Bloomsbury Festival podcasts and interviews: Recent Episodes
Bloomsbury Festival
Interviews and features created about the Bloomsbury Festival by Bloomsbury Radio. For further information about the festival please see www.bloomsburyfestival.org.uk.
The audio for the moving site-specific piece where the performers take the audience from Fitzrovia Mural to the back of the British Museum.
An immersive audio that is simultaneously a dramatic guide through Bloomsbury, as well as the stream of thoughts of the three performer guides, helps to discover and piece together the body of a woman, represented through mannequin pieces. We attempt to trace a possible connection with Virginia Woolf, herself an avid streetwalker of London, while simultaneously exploring our own relationships with the cities we grew up in Kolkata, Lima and Wu Wei. As women artists, we examine the possibility of expressing a blooming, urban consciousness through the act of street-walking in London.
The piece explores how city spaces either objectify or invisibilize the female body. We invite the audience to join us in our quest: Can three performing artists from India, China and Peru, embody the memory of Virginia Woolf? Can they inherit the legacy of the Bloomsbury group? Experience our artistic response of walking through the streets, corners and squares of Bloomsbury.
We hear from Tamera Heron, a freelance writer and digital storyteller, as part of the Bloomsbury Festival's New Bloomsbury Set project and Nick Potter, Partner and Head of the Commercial Property at Bishop & Sewell tells us about Bishop & Sewell’s role supporting the festival.
PART 6: Women power back in the days! The journey of Frances Taylor, which was indeed to provide a ‘shining light’ to the poor and vulnerable of London, began in October 1868. She provided physical and spiritual support to many poor by founding a Religious Congregation of Sisters, the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. With no solid income, relying on finance from her literary works, as an adept author, and editor of fiction, non-fiction and journalism, she initiated a social impact on the lives of the dwellers in the great slums of the Seven Dials and nearby St Giles Rookeries. Follow her journey in this guided walk.
PART 5: Women power back in the days! The journey of Frances Taylor, which was indeed to provide a ‘shining light’ to the poor and vulnerable of London, began in October 1868. She provided physical and spiritual support to many poor by founding a Religious Congregation of Sisters, the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. With no solid income, relying on finance from her literary works, as an adept author, and editor of fiction, non-fiction and journalism, she initiated a social impact on the lives of the dwellers in the great slums of the Seven Dials and nearby St Giles Rookeries. Follow her journey in this guided walk.
PART 4: Women power back in the days! The journey of Frances Taylor, which was indeed to provide a ‘shining light’ to the poor and vulnerable of London, began in October 1868. She provided physical and spiritual support to many poor by founding a Religious Congregation of Sisters, the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. With no solid income, relying on finance from her literary works, as an adept author, and editor of fiction, non-fiction and journalism, she initiated a social impact on the lives of the dwellers in the great slums of the Seven Dials and nearby St Giles Rookeries. Follow her journey in this guided walk.
PART 3: Women power back in the days! The journey of Frances Taylor, which was indeed to provide a ‘shining light’ to the poor and vulnerable of London, began in October 1868. She provided physical and spiritual support to many poor by founding a Religious Congregation of Sisters, the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. With no solid income, relying on finance from her literary works, as an adept author, and editor of fiction, non-fiction and journalism, she initiated a social impact on the lives of the dwellers in the great slums of the Seven Dials and nearby St Giles Rookeries. Follow her journey in this guided walk.
PART 2: Women power back in the days! The journey of Frances Taylor, which was indeed to provide a ‘shining light’ to the poor and vulnerable of London, began in October 1868. She provided physical and spiritual support to many poor by founding a Religious Congregation of Sisters, the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. With no solid income, relying on finance from her literary works, as an adept author, and editor of fiction, non-fiction and journalism, she initiated a social impact on the lives of the dwellers in the great slums of the Seven Dials and nearby St Giles Rookeries. Follow her journey in this guided walk.
PART 1: Women power back in the days! The journey of Frances Taylor, which was indeed to provide a ‘shining light’ to the poor and vulnerable of London, began in October 1868. She provided physical and spiritual support to many poor by founding a Religious Congregation of Sisters, the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. With no solid income, relying on finance from her literary works, as an adept author, and editor of fiction, non-fiction and journalism, she initiated a social impact on the lives of the dwellers in the great slums of the Seven Dials and nearby St Giles Rookeries. Follow her journey in this guided walk.
Vivien Ellis is a singer, community choir leader, music researcher & trainer who uses the power of singing to connect, support wellbeing & feed imagination.
A conversation with Ifrah Ahmed, Somali youth worker, KCBNA about the walk of community painted silks made by local groups with arts organisation Kinetika.
A Bloomsbury Festival chat to Luke Olsen, Programme Director of MEng Engineering and Architectural Design at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL at the launch of Bloomsbury Festival 2023.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to producer, John Offord about his work at this year’s Bloomsbury Festival.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Soprano Charlotte Jane Kennedy and pianist Frasier Hickland who will perform a song recital based on the growth of the Earth between seasons at the Bloomsbury Festival. This programme will explore songs inspired by the elements of nature, as well as religion and mythology.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to an Award-winning poet and playwright Inua Ellams, born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in what is now considered to be Boko Haram territory, left Nigeria for England in 1996 aged 12. Littered with poems, stories and anecdotes, Inua tells his ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrant-story of escaping fundamentalist Islam, finding friendship in Dublin, performing solo at the National Theatre, and drinking wine with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or a place to call home.
This performance is presented in association with the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, where Inua is a Practitioner in Residence, and Choose Love, an organisation that supports refugees and displaced people all over the world. Proceeds from this event will go towards Choose Love’s vital work supporting refugees, including those here in the UK.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Dr Rebecca Gordon about two talks coming up at the Bloomsbury Festival - how healthy growth can be encouraged in specific populations and why education matters for growth.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Alec Forshaw about an upcoming talk he is giving on the growth of Bloomsbury. This richly illustrated talk will cover the development of Bloomsbury over the last 500 years, from when it was fields and market gardens supplying the City of London, to the present day. It will include the first developments in the 17th century by major landowners such as the Rugby, Harpur, Curzon and Southampton estates, the major growth in the 18th century, led by the Dukes of Bedford, the changing nature and status of the area in the 19th century with the departure of the gentry and the arrival of major institutions such as the British Museum, University of London and various hospitals, the upheavals of the 20th century, and the continued flourishing of Bloomsbury in the 21st century as one of London’s most important educational, medical and cultural quarters.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Donald MacKenzie, the world renowned organist from the Odeon Leicester Square about ‘The Bloomsbury Beast’, the pipe organ of Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, one of the most impressive and unique pipe organs in London.
Writer & Historian, Nino Strachey shines new light on the history of the Bloomsbury Group in the 1920s, revealing a second generation of queer young creatives whose accepting attitudes and freedom of expression were unprecedented in their time. The lives and stories of these young people provide context and perspective into our modern world, where queer people are still fighting for respect and recognition.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Lisa Azarmi about An Apothecary of Art, founder of social media sensation Ravenous Butterflies.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to musician, Aida Lahlou
Embark on a journey of mystery and discovery. There is music from Central Asia, South America, North America, Scotland, Spain, and more. Music that harks back to ancient times and traditions, and music that brings us back to the present. Music that shows the versatility of the piano as an instrument through different sound worlds and musical traditions.
In this recital, Aïda uses a lesser-known repertoire to tell the story of Ravel’s Miroirs in a new way. Using intertextual links between adjacent pieces in the programme, new meanings are suggested, and a narrative thread emerges that weaves all the pieces together.
Presented by Bloomsbury Festival as part of the New Wave programme, a platform for emerging talent.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Marianne Nichols about the hidden history of the Foundling Hospital. In a quiet corner of Bloomsbury, the Foundling Hospital stood there for 200 years. The hospital was an early social experiment to rescue ‘foundlings’ from poverty and death on the streets of Georgian London, and it attracted eminent benefactors and raised thousands of children. But life for the foundlings was not so kind.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to writer Rez Kabir about “The Two Headed Bird”, presented by Tamarind theatre company who presents theatre storytelling for the whole family, with puppetry, music, song and dance.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Paul Salt & Kat Haylett about Young Voices - a showcase of short films by young filmmakers exploring the theme of ‘Growth’. These works capture moments in lives of the filmmakers, as they grow as people, or as the environment shifts and changes around them, often in unpredictable ways. The essay films question our relationship to science, royalty, popular culture, even the transport links connecting us. These films urge us to consider how the city of London itself affects the personal and societal growth of each of its residents and visitors.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Rowenna Mortimer about “The Morphea”. Morphea’s home is the canal, but her peace is being disturbed...
Presented by Bloomsbury Festival as part of the New Wave programme, a platform for emerging talent.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Ana Bursac about the piano works of Serbian Contemporary Composers
Bloomsbury Radio chat to actor, Theo Hristov (and the production team) about Petrichor, a radio play that aired on Bloomsbury Radio.
Stella and Alex storm into each other’s lives one summer night at a warehouse rave in Peckham. They’re both seventeen and from London. But that’s where the similarities end. And tonight’s different. Tonight there’s a vote. Tonight history’s being written around them. And history has other plans.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to musicians Lorena Cantó and Yvain Calvo.
Composers have long been inspired by the beauty of nature, and this can be seen in the works of many great composers throughout history.
The music of Frank Bridge and Benjamin Britten shows an intense love for nature, evident in their compositions’ stylistic and melodic structures. This love for nature has its roots in earlier British music, such as the songs of John Dowland, which feature pastoral and bucolic motifs that invite reflection on the symbolism found in the natural world. During the First World War, this love for nature took on a new significance and many composers used their music as a means of reflecting on the destruction wrought by the war, exploring themes of loss, grief, and the struggle for hope and renewal.
The music from Dowland, Bridge and Britten show a deepening sense of humanity’s interconnectedness with the natural world, and how that relationship affects the way we see our lives and the societies we build. The programme will include an original silent film created by Radu Rojas to accompany Bridge’s cello sonata.
Duo Fabulae is a viola and piano duo formed by Guildhall School of Music & Drama alumni Lorena Cantó and Yvain Calvo.
A project kindly supported by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to French soprano, Clara Barbier-Serrano and Robert Finegan (saxophone) about her upcoming event “Paris Chapters”. This project is centred around new music based on works by Irish writers who lived in Paris (James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, W.B Yeats etc.) for voice, saxophone, and piano. Irish saxophonist Robert Finegan and French singer Clara Barbier-Serrano explore the possibilities of contemporary music and the idea of having a programme that can be relatable and flexible to suit different audiences and spaces. 2022 marked 100 years since the publication of James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ in Paris, making it the ideal time to launch the project and shine a light on this theme. This publication was also a clear indicator of the growing links between Ireland and France, both culturally and artistically. The new music becomes a part of the larger programme that shows the connections between Ireland and France. This includes solo and chamber music reflecting the life of these authors in Paris and the songs they would have heard, been inspired by, or wished to hear. For example, Traditional Irish songs, French classical music and the chanson/jazz scene of Paris. The programme will also include short readings from works by these authors, showing the growth of the authors as they depart their homeland and submerge themselves in the bustling city of Paris.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Dr Francisco Diego about “Paradise Planet Earth: A cosmic miracle under threat”.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Nicola Parry from the London Welsh Centre. The Annual Emporium at the London Welsh Centre is back, celebrating Welsh culture and creativity. This year’s event features a captivating range of products from London Welsh traders, artisans from Wales, and the local Camden community. The marketplace showcases handcrafted creations, from contemporary artworks to stunning jewellery and delectable culinary delights, embodying Welsh artistry and local talent. Visitors can immerse themselves in the world of Welsh arts and crafts while enjoying traditional food and drinks. The Emporium also serves as a vibrant platform for cultural exchange and community engagement, offering live music performances with choir melodies. This gathering highlights the strong connections between the Welsh community, traders from London, and the local Camden community, fostering unity and pride through collaboration and shared creativity. Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to experience the rich culture of Wales and local Camden artistry, savouring delightful culinary treats and engaging in cultural exchange. The Annual Emporium at the London Welsh Centre promises an unforgettable event celebrating the diverse talents of London Welsh traders, artisans from Wales, and the vibrant local community of Camden.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Karen Wong (flute) & Lance Mok (piano) about an upcoming varied programme of contemporary music for flute and piano featuring works from underrepresented and contemporary composers. The wide range of music showcases the development in flute playing techniques, as well as highlighting themes of equality, inclusiveness and our relationship with the natural world.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to UK Tango Championship finalists Emma Lucia Reyes (UK) and Carlos Cisneros (Argentina) who will breathe new life into Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango, reimagining his iconic arrangement with a performance of live dance and audio-visual effects re-telling the story of tango for a contemporary audience.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to young trainees working on the New Bloomsbury Set, an arts and heritage project run by Bloomsbury Festival and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project brings together local community groups, residents, and artists in Bloomsbury to create a series of exhibitions and events that explore Bloomsbury’s diverse history, identity, and cultures past and present.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Dance Movement Psychotherapist, Noel Datta about one of India’s most loved Bollywood icons, Meena Kumari and an upcoming performance “The Life of Meena Kumari, Bollywood star”.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Alisa Oleva about Rap Reflections with Wanda Canton coming up at the Bloomsbury Festival. Hate it or love it, rap music tends to make us feel a certain way. Since its origins it has been conflated with gangs and violence for some, but for others is a powerful and political form of expression. Wanda Canton argues that the way we listen to rap music is important for society more widely and can help facilitate crucial conversations. Sometimes words are not enough to express how we feel or what we are experiencing. Playing with rhythm, sound and body language can support us to broaden our expression, to find ways of listening to others and being heard. In an over-simulating world, paying attention to sound can help to quieten the noise around us by making some ourselves. This interactive workshop aims to create an experimental space to practice creative writing and sound exercises. Using both individual and group work, we will explore how language and sound can empower us and perhaps find moments of connection with, or compassion for others. We will consider how to command our language to be creative in a comfortable way.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Giuseppe Mario Urso about ‘A Room of one’s own’ - an intimate video installation by local artist Giuseppe Mario Urso. The work intertwines space and emotion to create a private place where you can observe St Pancras Church and its surroundings from a different point of view. An immersive video experience that turns an enclosed space into a ‘bird hide’ which then reveals the outside world to the watchers. Inspired by the concept of “liminal space” developed by the anthropologist Arnold van Gennep, the installation functions as an unconventional device to unlock all the restraints accumulated during the lockdown. A liminal space is a transitional place between spaces – a now between before and after.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Soprano, Daniella Sicari about Bloom, a multidisciplinary concert incorporating art song, visual art and live inspired painting. The evening is centred around the imagery of flowers, and aims to create a luscious evening for audiences. The programme showcases female composers as the predominant repertoire choice whilst also including a hint to a very well known piece that will need no introduction.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to poet Michelle Penn about Seed, an evening of poetry, art and sound. Seed will feature poets Luke Kennard, Helen Bowell, L Kiew and Richard Price, who all evolve language in surprising directions. There will also be a new collaborative piece from Corrupted Poetry; a pop-up visual exhibition; and sound sculpture from Fractured Strings.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to musician, Rowan Flack about Giant Folk, an alternative folk-jazz group led by vocalist Rowan Flack. They play mysterious folk songs, hidden and understated jazz standards and their esoteric, original compositions which are experimental and magical in nature. Over the last few years, Giant Folk have established their own unique flair and lighthearted sensitivity by flowing between folk melodies, ambient soundscapes and contemporary jazz improvisation. Their first release, River Run was a two-track EP featuring the Scandinavian-inspired title track River Run and a Latin Bossa cover of Waters of March (Aguas De Marcos) by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Elis Regina. Since then, they have released both ‘Fish Out of Water’ and most recently in May 2023 – ‘Earth Live Sessions’ on Future Fables Records. The band features a mix of musicians including Jack Lecomer (bass, production), Sol Grimshaw (guitar) and Sylvan Biscoe (Tenor sax). Their connection with music and nature brings them together to create a distinct textural soundscape, still holding its roots firmly in modern jazz.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to singer, Phillipa Hyde who is performing at this years Bloomsbury Festival. It was in the eighteenth century that the seeds of modern day Bloomsbury were sown. In an area of farmland just north of Holborn, the erection of the grand edifices of Montagu House and Southampton (later Bedford) House heralded the development of the Georgian district that we still recognise today. The later purchase of Montagu House to serve as the first British Museum ensured the area would become synonymous with culture and learning. John, 2nd Duke of Montagu, was a renowned patron of the arts and appears in Marcellus Laroon’s 1730s painting ‘A Music Party at Montagu House’. Taking our inspiration from the rural past of the area, and the cultural world surrounding John Montagu, Bloomsbury Baroque presents a vocal and instrumental reimagining of the music party, drawing on the pastoral themes that were fashionable within music, poetry and the arts of the time.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Croatian-American Musician Michelle Hromin who performs works by Steve Reich, Liza Lim, Unsuk Chin, Paquito d’Rivera, as well as her own compositions, redefining the sonic possibilities of solo clarinet playing. Using facets such as electronics and delay pedals in addition to acoustic clarinet playing, these works move through genres such jazz, indie, classical, and contemporary music and explore her personal relationship with her instrument and development as an artist.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Jean Woollard and Nick Murray about Life Lines - a mix of dance, poetry and live music exploring aspects of the Bloomsbury festival’s theme, Grow. Sage Dance Company is a ballet-based contemporary dance company for people of 55 yrs plus and Rack Press Poetry is an independent small poetry press based in Bloomsbury and Wales. Together with their friends – professional musicians, fellow dancers and poets, including Michèle Roberts, Nicholas Murray and Róisín Tierney – they invite you to join them for what they hope will be a relaxing, entertaining and thought-provoking hour. Building on the success of many previous events they have created separately for Bloomsbury Festival, for the first time this year these organisations have joined forces to create something a little different.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to three Contemporary Poets, poets Therese Kieran, Tim Rich and John Simmons who will be reading poems specially written for the Bloomsbury festival on the theme of Grow.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Amber Fabian & Mark Malcomson from City Lit, an adult education college in Holborn about the Mental Wealth Festival. This year, the festival focuses on connections, exploring ways that connection supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing and celebrating the numerous ways in which we connect with others, ourselves, and the world around us through a series of free or low-fee events including talks, panel discussions, and workshops.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to scientist, Antonio Rivas about Blue Light - A one-act first-person monologue recounting the story of Nobel prize winner Marie Curie.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Penny Burns of Camden Tour Guides Association about a walk she’s walking as part of this year’s festival. The walk starts at Friends House, and we will retrace the steps of some fascinating females, memorable men and inspiring institutions and learn how they helped the growth of Bloomsbury into a beacon of knowledge and learning.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Robert Finegan & Tara Viscardi. The Finegan Viscardi Duo launch their Debut EP ‘Uncovered Roots’ at the 2023 Bloomsbury Festival, coinciding with this year’s festival theme ‘Grow’.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Bex Hughes about Bookshop Crawls - a fun way to explore second-hand, specialist, indie and chain bookshops across Bloomsbury and Kings Cross.
Come along, meet fellow book lovers, swap book recommendations and explore bookshops together, with nobody asking if you’re really sure you need any more books. You can book here: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/2023-festival-events/
Photograph by Emma Aveston.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Roxanne Crosby-Nwaobi, Lead Nurse for Research at Moorfields Eye Hospital and patient Ron Marks. You can find out how UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre are growing new eye cells to help people with sight loss at the Discovery Hub here: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/discovery-hub-grow/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to deaf photographer, Stephen Iliffe’s about Deaf Mosaic. Deaf Mosaic has a vital message to share: with the right support, deaf people can do anything.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Darren Clarke, Head of Collections, Research & Exhibitions at Charleston Trust about different aspects of the Bloomsbury Set of a century ago, their lives, writing, art and changing attitudes towards gender and sexuality in the 1920s.
A whirlwind of spoken word poetry, movement and music that takes audiences on a journey to explore healing, transformation and connection.
At a time when the speed and demands of life are increasing each day, is there a way we can navigate change with more grace and less fear? How can we allow ourselves to let go of who we’ve been so that we might step into who we’re ready to now become? And what’s more costly, changing or staying the same? With humour, vulnerability and a fair bit of cheekiness, Phoenix investigates these questions and asks how we might live more fully and move more authentically through the world.
Written & performed by Helen Percival – an actor, poet and singer who graduated from RADA in 2023, where she completed an MA in Laboratory Theatre. She has performed in a number of theatre productions, was nominated for The Spotlight Prize and was described by The British Theatre Guide as ‘an impressive character actor.’ She worked for many years as a broadcast journalist before retraining as an actor.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Anthony D Padgett about a walk and talk marking the moment of the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death, introducing Picasso’s relationships to literary, political and scientific figures in Bloomsbury.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Dr Alison Ohta, Director, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Royal Asiatic Society and Brunei Gallery, SAOS, present an exhibition celebrating the Society’s bicentenary and studies of science, literature, religion and the arts of Asia since 1823.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Ghost & John about an exhibition of 50 avocado sculptures grown in the artists’ home, witnessing every laugh and tear of the couple. Exploring alternative ways to measure growth and new models of creative presentation that focus on community building, love and kindness, and personal life satisfaction.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Tania Coke, live from Japan. tarinainanika was formed in 2010 by Kentaro Suyama and Tania Coke. Kentaro and Tania trained for many years with Steven Wasson and Corinne Soum (last assistants of the founder of Corporeal Mime, Etienne Decroux) and are former members of Wasson and Soum’s Théâtre de l’Ange Fou. Now based at the Flying Carpet Factory in Osaka, Kentaro and Tania run the Corporeal Mime School of Performing Arts where they are busy nurturing the next generation of actor-creator through full-time professional training.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Margaret Cheng about 26 Plants. 26’s partners at Wildlife Trusts drew up a list of plants: a mix of rare and important, common and undervalued, endangered/rare and ‘interesting’ plants. From dandelions to devil’s bit scabious and beyond. 26 writers, including many well-known poets, then responded with their own words to highlight the issues around each plant. How will they survive climate change? What can we each do to help? Writing 100-word poems and short essays, the writers bring out the beauty as well as the vulnerability of these plants, and visual work accompanies each written piece. 26 Plants is now live here:https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/26-plants/
Abul Kashim speaks to Bloomsbury Radio about Camden Libraries' involvement with Bloomsbury Festival.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Rosie Carlisle and Fiona Rule about Bloomsbury's fascinating history through the story of one house - 49 Great Ormond Street – and the people who lived there.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Zhanna Macmillen of Camden Tour Guides Association on The Legendary Women of Bloomsbury.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Victor Braojos (Pianist). Victor is to present a solo piano recital journey through the senses, presenting a journey through three contrastingly different major works, all written at the culmination of a lifetime.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Faheem Hussain about the power of storytelling as it transcends cultures and time.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Vyte Garriga about the following two plays she is representing at this year’s festival.
Language Is A Skin
This one-woman show explores language from the point of view of a Lithuanian woman who wants to communicate, fit in and survive. It is set in at what looks like an abandoned photo development room where the protagonist is developing books instead. She goes through the books and dives into the stories in search of the meaning (or lack of meaning). The piece combines visual theatre, performance art, digital technology and BSL to tell the story. The core theme of the piece is learning a new language, changing skin (physically and metaphorically) and growing into oneself forced but not defined by the circumstances.
2nd Picture of Dorian Gray
Nine teenagers and one baritone saxophone invite you to a surreal cabaret of a play. Struggling to make sense of their lives and their place in an unfathomable universe, they find themselves in an hilariously pointless search for a theme for their own creative expression – only to discover that one of them may in fact be the actual great-grandchild of eponymous narcissist Dorian Gray. This life-imitating-art play about growing up asks lots of important questions about what it means to be human and, in fine absurdist fashion, offers absolutely no answers whatsoever. Writer – Vyte Garriga.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Jessica Richard about Oils - a gripping show about survival, trauma, and the unyielding strength of a woman.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Associate Architect Robin Spencer who is presenting five contemporary, built (or under construction) architectural projects, situated in dense urban environments.
Join Bloomsbury Radio as they chat to Baluji Shrivastav OBE (sitar, tabla, vocals) & Linda Shanovitch (vocals, percussion) of Jazz Orient who are performing at this years Bloomsbury Festival.
Jazz Orient are Baluji Shrivastav OBE (sitar, tabla, vocals), Linda Shanovitch (vocals, percussion), James Welland (keyboards), Rishi Gulati (sax) and Mick Parker (drum & percussion) who celebrate Jazz, Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Indian music, creating a kaleidoscope of rhythms and melodies with intricate patterns of percussive footwork and graceful movements from Indian dance. With six albums so far and several tours, guest artists include Fiaz Khan, Guy Barker, Andy Sheppard, Hossam Ramzy, Sakari Kukku, Talvin Singh, Mike Parker, Gerry Hunt, Andy Platt, and Eric Junkes. With a dazzling array of instruments and full of surprises, music from Jazz Orient is for the heart, mind and soul.
Join Bloomsbury Radio as they chat to Camden Tour Guide, Ellika McAuley about her Peter Pan-Family Adventure Walk and find out how Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up is intrinsically linked with Bloomsbury.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to artist / author Ella Phillips about her joyful workshop inspired by her series ‘My Grandma’s Magic Recipes’.
Simona Di Martino on Growing Up with Witch Powers - brought to you by Bloomsbury Radio.
Local creative, Gabriel Rogers-Mullen interviews local storyteller, Fran Hazelton about her work telling tales of Mesopotamia—the land "between the rivers" in modern-day Iraq—was home to the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians.
Local creative, Gabriel Rogers-Mullen interviews singer, JFlow who tells us why it’s ok not to fit in. Song featured is “I’m Alive, Song by Rich Tolbert Jr” and performed by JFlow
Bloomsbury Radio chat to the Greenwich Trio. Described by Bernard Greenhouse as “the new Beaux Arts Trio”, the Greenwich Trio are earning a reputation for their performances of a wide range of repertoire. Their performance for Conway Hall foregrounds the contributions made to the repertoire by Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, alongside their male colleagues. The Greenwich Trio are Lana Trotovšek (violin), Heather Tuach (cello) and Yoko Misumi (piano). For more info, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/greenwich-trio/
This new audio play was selected for development as part of the Bloomsbury Festival 2021 New Wave Theatre Writing programme. Umbrella explores the lived experience of Gran, who is experiencing dementia, and the people around her. For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/umbrella-katherine-edwards/
Here is 'Oils' by Jessica Rachid - winner of the Bloomsbury Radio ‘Freedom of Expression Radio Play Competition’ in Partnership with the Bloomsbury Festival.
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Artistic Director Julia Pascal about Sing And Subvert. For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/sing-and-subvert-workshop/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Swedenborg House’s Artists in Residence – Sam McLoughlin and David Chatton Barker, about the Heavenly Realms, a new performance developed during their residency at Swedenborg House in October 2022. For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/the-heavenly-realms/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Reverend Dr Simon Woodman about ‘The Bloomsbury Beast’, the pipe organ of Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church which is one of the most impressive and unique pipe organs in London. For more info, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/the-bloomsbury-beast/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Theophina Gabriel, a writer, essayist and award-winning published poet. For more info about the event Theophina organised at the festival, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/resisting-through-rest/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Jenny Horwell about Invisible Demons, a visually striking film that explores the consequences of unfettered industrialisation in Delhi, capturing not only a city in crisis but magnifying our collective climate realities. For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/invisible-demons/
Bloomsbury Radio chats to Joy Francis and Patsy Isles about exploring your relationship to creativity and self expression through breathwork, visualisation, meditation, free writing, reading and guided discussion. Led by creative wellbeing practitioner and writing coach Patsy Isles and creative entrepreneur and Words of Colour’s executive director Joy Francis, Activate Your Creativity was a two-hour interactive session for people who don’t ‘believe’ they are creative but want to be. For more info, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/activate-your-creativity/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Noah, Charlotte & Michelle about Young voices at Bloomsbury, a curated programme that addresses the theme of Breathe and includes 20 essay films made by young filmmakers aged 17-21 based in London and Pittsburgh. For more info, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/young-voices-bloomsbury/
Bloomsbury Radio talk to Rohan Rakhit about Daytimers, the collective at the heart of the re-emerging Asian Underground, who are presenting an evening spotlighting and celebrating South Asian poetry and spoken word. For more info, please see: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/event/daytimers-mehfil-an-evening-of-south-asian-poetry/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Natalie Harper and Alex Pearson, who are bringing a selection of Suffrage Plays written when women had to fight to speak their minds about the inequality of society, and linking across time to the women of today, who are still continuing the fight. These pieces tell us, in their own words, the comedy, the opinions and the fervent hopes alongside the campaign and combat for equality. For more info, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/words-and-deeds/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Clara Barbier Serrano about a production of Pierrot Lunaire, an immersive one-hour concert, where music, tarot cards and costumes create a dream-like, mysterious and colourful atmosphere. Pierrot XXI, uses Pierrot Lunaire, a masterpiece of chamber music from 1912 by Schönberg, Tarot cards and visual elements to shed light on human behaviour towards the environment.
For more details, please see: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pierrot-xxi-tickets-367494013487
Bloomsbury Radio talk to photographer, Kois Miah about Mangled, a photographic study. Mangled is a response to two seismic events – the global Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting national lockdown in March 2020; and the second being the loss of photographer Kois Miah’s dear friend Jobeda Ali to cancer in April 2020. For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/mangled-exhibition/
Bloomsbury Radio talk to Tommaso Giacomin, the creator of 4:48 Digestion, a highly physical piece of theatre that presents a multi-layered journey into the biological and emotional life of five performers. For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/448-digestion-wed/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Éamonn Cagney and Niwel Tsumbu about the Art Of The Duo, an evening of incredible musical chemistry and exciting performances. Éamonn Cagney and Niwel Tsumbu blend Classical, Jazz, Congolese, West African, Irish and Flamenco influences to create a unique and exhilarating fusion. For more information, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/the-art-of-the-duo/
Bloomsbury Radio talk to Tess Buckley, plus live performance by Tess acapella. For more details about this event, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/tess-buckley/
Bloomsbury Radio talk to pianist Zhu Sun, who is presentsing a performance of Chopin’s third sonata in collaboration with contemporary dancers from The Place that features a new choreography by Noé Engelbeen. The project forms part of Zhu’s doctoral research into the relationship between metaphor, dance, and music. To find out more, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/dancing-chopin/
Bloomsbury Radio talk to Angela Charles who is giving a talk about the experiences of Black women in the English female estate based on research completed by Angela in 2018 and 2019. It explores some of the systemic racism and disadvantage these women faced during their imprisonment and the how this systemic disadvantage played out. To attend this online event, please book here: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/black-women-in-prison/
Reporter John Offord interviews Joanne Desborough, Assistant Gardener of the Bedford Estates about planting for pollinators, low maintenance gardening beneficial to wildlife and container gardening. Jo also tells us about 'Gardeners' Question Time' happening on the 20th October, 2022. To find out more about the event, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/gardeners-question-time/
Reporter John Offord chats to the co-creators of Flight Patterns, Lane Paul Stewart and Gabrielle Moleta.
Flight Patterns is performed by an international company of artists whose transformative moments of the animal into human question the timeless challenges of adapting to place, habits and identity. Who are these figures caught in transitory moments? What situations are revealed? What do we learn about the human condition? Responding to, and shedding new light on, pre-existing texts drawn from literary figures of the early twentieth century.
Book your tickets here: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/flight-patterns
Reporter John Offord chats to Rosie Carlyle and Fiona Slater about 'The Story of Holborn and its Music Halls in 10 Songs'.
Between 1860 and 1940 Holborn was at the heart of the London’s music scene. The Holborn Empire was amongst the most popular theatres in the city and its stars were household names. Join the Good Companions for a musical romp through Holborn’s colourful and dramatic history, with rousing, singalong performances of the era’s classic songs.
For more info, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/the-story-of-holborn-and-its-music-halls-in-10-songs/
Bloomsbury Radio talks to Kathleen Palmer, Curator at Foundling Museum about the Tiny Traces, Black and Asian children exhibition where you can discover a fuller, richer history of London life in the eighteenth century, through the newly uncovered stories of children of colour in the care of the Foundling Hospital. For more details, see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/tiny-traces-black-and-asian-children-at-londons-foundling-hospital/
Bloomsburu Radio talk to Yanaelle Thiran and Owen Ho about Garden Unlocked.
Garden Unlocked a dance piece that takes place outdoors amidst the bustling surroundings of Bloomsbury. It invites audiences to stop for moment and rethink our relationships to the air and spaces around us.
The delicate, poetic dance movements are shaped by the air we breathe and spaces we live. The music in turn encourages great freedom and spontaneity in response to the dance in real time – a curious combination of site dance, aleatoric music, and cross-disciplinary experiment that defies categorisation.
Most importantly, forget about any concert etiquette. Visitors are move around or sit wherever you want as the dance unfolds. In a world where pollution and respiratory problems are pressing concerns, what can we do?
For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/garden-unlocked/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Holy Elson about Stories of Song, Conway Hall. For more details, please see: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/event/stories-of-song/
Bloomsbury Radio chat to Giuseppe Urso about 'A Lump in the Throat', an audio installation by GM Urso, which aims to create an intimate space inside St George’s Bloomsbury where visitors can wander, pause, and listen. From the distance only the instrumental version of Gluck’s Che farò senza Euridice? (What is life to me without thee?) can be heard but coming closer it is possible to make out a voice singing in English. It is Orfeo, crying in desperation at Euridice’s death. Gradually another language emerges, and then another, to emphasize the global proportion of the pandemic that has struck the world. For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/a-lump-in-the-throat/
Broadcaster John Offord talks to two of the three winners of the Bloomsbury Festival Art Competition 2022 (Jan Pimblett, Glenda Frieder & Emma Todd) on Bloomsbury Radio at a private view of their exhibition at Spaghetti House gallery. The exhibition is free and open daily until 23 October. More info: https://bit.ly/3D2SqyA
Bloomsbury Radio talk to Chris Foster who is running a ninety minute guided walk from Camden Tour Guides Association, where you can explore some of Bloomsbury’s best open spaces, and discover the people who may or may not have been involved in their creation. Plus a few stories and personal memories from a Bobby on the Beat in this area fifty years ago. For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/bloomsburys-best-open-spaces-route-1/
Bloomsbury Radio talk to Katherine Edwards and Rohan Gotobed about a new audio play which was selected for development as part of the Bloomsbury Festival 2021 New Wave Theatre Writing programme.
Umbrella explores the lived experience of Gran, who is experiencing dementia, and the people around her.
To find out more about the upcoming live preview, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/umbrella-katherine-edwards/
Nick Potter, Partner and Head of the Commercial Property at Bishop and Sewell chats about the Bloomsbury Festival and their co-sponsors of the launch event.
Reporter, John Offord chats to Eva Driskel from St George’s Bloomsbury about the Silent Calligraphy workshop which ran on Day 2 of the Bloomsbury Festival.
Professional and amateur calligraphers from the South London Lettering Association practised their art using a wide variety of scripts and tools. They sat at tables in the body of the beautiful Hawksmoor church of St George’s Bloomsbury with quiet music in the background. For more details, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/silent-calligraphy/
A chance to listen to all 26 Orphan pieces, which are read one after another.
26 Orphans is an exhibition of writing about fictional characters, whose stories involve being abandoned early in life, orphaned or fostered. It’s a familiar theme in storytelling, but not often thought about deeply. This work by writers from writing organisation 26 has been inspired by the poet Lemn Sissay’s installation Superman was a Foundling that can be seen on the walls of the Foundling Museum in the heart of Bloomsbury. Lemn’s list includes David Copperfield, Harry Potter and Superman. Who would you pick?
The international group of writers from 26 have each chosen their own favourite fictional characters who lost natural parents in childhood. They have drawn on classic literature, childhood favourites, comic books and folklore, characters from film and modern drama. They have each created sestudes (a form that’s exactly 62 words). Visitors will be invited to find the 26 pieces of work on a digital trail around the museum, using the easy Smartify app.
For more details about the ’26 Orphan’s event’, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/26-orphans/
Bloomsbury Radio talk to Eva Driskell about the upcoming 'Silent Caligraphy' event. For more details about this free event, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/silent-calligraphy/
Bloomsbury Radio chats to Simon Woodman about the Community Climate Action event at the Bloomsbury Festival. Please see: https://www.bloomsbury.org.uk/community-climate-action1/ for more details.
Barra Fitzgibbon from Bloomsbury Radio talks to Sylvia McNamara, chair of Camden Tour Guides Association and accredited Camden and City of London guide about a walk Sylvia will be leading entitled 'NIGHTTIME AIR OF THE SQUARES'. Living in Kentish Town, Sylvia is a passionate enthusiast of Camden and loves the history of Bloomsbury. For more details about the event, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/nighttime-air-of-the-squares/
Roberta Wedge talks about her upcoming 'Mary Wollstonecraft's Bloomsbury' guided tour.
“A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” was written on Store Street, arguing for equal education for rich & poor, boys & girls together, at state expense. A radical idea! We salute its author by walking the streets she knew, hearing stories of the life of Mary Wollstonecraft in the smoky capital and its surrounding fresh-air villages (including Newington Green, where Maggi Hambling’s statue drew international attention in 2020). She lived and wrote in a circle of liberals and radicals, and like some later nearby writers, she too had an unconventional love life. Virginia Woolf said Wollstonecraft’s relationship with anarchist philosopher William Godwin was her “most fruitful experiment”; their daughter was Mary (“Frankenstein”) Shelley, whose memorial plaque we will pass.
Born the same year as the British Museum, Wollstonecraft spent her life searching for freedom: liberating her sister from an unhappy marriage, travelling to Paris to observe the unfolding revolution (our first female war correspondent), falling in love with an American adventurer and planning a life on the frontier with him.
To book on to the event, please visit: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/mary-wollstonecrafts-bloomsbury/
Interview with the Honourable Alice Walpole OBE, former United Nations Assistant Secretary General, Director of Goodenough College.
Goodenough College are hosting two events at this years Bloomsbury Festival:
Dreams & Tales
https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/dreams-tales/
Garden Unlocked
https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/garden-unlocked3/
Judith and Nina talk about their experiences of Charles Bonnet Syndrome. Judith Potts is Founder of Esme's Umbrella - a charity which raises awareness of Charles Bonnet Syndrome and creates support for people who develop CBS and source funding for research. Nina Chesworth is a Holistic Therapist who lost her sight in 2018. As a consequence, she has also been diagnosed with Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS). People who lose more than 60% of their vision may begin to experience visual hallucinations which can range from the beautiful to the bizarre and even the disturbing. These images are symptoms of the condition CBS. It is not a mental health condition but caused entirely by severe loss of sight. There is no cure for CBS but Nina’s holistic approach, rooted in stillness and breathing techniques, can help people deal with these disturbing visual experiences as well as helping all of us feel more present. Nina is running the 'Letting the Mind breathe' workshop at this years Bloomsbury Festival. To book tickets, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/letting-the-mind-breathe/
With just days to go, we spoke to Sally Pomme Clayton, the pioneering storyteller and writer behind The Magician’s Apprentice which takes place on Thursday 20 October at the Museum of Comedy. Pomme’s show is set to explore the secret world of the magician. To book tickets, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/the-magicians-apprentice/
Barry Wishart from Grange Hotels tells us what he's looking forward to the most at this years Bloomsbury Festival.
Rosemary Richards, Director for the Bloomsbury Festival tells us what to look out for at this years Bloomsbury Festival.
Interview with Dr Tim Coker FRSA about his brand-new absurdist comedy which comes to Bloomsbury Festival fresh from sell-out performances at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. To find out more, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/7-seventeen-year-olds-in-a-screwed-up-world/
For 12 days in late 1982 the English Collective of Prostitutes occupied a church in King’s Cross to protest police brutality. 40 years on, we interview Niki Adams from the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) and Fr Christopher Cawrse, Parish Priest from the Holy Cross Church about their upcoming talk at Holy Cross Church. To book on to the event, please visit: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/hookers-in-the-house-of-the-lord/
Interview with Abigail Tan, CEO of the St. Giles Group about their sponsorship of the Bloomsbury Festival and what it means to them to be in the heart of Bloomsbury.
Dr Birgitta Huse tells us about her upcoming talk about the benches around Bloomsbury and invites you to have a closer look. This is a chance to learn about the pivotal role benches play in Bloomsbury culture. This event will go ahead regardless of weather on the day. To find out more, please see: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/bloomsbury-benches/
In memory of the original festival founder, Roma Backhouse, we look back at the early days of Bloomsbury Festival. We hear from two of the original team who were involved at the start of the Bloomsbury Festival in 2006 - Maddy Mills (nee Jones) and Bobby Williams.
An interview with tour guid Abdul Malik who introduces the sites of Muslim heritage in Bloomsbury.
Bengal to Camden is an exhibition curated by the Bloomsbury Festival Heritage Trainees and supported by National Heritage Lottery Fund and Camden Council. It tells the stories of Bangladeshi families who have arrived in the Bloomsbury and Kings Cross area of Camden over the last 50 years.
Recorded at the start of our heritage project Visible People, Visible Places, our 5 trainees introduce themselves and find out more about the Bloomsbury Festival and their local community.
Join us for an exclusive performance of Elisabeth Gunawan's Darling for this year's Bloomsbury Festival.
Nobody's Jig, Victoria Hodgkinson (voice), Sergio Bucheli (lute) and Tara Viscardi (harp) speak with Bloomsbury Radio about their careers, music and friendship prior to their forthcoming performance at the Bloomsbury Festival.
The Bartlett School of Architecture has been the home of radical thinking for architecture and design since 1841. In this reading, Professor Jane Rendell reads from her own work, Spaces of Transition: The Architecture of Psychoanalysis, demonstrating the art of site writing, a part of the course at Bartlett and providing a flavour of the discipline.
Site writing is a module within the Bartlett School of Architecture, asking students how they might write site, rather than write about site, selecting a site to research and respond to in writing. In this interview Prof. Toby Blackman, senior lecturer in architecture of the University of Newcastle, joins Bloomsbury Radio, looking at the site of Castle Drogo and does just this, discussing its rhythm in light, space and structure.
Kanza Leghari, a current student of The Bartlett School of Architecture, presents a piece of site writing asking how migrant communities from the post colonial world might negotiate their presence, identities, architectural and religious practises in the city of London, a space that once stood at the centre of the British Colonial Empire?
Bartlett School of Architecture lecturer David Roberts demonstrates the art of site writing in a recording for Bloomsbury Radio, presented by Barra Fitzgibbon.
Sungeun Choi is a multi award winning concert pianist and composer, graduating from both the Royal Academy of Music and the Purcell School of Music. Today, she joins Bloomsbury Radio to discuss her childhood, training and friendships prior to playing in concert at this year's festival.
NW Live Arts is a charity producing concerts of professional classical and world music in community venues in Camden and beyond since 2018.
They focus on social issues, including homelessness, climate change and displacement working collaboratively with communities. In this interview Caroline Hislop, John Simmons and Hazel East discuss the Music and Mind project, supporting people with mental health issues and this year's collaboration for Bloomsbury Festival - Belonging.
Dr Georgie Pope is a music promoter and entrepreneur working to encourage cross cultural exchange through music and dance. In this interview she discusses the up coming concerts presented by the School of Oriental and African Studies and the Global Music Academy as part of this year's Bloomsbury Festival.
Maria Oshodi and Rhianne Rowson of Extant Theatre Company, the UK’s leading professional performing arts company for visually impaired artists and theatre practitioners, join Barra Fitzgibbon to discuss their latest collaboration, States of Mind by Christopher Hunter.
Ghost Chan, John Chan, and Sandra Lam of Radio Neighbourhood join Barra Fitzgibbon in conversation on the presentation of their dance piece at this year's Bloomsbury Festival. Working together, they will be exploring the themes of people arriving in a new community, humanity's desire for the ideal society and the importance of providing a platform for the currently underrepresented East and Southeast Asian artists based in the UK.
Non Vaughan O'Hagan joins Bloomsbury Radio to discuss both her career as a performer and A Play About Words, a piece of new piece of writing looking at the comic exploration of the power of words by Micha Mirto.
Councillor Nasim Ali of Kings Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association and former mayor of Camden speaks with Bloomsbury Radio. Presenters Barra Fitzgibbon and Cal Courtney talk about his life, achievements and the heritage project involving the young Bangladeshi people of Bloomsbury in the lead up to the Bangladesh 50 celebrations at the British Library
Bangladeshi Tales from Kings Cross is a project led by award winning UK artist, curator and creative producer Mohammed Ali of Soul City Arts. Mohammed has been a pioneer in the street-art movement, fusing street art with Islamic script and patterns, delivering powerful and moving messages. As part of Bangladesh 50 we see Mohammed illuminate local buildings with the stories of the people who live there, firstly on Friday 15th October at Holy Cross Church, and then again on Sunday 17th October at the British Library.
For more information on Mohamed's work, please visit www.soulcityarts.com
'Kings Cross, dance with angels and histories. There are cities beneath your pavements, cities behind your skies. Let us see.'
Aidan Andrew Dun, the Poet of Kings Cross, provides an insightful interview around the spaces of Kings Cross and their relationship to the poet William Blake.
Professor Charmian Brinson of the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies at the Institute of Modern Languages Research, and Miller Archivist Clare George join us prior to their projects with Bloomsbury Festival this year.
Professor Brinson gives the background to No. 12 Great Ormond Street: The Mysterious Case of Dora Fabian and Mathilde Wurm, looking at the deaths of two German Socialist exiles, Dora Fabian and Mathilde Wurm, at 12 Great Ormond Street in 1935.
Clare George tells us how Bloomsbury was a magnet to refugees due to its cheap boarding houses, Bohemian reputation and the lure of the British Library, speaking about how support for refugees was coordinated from Bloomsbury, how exiles contributed to Britain’s anti-Nazi propaganda war, and how activists plotting the Nazis’ downfall were spied on by MI5 agents.
Dr Julia Pascale talks about her journey as both an academic and theatre director as well as her work on Dancing, Talking, Taboo! at this year's Bloomsbury Festival as part of a collaboration between Pascal Theatre Company and The Place Dance Theatre.
This site-specific performance is their first since lockdown, bringing the influences of 20th century cabaret, Mary Wigman, Valeska Gert, Hilde Holger, Bertolt Brecht, Rudolf Laban, to the expression of previously unheard voices through voice and body. The dancers are supported by performer Amanda Maud a musician, actor and dancer.
Holborn Community Association and the London Transport Museum offered a three month film making project to 11 young people from the community as they were just coming out of lockdown. Here, Chloe discusses the process of making the film, its theme of time travel, and speaks about her background as a professional specialising in youth and community engagement, social justice and participatory arts.
HOLD / FALLING is a brand new collaboration between Lecoq and RADA trained ensemble Created a Monster and artist Kyll Thomas Cole.
In this interview they discuss their creative pathways and backgrounds towards the making of the piece.
'Originally a short film made in support of the black lives matter movement at the start of the first lockdown - HOLD /FALLING is about Kill, a young man who wakes up in Dead Yard and passes through the nine nights when his soul is allowed to roam, stay at home or wander to exact revenge on those that have mistreated him before passing on.
The piece takes as its starting point the internal life and struggle of a young black man growing up and trying to maintain mental stability in a council estate in South London, an inherently racist yet highly mobile world.
His struggles from the past, his worries about the future and his questions about his present are played out in the space of Dead Yard.'
Pianist, composer, and creative producer Marisa Muñoz-López discusses her collaboration Lighthouse of Illusion, showcasing music inspired by modern times, folk traditions, soundtracks, and Latin rhythms and accompaniment by specially created illusions by magician Markhele.
Elisabth Gunawan talks to Bloomsbury Radio about her company sākśī bi.sou and her collaboration with Jack Parris, who she met during their time at RADA. They have since come together to create visceral and immersive theatrical experiences that focus on our most intimate senses.
Irish saxophonist, Robert Finegan speaks about his career as a musician ahead of his lunch time concert A Modern View of Ancient Ireland at this year's Bloomsbury Festival.
Bren Gosling talk to Bloomsbury Radio about his career as a playwright prior to the debut of his new one act play I Minnie Lansbury, commissioned by The George Lansbury Memorial Trust about The Poplar Councillors Revolt of 1921 and premiering at this year's Bloomsbury Festival.
On the heels of last year's show Dangling Man at Bloomsbury Festival, Bunkum Theatre talk with Bloomsbury Radio. They discuss their latest commission Alice in Flatland, their careers as theatre makers and their training on the RADA Theatre Lab M.A
Nick Potter, Partner and Head of the Commercial Property at Bishop and Sewell chats about his position as a trustee of the Bloomsbury Festival and Bishop and Sewell’s role supporting the festival.
Arunima Kumar is one of the UK's leading Kuchipudi dancers and teachers and is the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi’s (India's national academy set-up by the Republic of India) prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskaar for 2008, awarded to artists who have shown/demonstrated exceptional talent in the fields of music, dance and drama.
Arunima talks about her involvement in the festival's Bangladesh at 50 event at the British Library and in the festival opening event 'Lights, Banners, Tigers' spectacle at this years Bloomsbury Festival. You can find out more here: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/lights-banners-tigers/
Ram Shergill talks about his Bedford Square Gardens Outdoor Exhibition at this years Bloomsbury Festival. Ram captures a kaleidoscope of different cultures through his photography. Internationally recognised for his contribution to the industry, Ram remains at the forefront of his field, using photography and design to create a discussion that questions the notion of identity, dress and the power of performance. Ram is a visiting lecturer at UAL and has previously lectured at Falmouth University and Arts University Bournemouth. In addition to lecturing, he has been a keynote speaker at various conferences and galleries internationally. Ram was awarded the Arts Culture and Theatre Award (ACTA) in 2016 for his contribution to photography. His work has been shown in exhibitions worldwide including Sotheby’s, The Wallace Collection, Somerset House, and the Whitechapel Gallery. Ram Shergill’s portraits of Amy Winehouse are now in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery.
Ian talks about the work his MA Theatre Lab students are planning at this years Bloomsbury Festival. Ian is a theatre practitioner and actor trainer working collaboratively across genres. After training he worked and developed as a performer in France at Monika Pagneux and Philipe Gaulier’s Studio and with Teatro Pirequa at the Théâtre du Soleil, and in Italy at Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards’s Workcenter. Returning to the UK, he was a founding member of Mkultra Performance Collective and devised and performed with artists including Meredith Monk, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Enrique Pardo, Kristen Linklater, Philip Zarrilli, Helen Chadwick and Dan Canham’s Still House project. In 2003 Ian joined the award-winning Song of the Goat Theatre in Poland, touring extensively in Chronicles: A Lamentation, Lacrimosa, Macbeth and King Lear, and teaching on its ground-breaking MA in Acting. From 2014 Ian was Course Leader for the MA/MFA in Actor Training and Coaching at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He has taught on RADA’s MA Theatre Lab since its inception in 2012 and became course leader in 2017.
Hazel tells us about the involvement of Holborn Community Association in the festival's Visible People Visible Places, a project exploring local communities and their heritage and about the relationship of the festival with HCA across the years. She also explains how her roots in theatre and drama training led her on the path to working at HCA and about the importance of communication and community in her work.
Francisco Diego is both presenting an event 'One Paradise, One Humanity' and overseeing exhibitions at the Bloomsbury Festival's Discovery Hub on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 October 2021. https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/one-paradise-one-humanity-a-struggle-between-knowledge-and-wisdom/
Francisco works in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCL and is a leading light of outreach for the university and in 'One Paradise, One Humanity' his talk is accompanied by musicians Amata-Jo Papaj and Marek Papaj (Slav Media), and film clips, and explores the myths and science behind the origin and evolution of planet Earth, in the context of the present environmental and humanitarian crises.
Recorded in June 2021 Festival Director Rosemary Richards introduces herself, the production team and the 2021 programme.
Bloomsbury Radio speaks with the team behind Windows of the Soul, an exhibition conveying the visual experience of those living with sight loss. The content ranges from paintings to sound recordings to tactile Braille art and has been developed through collaboration with people living with a variety of eye conditions. The exhibition also hosts dialogue between some of the founding artists and offers resources to learn more about the eye conditions portrayed.
Windows of the Soul is supported by the University College London Public Engagement Office, the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.
We chatted to Nasim Ali OBE, Chief Executive (KCNA) about the work of the King’s Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association. We also heard from Sofina Razzaque who works with the Bangladeshi community, Diane Fisher, who looks after the older people’s groups and Senior Youth worker, Muhammod Shofi. Click here to find out more about the work of KNCNA:http://www.kcbna.org.uk/
Jo Cammack, a Research Fellow at UCL, talks us through how computer reading of eye scans speeds up diagnosis of macular degeneration (and potentially other conditions as well), with an exclusive interview with Dr Pearse Keane, Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Chief Data Officer at INSIGHT, and one of his patients, Elaine. We also hear from Dr Louca-Mai Brady, Senior Research Fellow at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and coordinator for Eye-YPAG, a young persons’ advisory group for eye and vision research, along with two of its members, Ethan and Danyaal.
John Offord interviews Debbie Akehurst, Chief Executive of Midtown BID and Alexander Jan Non-Executive Chair, Midtown BID - Midtown BID is supporting the 2020 Bloomsbury Festival.
Dr Amit talks to Jess Morley, Policy Lead, Evidence-Based Medicine DataLab, The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford, Dr Wen Hwa Lee, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientist at Action Against Age-Related Macular Degeneration, a research charity focused on tackling the leading cause of legal blindness in the developed world at its earliest stages with maximum affordability and accessibility and Patient and member of the Insight Data Trust Advisory Board, Angus Patrick about how INSIGHT plans to revolutionise the use of data within eye health and the importance of the DataTAB.
Dr Amit talks to Dr Jill Hopkins, Global Head, Ophthalmology Personalized Healthcare and Dr Cian Hughes Informatics Lead, Google Health Research about how INSIGHT plans to revolutionise the use of data within eye health.
When Dr Amit Patel lost his sight, he thought his world was crumbling around him. With the love of his family and social media celebrity dog, Kika, he has learned to see the world around him in a whole new way.
An interview with Yara & Davina with music performed by Kevin Davidson about the ideas behind the Opinion Pole event below....
https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/event/opinion-pole/
Professor, Andrew Stockman of UCL Institute of Ophthalmology talks about four movies he has produced on visual illusions that last between 4 and 10 minutes. Each film presents several examples of visual illusions with a brief explanation.
A conversation with Lucy Tammam, Creative Director at the House of Tammam.
Atelier Tammam, Bloomsbury’s very own sustainable couture fashion studio, presents a visionary ethical and environmentally conscious catwalk, roving through the streets of Bloomsbury. Find the action along a route selected to pass some of Bloomsbury’s iconic heritage sites, from the Pankhurst’s home – some of the women who inspired Tammam’s incredible One Dress, to the British Museum where ancient textiles and draped statues have all given influence to Tammam’s couture practice.
Since its inception in 2007, Tammam has been a trailblazer of sustainable fashion – this show will highlight the designer’s visionary ideas over the last 13 years. With fully transparent supply chains, as well as seeing the styles we invite you to “see” the whole process through digital resources – follow @HouseOfTammam on instagram for the full story, and be immersed in story telling throughout the slow fashion catwalk. If you catch the show upload your pictures and images to social media tagging #VisionaryFashionShow, #TammamCouture and #BloomsburyFest
For more details, please see:
https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/event/atelier-tammam-sustainable-couture-roving-fashion-show/