Summer is the busiest time of the year for me and I feel like in August I haven’t really engaged with culture in Hull. But then I forget that my photographers job is very cultural and Hull based, so actually I have been in a very centre of culture this month. YAAS QUEEN.
STUDIO ELEVEN is a small space with big potential always having high quality art displayed. Due to its opening times, I don’t often pop in, but this exhibition was worth making effort to come in. John Crreighton is witty and detailed prints draws my eye close in. Marie Lofthouse in contrast to that offers bold, clean shapes that to my culture-experienced eye [sorry, couldn’t resist] remind me of arms reaching up.
As part of ILLUMINATE PROJECT: LEGACY I went down to TRAENERHUS explore my project aims and subjects, but promised not to miss them on my August Culture review.
This art space/shop/workshop space is a beautiful celebration of Hull talent in art/crafts and general sustainability of local talented people. To my surprise, the space is loaded with a wide range of gifts, bits’ n’ bobs, framed artwork, postcards…plus it hosts many workshops across the year. Some are tempting to be part of, some interesting to view. I was welcomed with opened arms, the staff is super lovely and friendly.
Yum Food&Drink Festival is always a good treat for Hull food lovers. And Saturday was packed busy.
Special shout out to Atom Beers. Your brews are delicious across the board.
DOMINOES HULL by Station House Opera was one of those where you really see the sense of the community. The city centre was packed with people, everyone keen to see the long waited fall of the dominoes. Laughs, smiles, cheers and all the good vibes.
I was kind of following the trail of dominoes, but looking at the promo video, I missed quite a bit.
Massive shout out to Absolutely Cultured volunteers. You are the most important element of most all the celebrations, you are hard workers and often feels like you are the glue that holds together the whole thing. Thank you.
I know how great Anna Bean is and I was so so excited to see her exhibition alongside Sam Fowler [new artist to my fave list].
Queens House Showcase transformed into a whole new level and Anna Bean signature cult fantastical worlds is running the place.
So the few Hull bits alongside the culture chunk:
Do you know about the bench in Hull that repeats what you say if you speak to it close enough? I do. Guess were it is…
Bean & Nothingness is officially opened and I am so glad to come back over and over again.
And how about a whole new and eco-friendly way of shopping at the refurbished Trinity Market…
The Eco Shed is pretty cool, little shop that sells my new favourite toothpaste.
Hello to Face Painting 4 You for always being on my side at most of my event-based photo jobs. It is always so good to see you and keep a track on your good work.
AND FINALLY MY FAVOURITE PHOTO FROM RECENT MONTHS
[it can’t get any more Hull than this]
HAPPY EASTER, HAPPY APRIL FOOL’S DAY[yesterday], HAPPY DAY TO BE ALIVE.
HAPPY.
AND WELCOME TO THE MARCH EDITION OF MY CULTURE IN HULL 2018.
I must admit that it is hard to write and focus on work today, I am in a 100% long weekend mood. So I will try.. and if by accident I publish it only on the 2nd April [today], you’ll know that I gave in on chocolate eggs. And a nap.
March brought some lovely culture experiences and quite a tense works schedule at times. I have been in and out of “busy” and running low on fuel reserves from winter season. We are ready for spring!
Since 2018 unfolded as the year after an amazing year of 2017, I can easily make my own rules of how I will culture myself, I feel no pressure. Everything is in a relaxed manner. So in March I tried to combine personal interests with must-see’s and bit of good old Hull walks with camera. That applies to the need to witness the change and progress and see where do we go from 2017.
Collecting photographs and stories in March has been the easy part. Writing can get tricky.
I try to have some one-to-one time with the city, get on the road geared up with camera and in March I soaked up one day of spring in an hour long walk through derelict area of Hull [kind of].
Some of the “edgelands” is up for a development soon, so maybe it is worth catching few photographs of the land, before it changes.
I was invited to be their photographer this year and that rolled me straight into a number of cultural events. Hull based company E52, in conjunction with renowned venue and producer Battersea Arts Centre, presents some of the most exciting contemporary British and international theatre at venues throughout the city of Hull.
The festival takes place twice a year, with Spring and Autumn seasons, and also includes locally-curated and produced work, workshops, new productions, networking events, talks, art events, school projects, and exhibitions.
First one was UGLY CHIEF – artist and performer Victoria Melody teams up with her dad, TV antique dealer Mike Melody, for her most ambitious show yet. Ugly Chief is a comedy based on true-life events, performed by a real-life father and daughter. As I can create any spoilers – it is about setting up a funeral by Victoria for her dad, who was falsely diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and given five years to live. In the show, they preform two funerals – one that Victoria wanted for her dad, and second funeral that dad wanted to have for himself.
The show was wonderful, witty, clever and emotional at times. And the fact that it was another take on taboo subject such as death, funerals really made it my cup of tea.
Both brought me some new knowledge about different art forms, I got to know Lyn Acton and Pearls Cab Ride , not just as one of the bands playing at Freedom Festival, but as culturally important figure in Hull and jazz music scene in Yorkshire.
She laughed, cried, shared and cherished her stories and musical influences and favourites.
And to back up that it really happened in 1992, Bill Drummond, between he’s shows came to the sound desk and said “I can’t wait for this to be over, so I can have a proper drink”
That was ultimate kids show using sponges in various shapes, forms, colours and sizes, that will be stuck in my memory as a nightmare light change to capture in photographs.
The last event of the festival, I was taking photos of was the DARK WINTER by David Mark.
I was present at the last of the dress rehearsals and only stayed for 30 min. And in that short time I witnessed some serious theatre. Set in Hull and based on the thrilling crime novel by bestselling author David Mark, E 52 bring Aector McAvoy’s first case to the stage in a stunning adaptation by award winning writers Richard Vergette.
And hell yeah, it was mind blowing. The level of acting and theatre performance was high standard and having Hull as main characteristics made it to be my favourites. The sound and light was to match the high standards of performance. One word – gutted not seen the full performance.
Photos above: Production team, E52 crew and stage manager.
Million thanks to Heads Up team for having me on board. Great pleasure, great pleasure.
In March there was an important note in my diary – to see Jason Whilsher-Mills with my own eyes in his artist talk about currently displayed Unexpected Engagement at Artlink. I rarely get to see artist gatherings and talks, as I am working evenings, so this was real treat for my brain on Saturday, 13th March.
Jason Wilsher-Mills is Square Peg’s artist-in-residence for 2017.
Square Peg, the user-led diversity and disability arts programme from Artlink has teamed up with Jason to bring the stories of diverse communities in Hull to everyone’s attention.
New technologies have helped Jason give life to his ideas on disability, childhood memory and popular culture, creating new narratives. We met to discuss this and his upcoming exhibition Unexpected Engagement at Artlink.
More than anything, I took away Jason’s story of how he embraced digital technology, instead of sticking to what he was used to. He stepped out his comfort zone, embraced the change and it took him to the highs of a success. And for someone like me it is the best lesson to learn. Change is scary,but change is good.
The talk itself was wonderful, I really liked Jason’s sense of humour, honesty and the event was a great experience to see his other work.
At the end of it, I joined the rest for a second look at the exhibition and helped others to get their heads around the 3D experience with sculptures and tablet.
The end of the month got a bit distracting and I kind of ditched the culture for a bit. I had few little culture things on my mind, but instead I went for a nosy at newly refurbished Trinity Market and have the famous Cone Queen – Cone Pizza.
The space is very “fresh” at the moment, but I could already see the potential and Hull’s own stamp on the units available. Hull people have turned in proper foodies and I am really liking it.
The Cone Queen – Cone Pizza was very pleasant and most importantly – we had a little tour behind the process of making it.
During the last days of March, I also wanted to make it to BLUEBEANY’S talk at GROUND GALLERY HULL Ground Gallery is one of my favourite discoveries in 2017 and Anna Bean with her exhibition is definitely a very good news to have for the gallery.
I was very late [cos of work], so I had no hopes of seeing the talk and I kind of made it to the very end. Just as I got to the gallery, I realised that it is fully packed with people and that brought a big grim on my face – for Anna Bean and for the Ground.
The last few days of the month of course went a bit mad – Easter, all the excitement of nationally long Bank Holiday weekend and unfinished business.
But I had to see one last thing – Artist Take Over at Queens House Showcase last day with cakes, tea and artists themselves.
The space gives a good ground start to artist to exhibit, have the experience of sharing their work and running workshops and in the future we are about to see more work exhibited.
So… the more the spring, summer is mentioned, the more culture we are going to see – good news for me and exciting times for Hull. Hull Street Food Nights are back in April, Humber Street Gallery has some exciting exhibitions already on display, Studio Eleven is providing us with some high end and super quality sculpture-work and so on…
I have some of the above on the menu, Auschwitz and work in April. Yaass!
FOR THE FIRST TIME I HAVE GIVEN MYSELF TOO MUCH CULTURE HENCE TOO MUCH WORK TODAY SO I’LL KEEP THIS SHORT ‘N SWEET.
FIRST OF ALL – IN A NORMAL WEEK I WOULD BE RATHER HAPPY WITH THE AMOUNT OF CULTURE ACHIEVED LAST WEEK, BUT AS THE HULL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2017 IS TAKING UP SOO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY, I AM RUSHING TODAY TO SQUEEZE IN MY CULTURE WONDERS IN ONE SENTENCE.
+ 4 NIGHTS OF LIVE COMEDY ACROSS VENUES IN THE CITY
HULL CENTRAL LIBRARY IS PRETTY COOL LIBRARY AND BEFORE HEADING TO THE TOOL APPRECIATION SOCIETY @HULL CENTRAL LIBRARY EXHIBITION I FOUND THIS BEAUTIFUL PHOTO 3D SCULPTURE THAT CELEBRATES EVENTS VIA CULTURE OF READING, LOVING BOOKS AND LITERATURE (?)
NOTE: APOLOGISE IF I HAVE BROKEN RULES BY TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE TOOL APPRECIATION SOCIETY @HULL CENTRAL LIBRARY DISPLAYS/EXHIBITION. I ONLY NOTICED THE SIGN ON MY WAY OUT WHEN IT WAS ALL DONE AND DUSTED. WOOPS.
EXHIBITION IS LOVELY, SPACE CERTAINLY GIVES A SENSE OF GREATNESS. FOR WHAT ITS WORTH – WE RARELY THINK ABOUT ART OF MAKING TOOLS, AS WE USE TOOLS TO MAKE SOMETHING. ARTIST LINDA BROTHWELL HAS TAKEN THIS THOUGHT TO ANOTHER LEVEL AND I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR RECOGNISING THE IDEA BEHIND THIS. CULTUREEEEEEEE!!!!
ON MY WEEKS ONLY PROPER CULTURE DAY [APART FROM ACT VI:THE LAND OF GREEN GINGER UNLEASHED] I ACTUALLY WAS LOOKING FOR CLUES OF SATURDAY’S EXTRAVAGANZA, SO I TOOK AN OPPORTUNITY TO SAY HELLO TO MY CITY JUST BY WALKING THROUGH THE TINY STREETS AND ALLEYS.
I AM ABSOLUTELY INLOVE WITH STUDIO ELEVEN AND I NEED TO BE A BIT ASHAMED THAT I’VE NEVER BEEN IN THERE BEFORE.
I HAVE STARTED TO LEARN THAT SOMETIMES THE PLACES THAT YOU LEAST EXPECT TO SURPRISE YOU, ACTUALLY MAKE YOUR DAY/WEEK. AND THIS WAS DEFINITELY THE CASE.
COASTAL DISAPPOINTMENTS WAS MY FAVOURITE EXHIBITION [THAT IS NOT PHOTOGRAPHY OF COURSE] SINCE STATES OF PLAY @HUMBER STREET GALLERY BACK IN AUGUST. AND I WAS RAVING ABOUT THAT EXHIBITION…..
IT IS SO WITTY,SHARP AND A PERFECT DOSE OF CONSUMER-CONCERNED SARCASM. LOVED IT. AND MOST OF THE LITTLE SOUVENIR BITS WOULD BE THE PERFECT PRESENT FOR MY LOVELY SISTER. AN THIS IS WHAT ART SHOULD BE ABOUT – FINDING THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD MAKE SENSE AND USE OUT OF IT.
THE LEGEND SAYS THAT ANETE WAS WAITING FOR THIS IMPATIENTLY FOR WEEKS AND DESPITE THAT WAS LATE FOR THE BEGINNING. AHHH.
IT WAS A VERY TIRED SATURDAY WITH A FULL ON COMEDY NIGHT AFTER, SO THE ENERGY THAT WENT INTO TAKING PERFECT SNAPS WAS JUST NOT THERE. HOWEVER I LOVED EVERYTHING. IT WAS SWEET, CLEVER, TINY BIT SCARY AND FUN FOR THE LITTLE ONES. I WAS ALSO “ATTACKED” BY ONE OF THE CHARACTERS, I WISH SOMEONE RECORDED THAT…
OVERALL GREAT WEEK, I JUST WISH I HAD A BIT OF SENSIBILITY TO MY ABILITIES TO FINISH EVERYTHING AND STILL BE CAPABLE OF PHOTOGRAPHING/EDITING THE HULL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2017
THIS WEEK IS CRAZY, MY DIARY IS FULL, SO I WILL BE LUCKY TO GET OUT AND GET CULTURED. IF…
PLEASE, HAVE A LOOK AT THE HULL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2017 PROGRAMME, THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON AND 99% OF IT IS TOP MARKS COMEDY FOR ALL SHAPES AND SIZES [OF THE BRAIN CELLS].
Week 43 of photo challenging myself with Hull17 has been a bit of a weeeirrrd one. I was feeling snoozy, poorly and busy all week and the culture just seemed to slip through my hands. However – I did see The Sixteen Thousand at C4DI, PRACTICE IN PROGRESS at Queens House Showcase run by CreativeENRG and 1% of the current HIP PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL at Princess Quay.
And then on Saturday – my snooziest day of the week I woke up to realise that I need to get some fresh air and had a stroll through Humber Street just before it gets drunk and celebratory.
I was one of the first ones there and it felt like the little clay brick exhibit is undergoing some work processes. The workman boots near the entrance where suggesting so.
It turned out that someone from a building company was there to measure and asses each individual brick for a little future monument.
The Sixteen Thousand is incredible collection of little imprints of the new generation. My favourite bricks are the wonky ones. Nothing is perfect in this remarkable world so to see the little bricks not being manufactured perfect makes more sense out of this world.
Last week I really wanted to see the HIP PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL in full. But I was time pressure so I just passed by and looked at small part of the festival located on the ground floor of Princess Quay.
On Thursday I had a meeting at the Queens House Showcase and I wanted to take an advantage of it and see the new PRACTICE IN PROGRESS exhibition. It hosts two artists, Both graduates of Hull School of Art & Design – Matt Hopper and Adam John Wilson.
The artwork speaks in detail, precision and I really wanted to chat with artists to know more about their work. But one of the artists was not present, the other one was busy, so I hope to return there at some point before it ends on the 10th November and have a chat with the artists.
I was not sure about the UNDEAD BOD thing, I had so many questions of why, how, when and where, but again, I need to hear from the artist before make any judgements.
By Saturday I was drained and really wanting to be in bed. I didn’t expect any more culture, but there was a point when I had to have some fresh air. And I rarely have the opportunity to see Humber Street on the night time[when it or I am sober], so I happily brought a camera.
Shop windows/gallery windows, bars, restaurants are so different when the sun settles and I was feeling that little bit privileged to be able to see all this and call it my city.
So yeah medium-excited culture week last week, but the madness will begin this Thursday when the Hull Comedy Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary. I am the official photographer third year running and I am well excited to see all the acts – old, new, famous, local. EXCITEEEED.
Hopefully I will have time this week to share some long lost photographs from the last comedy gig I photographed ages ago – before the madness begins.
The 
I was one of the first ones there and it felt like the little clay brick exhibit is undergoing some work processes. The workman boots near the entrance where suggesting so.
ANETE SOODA PHOTO 