Open – to misinterpretation?

Zuzushii Art Laboratory is currently staging an exhibition in celebration of the ambiguous. A visual, vibrant journey through 2 and 3D collage, mixed media assemblage, sculpture, prints and total abstraction. Taking part are Fumico Azuma, Tim Can, Peter Quinnell, James Roseveare, Mark Soye and April Yasamee. There’s much to see on many levels and some of the exhibition will be rotated over the duration, so visiting more than once is recommended. 

• Saturday 31st July, to Saturday 21st August. Gallery opening times are from 10am to 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday. Info at: zuzushiiartlaboratory.com 

Of Land and Sea 

Of Land and Sea is an artists’ residency in a vacant space in Priory Meadow Shopping Centre highlighting ecology, environment, climate change through artist responses with a community. There will be workshops, sustainable practice, gardening permaculture, outdoor beach conservation, big seaweed watch, bringing practice-led research into action. 

It’s on from August 3rd to September 3rd and organisers would like to connect with poets, musicians, environmentalists, healers and others who could share and make sustainable ideas in the workshop space in Priory Meadow Shopping Centre opposite the Vodaphone store Queens Road entrance.

• For more info see Facebook

Residency on Barge

This August, artist/makers from the Project Art Works collective will take part in a group residency on board a barge belonging to the Brighton based arts charity ONCA which fosters connections between people and the environment.

The residency offers Hastings’ Project Art Works – a collective of neurodiverse artists and activists a unique space in which to explore their creative processes, in particular in relation to the natural world. Artists on board are Paul Colley, Lucy, Aida Ashall and Mark Lockton. 

Project Art Works EXPLORERS project at the De La Warr Pavillion

Participant-led creative processes can also help develop a broader understanding of neurodiverse worldviews and attitudes, which are not often adequately publicised. Co-founder Kate Adams is constantly inspired to build on the organisation’s work and influence by her neurodiverse son, Paul Colley, and in 2102 was awarded an MBE for her contributions.

PAW is currently running two substantial three-year projects: Propel and Explorers. Propel is a programme of workshops and mentoring, running every Tuesday-Friday, and centred around a specialised studio space in Hastings. Recent developments include project participants achieving the Silver Arts Award, equivalent to a GCSE: no mean feat for people who otherwise can’t access traditional academic awards or learning systems.

Explorers communal art on display at TATE Liverpool

PAW’s website explains Propel’s studio-focussed method of working: “The studio environment is recreated wherever a project takes place…where events and happenings unfold revealing the essential abilities and nature of all those involved. Artists and makers work together and, where possible, talk about the studio and what takes place there. If someone does not use language to communicate, interaction is expansive rather than reductive utilising gesture, sound, signing and empathy”.

Local Neurodiverse makers at work for Explorers TATE Liverpool

The Explorers project is now in its second year, and will be running into 2020. Where Propel focuses in on the needs of neurodiverse people local to Hastings, Explorers pushes out of town in a highly collaborative programme of workshops, exhibitions, cultural events and other activities. A recent Explorers event was held at TATE Liverpool, showcasing the PAW film Illuminating the Wilderness in an installation that evolved as gallery visitors and local neurodiverse groups contributed to communal artworks. Comments on the installation included: “the drawings are like a forest….there’s something ancient and primitive about them that moves me” and “moving and insightful, it was an open look at how neurodiverse people can bring fresh insight and observations on the world.”

Illuminating the Wilderness film still (Ellen Prebble)

Shifting our gaze back to the South East, Explorers will be continuing to co-operate with Photoworks in Brighton until September, and has co-commissioned an exibition at Fabrica (also Brighton) from July-August, and another exhibition at the De La Warr from September-January. It’s a packed schedule, and with much more than that besides – like a Sydney showing of Illuminating the Wilderness, with workshops. 

Explorers was initially made possible by a number of partnerships and a healthy dose of Arts Council funding. In 2018 PAW was awarded further funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to expand the final year of Explorers and ensure the project’s lasting legacy with a proposed new gallery in Hastings town centre. The gallery, aiming to open in 2020, will be an innovative showcase of work by neurodiverse artists and makers, and will be realised in partnership with Heart of Hastings Community Land Trust.   

Aside from its two major projects, PAW has responded to the needs of families, carers and others, creating a Peer Support Network for those working with neurodiverse people to pool resources, experiences, and build their skills. PAW also has extensive film and artwork archives, which have been used and shown around the country in collaborative efforts to raise awareness and understanding of neurodiversity. 

• For more information about PAW, visit: projectartworks.org/projects or explorersproject.org or artsawardsproject.com