When relaunching the M:E:E:T in December, Deborah said: ‘As with the original concept of M:E:E:T, peer critique of work is the heart of this endeavour, so bring work/ideas that you would like to discuss…. or just yourself!’

Come M:E:E:T With Me is an opportunity to participate and host the original M:E:E:T. The atendees can take turn in hosting the event in the venue available to them, including their home.

To get the address for this week’s venue, if you would like to host a future M:E:E:T, get in touch with Deborah D’Auria on Debora.dauria AT gmail.com 07949 194 809.

M:E:E:T is free – but you are welcome to bring drinks/snacks to facilitate the evening.

All meetings are 7-9pm

Future dates:

Friday 6th April 2012 (Good Friday)
Friday 8th June 2012
Friday 27th July 2012
Friday 24th August 2012

The year of the Dragon has started and there is a range of family-friendly events lined up in Southend town centre today, check out the programme below!

The celebration will culminate in a colourful lantern parade starting in Royal Square at 4pm followed by a fabulous firecracker finale in York Road at 4.30pm.

Dawn Jeakings, Manager of the Royals Shopping Centre and chair of the Town Centre Partnership, said: ‘Chinese New Year is a very popular event in Southend. This year for the Year of the Dragon we have a great variety of entertainment to watch as well as opportunities for  people of all ages to get involved in the fun.’

The programme for Saturday 28th January is as follows:

· 11am – 4pm: Lantern Making Workshop at The Royals Shopping Centre
· 11am – 11.45am: Lion Dance at Victoria Circus and Victoria Shopping Centre
· 1pm to 1.15pm: Chinese School Choir at the Victoria
· 1pm – 1.30pm: Lion Dance on the Central High Street, near the railway bridge
· 1.30pm – 1.45pm: Chinese School Choir at the Victoria
· 1.30pm – 3.30pm: Chinese Musical Instrument Workshop at the Victoria
· 1.30pm – 4pm: Chinese calligrapher at The Royals
· 1.45pm – 2pm: Tai Chi demonstration at the Victoria
· 2pm – 4pm; Origami workshop at The Royals
· 2pm – 4pm Chinese Opera Face Painting at The Royals
· 2.30pm – 2.45pm: Tai Chi demonstration at the Victoria
· 2.30pm – 3pm: Lion Dance at The Royals
· 3.15pm – 3.30pm: Tai Chi demonstration at the Victoria
· 4pm: Lion Dance and lantern parade starting from Royal Square
· 4.15pm – 4.45pm: Lion Dance and Firecracker Finale at York Road

Also the artwork by pupils from Lancaster School and Darlinghurst Primary School on show
at The Victoria and The Royals shopping centres.

Chris Charles, the Southend Carnival Association’s chairman told Echo that they are hoping to attract more people, especially those that prefer the event being held outside school holidays.

If you are between 14-22, you can apply until 31 January to become the next Queen or Princess. Download the application form here.

More details are going to be announced soon:
Saturday 16th June 2012
Meet the Carnival Court
Southend High Street – 10am to 2pm

Sunday 17th June 2012
Companion Dog Show
Priory Park From 11am

23rd June 2012
Junior Prince and Princess Competition
TBA – From 11am

Sunday 17th June 2012
Teddy Bears Picnic
Priory Park Band stage From 11.30am

Sunday 17th June 2012
Children’s Fancy Dress
Priory Park Bandstage From 13.30

23rd June 2012
Grand Summercare Illuminated Parade
Time and route to be confirmed

This is a 1955 Pathe film about the Carnival in Southend:

Special – SOUTHEND CARNIVAL

Southend-on-Sea Carnival Association is a voluntary organisation which was formed in 1926.
WEBSITE

Date:  Saturday 17 March 2012 9.30am – 5.15pm @ firstsite, Colchester

Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester, Essex CO1 1JH
£32.40 incl. VAT, lunch and two refreshment breaks.

50 free places available! (See Booking Form for further details)

A Regional conference hosted by UK premier Empty Shop organisation Slack Space Colchester, in partnership with firstsite. The event will look at working in empty shops and other disused spaces and will combine an interactive focus on case studies and success stories with practical advice and contextual understanding.

This event is suitable for:
Artists
Community groups
Arts and regeneration professionals
Landlords and developers

Outline of day:
9.30 Arrivals. Refreshments available to purchase at firstsite restaurant
10.00 Abigail Cheverst (Slack Space) ‘Working in empty shops – possibilities, challenges and opportunities’
10.30 Michaela Freeman (Artside) ‘Artside – curating in the public space’
11.00 Amy McKenny (Tap) ‘TAP – running an artist led studio / gallery space’
11.30 Refreshments (provided)
11.50 Breakouts
12.15 Kayte Judge (We are Bedford) ‘We are Bedford’ – case study’
12.45 Chris Clarke (Slack Space) ‘Slack Space – case study’
1.15 Lunch (provided) with performance from popular folk band The Medlars
2.00 The coalface slots – a series of short presentations from working artists on what empty shops activity has meant for them
2.30 Eddie Bridgeman (Meanwhile Space) ‘New spaces, new ways of working – the meanwhile lease, development trusts and other solutions’
3.00 Dan Thompson (Empty Shops Network) ‘The big picture – presenting the results of a National research and evidence gathering project on disused space activity in the UK’
3.30 Refreshments (provided)
3.50 Breakouts
4.15 3 Space presentation
4.30 Plenary / panel discussion – ‘Empty shops, disused spaces – the potential, the pitfalls and where we go next.’ The results of this plenary will be fed into the Empty shops Network National conference taking place later in the year
5.15 Close
Refreshments available to purchase at firstsite restaurant
Tour of Slack Space Colchester (optional)
All delegates will receive a copy of the Slack Space Manual and the Empty Shops Toolkit

Partner profile:
Slack Space is one of the premier ‘empty shop’ organisations in the UK and has been successfully putting art and performance into empty shops for over two and a half years
firstsite is a contemporary visual arts organisation based in Colchester with a mission to make contemporary art relevant to everyone.

Artside is a CoExist project featuring two weeks of art and interventions in Southend High Street with artists working directly with venues to create site-led work.
TAP is housed within a converted water works. Currently it houses CoExist Galleries and Studios,The White Bus, MEET, Solug and Open Arts.
We are Bedford is a community collective. The group put on the Castle Quay Weekender in March 2011, an arts festival in 7 empty shops, and run various other successful community events.
Meanwhile Space is led by the Development Trusts Association as part of the Advancing Assets programme, with support from the Dept. of Communities and Local Government.
Empty Shops Network is the National Network for organisations and individuals working in empty shops and other disused spaces.
3Space offer a brokerage service between landlords / developers with empty space and charities or other organisations wishing to use that space.

The Fairs will run few times this year and so far, a June date has been also announced as well – 30 June 2012.

The Christmas edition was booked up early on, so if you’d like to give it a go and book a stall, get in touch with the organisers asap (Anna Cooper on acooper78 AT btinternet.com).

Venue: Leigh Community Centre, 71-73 Elm Road, SS9 1SP

Here are some photos from the last edition Vintage and Handmade Fair in December:

Deborah says: ’As with the original concept of M:E:E:T, peer critique of work is the heart of this endeavour, so bring work/ideas that you would like to discuss…. or just yourself!’

Come M:E:E:T With Me is an opportunity to participate and host the original M:E:E:T. The atendees can take turn in hosting the event in the venue available to them, including their home.

‘This approach will keep the meetings fluid and diverse yet remain true to the original endeavour; which was to get artists together, irrespective of institutional contexts and disciplines, to talk about their work – to Make: Exchange: Evolve: Together. M:E:E:T’s concept is about shared ownership, no hierarchy, and a shared responsibility for ourselves and each other. We do not wish to link to any institution or funding. We will remain, as we were for a long time, an independent yet inclusive group.’

To get the address for this week’s venue, if you would like to host a future M:E:E:T, get in touch with Deborah D’Auria on Debora.dauria AT gmail.com 07949194809.

M:E:E:T is free – but you are welcome to bring drinks/snacks to facilitate the evening.

Come m:e:e:t with me dates 2011-12

All meetings are 7-9pm

Friday 28th October 2011
Friday 16th December 2011
Friday 3rd February 2012
Friday 6th April 2012 (Good Friday)
Friday 8th June 2012
Friday 27th July 2012
Friday 24th August 2012

Hadleigh & Thundersley Community Archive have invited Roger Pickett to give a talk about the Hadleigh Fire Station.

The illustrated local history talk about the Hadleigh Fire Station, Benfleet Urban District Council’s first ever Civic Building which has just reached it’s 80th Birthday, will take place next Wednesday at 2pm.

The guest speaker is the leading authority on the subject – Roger Pickett, founder and curator of Essex Fire Museum (Grays).

Numbers are limited and, as demand is expected to be high, so booking is recommended. £3 ticket in advance will secure you a place.

For more information visit the Hadleigh & Thundersley Community Archive website.

Last two occasions saw some interesting swaps, mostly food and produce related, but this time, you are invited to bring other items to swap, such as arts, crafts, clothes, wares, but also toys (never too early to teach your kids the swap skills!).

In the unlikely event of having nothing to swap or not finding a suitable match, there is a back up donations box, even though this is something Ian tries to avoid. He prefers to encourage people to take money out of the exchange.

‘The whole ethic of this event is based on cultural not financial exchange so all participants should be focused on understanding the value of materials and skills, be they craft, practical, interpersonal or cooking skills. If people really have nothing to swap they can donate, but will hopefully be inspired to get involved in making – maybe even outside of the event people can get together to learn skills while helping said stall holders to develop a sustainable business model by offering their time in return. Donations should al come back to a central point and used only for the combined benefit of promoting future events.’

Here are some photos from Metal’s website of the previous event, and a video of Ian Hurd explaining the idea behind the Fantastic Exchange:

You can find the Fantastic Christmas Exchange in the vegetable garden area, behind the Chalkwell Hall.

The works have been donated by local artists to support Slack Space.

Viewing starts at 6pm and the auction at 7pm.

At 9pm there will be live music from The Golden Jackals and the usual eclectic Slack Space raffle!

Refreshments will be available for donations or you can bring your own.

Slack Space is run by volunteers and receives no regular funding. So far, they had over 40,000 visitors into their empty shops events celebrating art and performance.

To view the online catalogue, click here. It’s being updated with new lots until the auction.

To bid in advance email: colchesterslackers AT googlemail.com

Slack Space / St James House, Queen Street, Colchester, Essex CO1 2PQ

The organisers say this is ‘an art, craft & design show with a contemporary twist’. Over fifty artists, craftspeople and designer makers will be showcasing and selling their work. Fine art, photography, jewellery, ceramics, textiles and more will be on display.

The show will be held in Hylands house, a Grade 2 listed property spectacularly restored to its former glory situated in 574 acres of historic landscaped parkland.

This is a perfect opportunity not only to buy a unique Christmas gift but also to meet the artist or designer maker who created the work.

Open Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th November 2011 10.00am to 5.00pm
(Adults £3.60 U16’s free)

The Essex Art & Design Show / Hylands House, Hylands Park / Chelmsford. CM2 8WQ

WEBSITE

Contact: David Shields 07944 806340