This post is for me as much as it is for anyone else who wants to see what I'm up to over the next couple of months. I feel I need one place for it all to be, so I at least, can make sense of it all!
Iteninary:
Indian Winter Art Fair
Date: Saturday February 6th 2016
Location: Norwich, UK
I am holding this Art Fair to raise £500 for the Flying Seagull Project. Artists have or will be paying to hire a space and that money goes into the Seagull kitty. Art they sell, they keep the money, unless they want to donate anything. Soem artists that can't make it are posting art to me that can be sold for the charity such as Callum Painter, Nathalie Moore, One8T, Pat Macdonald and Drugstore Sakte Shop.
There will be a cake sale, a Brash zine-making workshop (donations) and my stall of zines and prints - all money raised from these things go into the Seagull fund. There will also be live music!
London - Mumbai - Jabulpur
Date: Tuesday 23rd February - Wednesday 24th February
Location: Mumbai/Jabulpur, India
I will be flying to India on 23rd February and staying in Mumbai over night. On Thursday 25th February, I will be flying from Mumbai to Jabulpur, where I will be collected and driven (4 hours away) to Janwaar Castle.
Janwaar Castle
Date: Thursday February 26th 2016
Location: Janwaar village, India
From Thursday Feb 26th, I will be spending 4 -5 days here! ^ This is the the skatepark built in a rural village called Janwaar - which is not even on google maps... so I'm told.
Here, I iwll be working with the local community of children running skateboard sessions and art workshops for them. I will have a large suitcase of skateboards and art materials that I intend to leave there when I move on.
In there own words, Janwaar Castle is.... 'A learning Camp with skateboarding at its core.' How awesome is that?!
Some words from Huck magazine:
"Janwaar is a small village in northern Madhya Pradesh, one of the
biggest and poorest states in India. Ulrike founded the Janwaar Castle
project in part to stem brain drain to the cities, which affects much of
rural India."
"The lack of educational and career opportunities mean many young
people leave home for the city – but rarely find a better quality of
life in the overcrowded urban centres. And the villages they leave
behind are slowly dying."
Ulrike Reinhard
is a German woman who set this project up, who I have been in contact with the last few weeks after reading this Huck article. I am really looking forward to meeting her and so super excited at the prospect of helping Jawaar Castle with their education programme through the means of art and skateboarding.
I have used these photos from the Janwaar Castle website and an article Huck magazine wrote on the project. Please check these web pages out for more info on the charity:
Charity website:
http://janwaar-castle.org/
Huck magazine article:
http://www.huckmagazine.com/ride/skate/pictures-skateboarding-helping-save-village-rural-india/
The Flying Seagull Project
Date: Tuesday 1st March - Wednesday 30th March 2016
Location: Kolkata (Calcutta) India
After my work in Janwaar Castle, I will get a train from Jabulpur to Kolkata (really looking forward to that experience!) to meet the Flying Seagull troupe there.
Along with the other volunteers, I will be spending a month travelling around the rural and urban areas in the Kolkata region perfroming in shows and running workshops in dance, music and circus skills just as I have done in Romania twcie before. Below are a few photos from the Flying Seagull Project's facebook from the team currently in India...
Website: http://www.theflyingseagullproject.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flyingseagulls/?fref=photo
I will be flying back to London on Wednesday 30th March.
Thank you for reading and taking an interest :)
