Pull Up A Chair Gravesham - Anne Langford

I join an event ‘ Cultural Democracy, Community Development and the Old/New Normal ’, hosted by Dr Stephen Pritchard on Zoom – it’s part of the Belfast Imagine Festival.  Imagine is a festival of Politics and Ideas and I drop into a few events that afternoon. On financial systems and climate breakdown and an analysis of the storming of the US Capitol. We’re still in lockdown and like lots of people my life is now much more online. The rules change, from tomorrow we will be able to meet in groups of six outdoors, how will that feel? I’ve been following Stephen on Twitter ( @etiennelefleur)  for a couple of years, I like the way he writes about culture and community. He’s challenging and kind. From his writing, his work centres ethics and people care in his creative practice. The advert for the event says that, in this talk Stephen will; argue that our creativity is unlimited and liberating, and our cultures are what makes us human. Rather than being exclusive, they are ordinary and an

                                                        Gravesend from Tilbury

On my first visit aboard LV21 Païvi had shared a photograph album with me that had been gifted to the ship a couple of years ago.  The photographs were taken by someone who had died, and their family were unsure what to do with them but felt they were significant. I've been gently intrigued by the album and what it meant to someone, especially in relation to the theme of Pride. There are photographs of different sorts of ships, most are obviously taken from Gravesend, some maybe taken from the water. Some of the photographs have names of the ships featured in them written along the bottom. Some are unnamed. There are also details of the lens size used on some. I've tried to date the photos, and think they are maybe late1950s, early 1960s. There are some Bawley Boats which suggest the earlier end of this age range. The album represents a real investment of time, and resources. Not just in the taking and developing of the photographs but also in their presentation, the details th

I’ve been asked to embroider a shrimp, it’s for SILTings , LV21’s curated programme that is part of Estuary Festival . Shrimpers and Mudlarks is a collaboration between visual artist Nicola Flower and Dancer, Daisy Farris. They are creating a performance for Bawley Bay. The shrimp will be added to a cape being made by Nicola, for the dancer Daisy to wear as part of the performance. I’ve dropped off some shrimp kits in Northfleet, the Gravesham community are being asked to create these shrimp embellishments.   I’m really nervous. I’m not a visual artist, I love textiles and come from a long line of skilled and creative seamstresses, tatters, knitters, crocheters but the chain of learning got broken. My knitting grandmother died when I was little and my own Mum worked full time with three kids, although she taught me the basics, most of her sewing was done late into the night. In the last few years I’ve come to see how their skills have been overlooked as culture making, how my liberal a

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Flowers spotted on my walk; Speedwell, daisies, sea kale, teasel and maybe vipers bugloss?