unique coast’s creativity!
Watch out for other street level interventions especially the Coastal Currents supported ESRA exhibition which will appear on Hastings streets in the coming weeks. ESRA does valuable work locally, supporting recovering from addiction and more can be seen here esrauk.org Another pick of the festival is a sound installation by artists Pat Jamieson and Carol Laidler, found in a seafront shelter on De La Warr Parade throughout the Festival from 10am – 6pm.
There are events and exhibitions in the brochure, right through to mid October, so go grab yourself a copy or download one on our homepage.
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