Tara Arts - Sailing to Britain

Tara Arts 2011 - SAILING TO BRITAIN @ the NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM

2011-07-21T12:19:00.006+01:00

We are delighted to announce Tara Arts' Sailing to Britain performance will reach its final destination on Friday 28 October at 3pm at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Uncover the lives of Lascars, migrant sailors who were shipped to Britain from Africa and Asia by the East India Company. This dynamic performance by young people aged 14-22 who took part in Tara Arts' Sailing to Britain project over the past 3 years. Directed by Jules Tipton, Participation Officer Sarah Clews.

Location: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (Lecture Theatre)

Free tickets will be available from the National Museum ticket desk

Suitable for ages 7+

email: admin@tara-arts.com for more

or call Tara Arts on 020 8333 4457

Sailing to Britain - the final journey, October 2011

2011-07-02T11:45:00.003+01:00

In half-term from 24th to 29th October Tara Arts' young participants will stage the final performance of SAILING TO BRITAIN. The venue is as yet to be confirmed. Watch this space.

Call Tara Arts on 020 8333 4457

or email: admin@tara-arts.com

From our project partner on Sailing to Britain, the National Maritime Museum.... A fantastic opportunity

2011-02-22T13:07:00.005Z

Youth Advisors Wanted!

The National Maritime Museum's Youth Advisory Group is having a Recruitment Day on Saturday 26 February for you to have a go, find out more and have fun. The Group is open for 13-21 year olds to make the Museum relevant for young people through consultation and creating events. If you want to get involved, get in touch with Shauna at SAO'Brien@nmm.ac.uk

And here are links to the video:

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/about/youth/youth-advisory-group/ - this links to our page with lots more info!

http://vimeo.com/18477245 - Vimeo film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5DjPXhd6MA - YouTube film

The National Maritime Museum are currently recruiting for Youth Advisors to join the Youth Advisory Group (YAG). The Group is open for 13-21 year olds to meet once a month to make the Museum relevant for young people. We have a Recruitment Day coming up on Saturday 26 February, 12-14:30 here at the Museum. The day is free and will be a fun opportunity to have a go and find out more. This can be booked by emailing me directly and I will add young people's contacts to a list.

What is YAG?

The YAG is open for 13-21 year olds who want to make the Museum relevant to young people through organising events and workshops, acting as Museum consultants, going behind the scenes to explore the Museum and sharing their ideas with others. The YAG is a great opportunity for young people to get involved in their local community, learn new skills in a professional setting, build their confidence by taking part and having a voice and be creative.

Who are the youth advisors?

At present, our Youth Advisors are from all different backgrounds and with interests in history, politics, science, finance, sports and geology. We welcome any young people that want to add something new and different to their record of achievement and CV.

What opportunities are available?

Now is an exciting time to get involved here at the National Maritime Museum (which encompasses Royal Observatory Greenwich and the Queen’s House in addition to National Maritime Museum). We are in the process of building a new wing, with new archives and galleries to advise on. The YAG is making a difference to the Museum today and also the way it will be experienced in the future.

How much commitment is required?

The YAG meets informally once a month outside of school hours, with opportunities to take on more responsibilities during school holidays to gain extra experiences.

London 2012 presentation on SAILING TO BRITAIN

2010-12-09T11:38:00.020Z

Notes from Helen Renwick (Arts Manager) Wandsworth Borough Council and Jonathan Kennedy (Executive Director) TARA Arts presentation for the London Culture 2012 conference, 8th December 2010, at the Lost Theatre.

Wandsworth Borough Council & TARA ARTS working toward London 2012.

Wandsworth: Our Planning

GLOBAL Opening Ceremony & Games
NATIONAL Torch Relay
REGIONAL Cultural Festival

LOCAL Cultural Celebrations

Identify relevant opportunities to present work

Maximise existing events: eg WANDSWORTH ARTS FESTIVAL and TARA ARTS' SAILING TO BRITAIN.

TARA ARTS - SAILING TO BRITAIN

The project, from inception through to outputs

THE IDEA:

Lascars = sailors from Asia and Africa used extensively on British ships. Many eventually settled in London. A fabulous metaphor for creating a new society and nations converging in London, Olympics theme.

THE PAST 18 MONTHS:

Secured partners – National Maritime Museum, Greenwich Theatre, Croydon Clocktower & Wandsworth Arts and Education services.

Secured funding – London Councils, HLF and Wandsworth

Recruited the project team and participants.

Researched stories and developed the performance methodology – including oral history interviews, archive visits inc Old Bailey & maritime object handling sessions.

Presented performances – Greenwich, Croydon & Wandsworth

Marketing strategies that worked for the project

RECRUITMENT

Key role Participation Officer

Direct contact – individuals, community orgs, schools across London and through partners networks.

Focus on summer workshops programme

INSPIRE mark and associated kudos helped leverage HLF funding.

RETENTION

Over the past 18 months into the project over 523 participants, 60% BME

Strong sense of ownership of the Lascar stories by the young participants

Dynamic and challenging opportunities including curating a Lascar exhibition for the Museum of Croydon, learning aerial performance skills as in the rigging of a Tall Ship, making theatre for performance.

How young people were engaged/involved in the project?

Initial consultation on the idea with TARA ARTS’ youth group

Taster workshops linked to the Story of London Festival & Open Weekend

Participants formed Steering Group

The Research & Development phase including learning theatre and Heritage skills – visiting an archive, interpreting the findings and translating it into making theatre.

Intensive rehearsals with Tara Arts’ project team to transform a disparate group of young people into a capable performance troupe.

TARA ARTS: Sailing to Britain

What we know of the past 18 months and what next as we work toward London 2012.

Vision - A Local Value to London that is Global in its vision, linked the Olympics mission.

Transferable & scalable - and can scale up as our ultimate aim to is stage the show on a boat sailing up the River Thames.

Sustainable & Strategic - major partners notably the National Maritime Museum

Legacy – the partnerships, performance & young participants contribution to uncovering & making public the hidden stories of Lascars.

Wandsworth Council:

This global opportunity has given us local opportunities

Support ongoing and existing work in the borough

Work together to maximise the opportunity that it gives us

National Maritime Museum - project partner on SAILING TO BRITAIN, with TARA Arts, Greenwich Theatre, the Museum of Croydon & Croydon Clocktower

2010-11-23T13:03:00.008Z

SAILING TO BRITAIN has been a very important project for the museum both in terms of the significance of the maritime historical content, the approach to working with this material and the audience involved. It has been a fantastic experience working with the project team at TARA, their enthusiasm for this history and its importance has inspired and helped us in our own work. The young people involved in the week long project exploring the role of archives and archive material at the museum were amazing. There is so much potential for future partnerhsip work with the museum both through archives, exhibitions and learning - it is hard to know where to begin. It has given real impetus to the will to bring this hidden history into a wider public understanding, to explore our collections further and to demonstrate to the wider Museum that there is public thirst to know more.

We look forward to continuing our partnership on the Sailing to Britain project and collaborating on future off-shoots of this important project.

Andrea Cunningham
Head of Informal Learning and Access
National Maritime Museum
Greenwich, London SE10 9NF

We are grateful to London Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England & Wandsworth Council for their sustained support of the project.

Sailing to Britain awarded the Inspire mark from LOCOG

2010-10-08T18:04:00.015+01:00

We were delighted to be awarded the INSPIRE mark by LOCOG (the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) for SAILING TO BRITAIN.

A huge thanks from the team at TARA to our partners, the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich Theatre, the Museum of Croydon, Croydon Clocktower and the Wandsworth Museum, the SAILING TO BRITAIN team and the fantastic young people from across the whole of London who participated in the project over the past eighteen months.

To date over 300 young people have participated and over 4000 people have attended the exhibition, performances and workshops.

Teachers and students wanting to know more about the project and to run National Curriculum related activities at Key Stage 4 can download the free Education Resource Pack from http://www.tara-arts.com/#/participate

Thanks to our project funders, Arts Council, London Councils, Heritage Lottery Fund and Wandsworth Council.

Hannah Brennan and Jusnara Zaman spent five days learning archiving and exhibition skills in autumn 2009 at the National Maritime Museum at the end of the week they presented a fantastic interactive exhibition including a glimpse a the Death Book and Lascar Death Certificates! The Museum staff, friends, family and the TARA project team where hugely impressed by the girls achievement.

Family Workshops at the Museum of Croydon

2010-10-08T17:48:00.010+01:00

As a part of the SAILING TO BRITAIN exhibition at the Museum of Croydon in Croydon Clocktower this summer TARA with the museum team ran a series of workshops for families to animate the exhibition. Working with an artist, children with their parents and guardians created treasures chests and masks inspired by Lascari objects from the exhibition.

Over 121 adults and children participated in the heritage workshops and 2000 visitors experienced the exhibition in May and June 2010.

We are grateful to the Heritage Lottery Find - young roots programme for the support of the heritage work on SAILING TO BRITAIN in 2010.

Congratulations - Arts Award success!

2010-10-08T17:43:00.004+01:00

The team at TARA are delighted to congratulate Ross Binfield, Raychell Mack, Saif Beejay, Hannah Phillips and Hannah Brennan on being awarded a Bronze ARTS AWARD for their contribution to and participation in SAILING TO BRITAIN this year.

The cast....

2010-08-13T11:28:00.003+01:00

This year's SAILING TO BRITAIN company of young people included:
Tamara Abedi, Olayemi Ademosu, Tok Aofolaju, Para Baskaran, Saif Beejay, Ross Binfield, Hannah Brennan, Herbie Garmus, Frank Holsgrove, Joanna McGibbon, Oisin McManus-O'Murchu, Raychell Mack, Nicky Mahandru, Nicola Munns, Daniel Ngomi, VV Nyaba, Hannah Phillips & Araba Quashie

They all did a great job telling the Lascar's Story - the whole team would like to say "thanks - hope to see you on board for the next installment!"

TARA's SAILING TO BRITAIN team 2010 were:
Jules Tipton (Project Director); Sarah Clews (Participation Officer); Clare Spillman (Production Stage Manager); Filiz Ozcan (Assistant Director); Gavin Marshall (Aerial/Movement Choreographer); Dina Mousawi (Aerial Performer); Pauline Nakirya (Performer); Sohini Alam (Musician); Dilu Hossain (Musician); Nicholas McInerny (Playwright)

Please keep checking the blog for future updates and news of the project.

What do the participants think?

2010-08-13T11:02:00.004+01:00

Here is what the participants of Sailing to Britain thought about the workshops:

Q. How has this year differed from last year?

“I’ve met new people”

“More people and work with ropes”

“It has been technically more challenging. More bonding.”

“More people, bigger space, more physical movement and vocal skills used.”

“The intensity”

“Less research, more physical work.”

“Less words, used more vocals.”

“We’ve moved quicker.”

Q. What is the most powerful information you learned about Lascars and why?
“They were treated unfairly.”

“That they were different types of exotic people.”

“How they were treated.”

“That they were still being ignored by Government in the late 1950’s.”

“The conditions they lived in as it differs hugely from my lifestyle.”

“I didn't know anything about Lascars at all and now I know that they were taken from their countries and used as slaves”

“How they were treated. Gives me more headway on how to approach them as characters.”

“Their existence, as I have not known prior to taking part in this project.”

“Treated really badly.”

“They were bullied.”

“That they were paid a minimum wage because they were not white.”

“The cooks were Christian.”

“Their lifestyle - it's interesting.”

“I didn't know who they were but now I do.”

“The conditions they lived in and how hard they worked.”
Q. What new skills have you learned through the project?
“Capoeira”

“Theatre skills”

“About how to create your character”

“More confidence, projecting my voice, more knowledge ofLascars, body language, movement across the stage, facial expression, singing”

“To do a strong piece of performance without much speech”

“Voice techniques, stage presence, rope climbing, yoga, capoeira”

“Aerial skills - being lifted / lifting safely”

“Learnt Capoeira and rope climbing”

“Now I know who Lascars was. I gained experience on climbing the ropes. And I gained more experience in physical theatre”

“Patience, exerting patience”

“Interpersonal skills gained which would be beneficial in the future”

“More focused”

“I have improved my voice”

“I used to corpse all the time but now I don't so much”

“Words in different languages”

“Lots: Capoeira, rope climbing, singing etc.”

“Salute to the Sun, Bengali version of Do, Re, Me, and singing skills”
Q. Have you learned anything new about yourself?
“That I am a good actor”

“I can sing in tune”

“That I'm more confident”
I can't really climb ropes!”

"I've learned to trust others when being lifted”

“I can act using movement and song and not so much lines”
Q. What have you enjoyed most about Sailing to Britain?
“Different views and directions”

“Meeting new people”

“Meeting new people and performing”

“The people, games, new skills”

“The bonding between the team and the friendships made”

“The lifting / character exercises with Gavin”

“Meeting new people”

That we can use ropes in many different ways”

“Physical and vocal exploration”

“Everything, including the performance, the participants, the professional director”

“New friends”

“Being posh”

“Finding new friends and getting a new experience”

“Working as a group”

“The cast”

“Creating our scenes”

“Meeting new people and acting with them”
Q.
What would you like the project to involve next year?

“Singing and dancing”

“An after party or celebration as a goodbye”

“A lot more rope climbing”

“More aerial work”

“More exploring London, that was amazing!”

“Outdoors performance”

“More energetic exercises”

“Perhaps more special effects”

More dialogue”

“More Lascars”

“Dance”
Q. What would you tell a friend about Sailing to Britain?

"It's a summer project for 2 weeks for people aged 14 - 22 years who focus on a group of people called the Lascars and do a performance about them at the end of the 2 weeks.”

"It's an unexpected experience”

“That it's a good experience”

“It's free and something to enjoy and get good advice and meet new amazing people.”

“Join it!”

“It was an experience for sure”

“That he should try to get involved because he would get an amazing experience”

“It has been a good experience”

That it's a great way to improve your acting skills”

“It’s a good experience”

“It's awesome!”

“It was amazing!”

Day 10: Showtime!

2010-08-13T10:56:00.002+01:00

Friday 6th August 2010 was the tenth and final day of the Sailing to Britain workshop. Where did the 10 days go?

Friday was a relentless, hard working day, with the participants performing the show no less than 4 times: Technical Rehearsal, Stagger through, Dress Rehearsal and Performance!

We still found time for a little party in the Green Room, with lots of lovely things to eat - most impressive of all was Hannah P's chocolate cake and brownies! Thanks Hannah! Pancakes last year, chocolate cake this year. What will she make in 2011?

The final performance at 7.30pm was excellent, with a spell bound audience! The entire team "upped their game" and gave fantastic performances. The audience liked it so much they didn't want to leave!

Thank you to everyone for a fantastic 2 weeks, and a brilliant performance! Well done!

Day 9: Nearly there!

2010-08-13T10:53:00.002+01:00

Thursday 5th August was the ninth day of the Sailing to Britain workshop, and the penultimate day. There was a definite feeling throughout the day that the tension and anticipation of the show was building in everyone involved.

The participants showed a tremendous amount of focus, as they pieced together the entire show, making sure that they knew what went where.

Feedback at the end of the day was very positive, with everyone feeling a lot had been achieved and that the show would be a success the next day.

Day 8: Not waving but drowning

2010-08-13T10:42:00.002+01:00

Following on from the amazing aerial and characterisation work the Sailing to Britain participants have already created, on Wednesday 4th August they worked with Gavin to create a drowning scene, using aerial silks. The young people had some great ideas - very creative!

Wednesday also saw the creation of interesting scenes, telling the stories of the various characters onboard the ship. There are a really diverse group of people!

The show really started to take shape, and all the participants commented that they could see how all their work was going to fit together.

Day 7: Arts Award

2010-08-04T15:15:00.002+01:00

During the Sailing to Britain workshop, 5 participants are undertaking their Bronze Arts Award. This is a nationally recognised qualification which allows young people to share their existing skills, participate in the arts, attend arts events, and research their arts heroes and heroines. This the first time TARA has run the award.

This involves a lot of work, and the young people involved have really been going the extra mile to make sure they not only get all their arts award work done, but also participate fully in the rehearsal process! A big thank you to the 5 of you for your dedication!

It is anticipated that all the young people involved in Sailing to Britain will be able to take part in the Arts Award over the next 2 years.

More information on the Arts Award can be found at: www.artsaward.org.uk

Day 6: Up, up, and away!

2010-08-03T11:33:00.013+01:00

Monday 2nd August was the 6th day of the Sailing to Britain workshop. The big news of the day is that the ropes are rigged and ready to go!

Here are some pictures of some of the participants trying them out...

It was amazing how quickly everyone caught on to the techniques:

Look! Only 1 hand!

Another highlight of the day was a really good improvisation and characterisation excercise, lead by Hannah Brennan as part of her Bronze Art Award.

Well done to everyone for a great day's work!

Day 5: Simply Staggering!

2010-08-02T12:05:00.003+01:00

Friday was the 5th day of the Sailing to Britain workshop, and our last day at the National Maritime Museum (sob!)

In the afternoon the crew performed a "stagger -through" performance, of the work they have created so far. Thank you to the members of NMM staff who came to watch, and also to Nicholas McInerney, the Sailing to Britain playwright. Afterwards Nicholas said that he thought the storyline was being told very clearly, and was impressed by the amount and quality of the work already created.

Every morning the participants and staff warm up with both Yoga and capoeira. Here is a snippet of the Capoeira from Friday...

Tune in tomorrow for news on rope climbing!

Ploughing through the waves

2010-07-29T21:31:00.008+01:00

Today in the Sailing to Britain workshops, participants worked on a very exciting part of the storyline. But we wouldn't want to spoil it, so we're not going to tell you what it is! You'll have to come to Greenwich Theatre on Friday 6th August at 7.30pm to find out.

In the meantime (sorry for the pun!) here are some photos from today's work...

Dina works hard on her whistle playing.

Setting the scene

The Crew onboard

The participants are enjoying their time on the workshop, especially the capoeira workout each day! Everyone involved is agreed that the group has really come together as a team, trust each other and are creating some great work.

More news from the National Maritime Museum tomorrow.

Day 3: The tension is building!

2010-07-28T20:42:00.004+01:00

Yesterday the Sailing to Britain participants explored new ways of moving and different ways of using their voices. From this clip of today's work, we see what happens when you put the two together - and also get a sneaky peek at next Friday's performance in development!

Here are some of the highlights of the day:

"I did a cartwheel!"

I enjoyed killing Ross"

"Learning scales in a different language"

"Building on our teamwork"

"Dying"

"Learning different ways to warm up my voice"

"The Music"

"Learning the Tabla"

"Learning how you can build the levels of tension and emotion with your movement and your voice."

"Capoeira!"

Stay tuned for more developments tomorrow.

Day 2: Many hands make light work

2010-07-27T19:39:00.007+01:00

Day 2 of the 2010 Sailing to Britain workshop and what a lot has been achieved! Working with Gavin Marshall, the Sailing to Britain choreographer, the participants learned loads of lifts and balances and found new ways to move across the space. Check out the video above!

Working with the Sailing to Britain musicians, Dilu Hossain and Sohini Alam, the participants also started work on the soundscape of their performance. Three part harmonies on their first try - just how talented can one group be? Have a look at the video below...

Words used to describe today: Musical, Physical, Carpet Burn (ouch!), Standy, Risky, Teamwork, Trust, Invigorating, Flying, and IMPRESSIVE!

What will tomorrow bring? Check back here to find out!

Day 1 - And we're off!

2010-07-26T22:05:00.002+01:00

Today was the first time the 2010 Sailing to Britain participants worked together, and what a lot they got through! They worked on stage at Greenwich Theatre, where they will perform next Friday, had a tour of the National Maritime Museum, played games, tried some yoga and created some great images using nothing but their imagination and a rope!

The participants described today as:

Interesting, New, Nauseating (in an acting sense - seasickness!), Exciting, Groovy, Extreme, Fun, Useful, Nice, Eventful, Inspiring, Sweaty, Wordy, Promising, Unexpected, Tiring, Refreshing, Unusual, Enlightening, Informative, Physical and Helpful!

Check back tomorrow for another update...

Preparations for Summer 2010 workshops

2010-07-24T11:00:00.002+01:00

Preparations are now well underway for the Summer 2010 Sailing to Britain workshop which begins on Monday - 26th July.

The creative team spent a brilliant day at the National Maritime Museum yesterday, getting ready for the exciting 2 weeks ahead. A huge thank you to all the museum staff for making us so welcome, and particularly to Charlie Keitch for all his help and the fantastic tour, and to Steve Martin for showing us yet more fascinating lascar related items held by the museum.

We've got a brilliant storyline to explore, and will be learning some great new skills such as music and sound, and of course the very exciting aerial work!

It's going to be a fun-filled 2 weeks and the team can't wait to get started on Monday morning!

Sailing to Britain - telling untold stories of Lascars

2010-07-22T11:47:00.007+01:00

Presentations from the SAILING TO BRITAIN exhibition at the Museum of Croydon, summer 2010. Highlighting the untold stories of Lascars and the young people's acheivements who are participating in the project.

Sailing to Britain - The 1st ever Lascar exhibition!

2010-07-05T15:50:00.007+01:00

From April - June this year, The Museum of Croydon played host to the first ever exhibition about Lascars. Curated by participants of Sailing to Britain.

The exhibition incorporated aspects of the young people's research over the last year, and included images and artefacts collected along the way.

Here are some pictures of the exhibition, and the private view...

A big thank you to everyone involved with the exhibition - The Sailing to Britain participants, the staff at the Museum of Croydon and everyone who gave advice and information - it couldn't have happened without you!

SAILING TO BRITAIN at the Shimmy: Wandsworth Arts Festival finale

2010-05-28T13:43:00.011+01:00

On one of the hottest days of the year so far the SAILING TO BRITAIN crew spent the day taking part in Wandsworth Arts Festival's "Shimmy". We were based at the Hurlingham Yacht Club, in the shadow of Putney railway bridge, but firmly rooted on the River Thames.

Unfortunately the tide was out most of the day so there was no opportunity for "messing about on the river"!

There were lots of people coming down to the yacht club and the short performance was repeated at every opportunity!

We were also offering tea tasting - different varieties of black and green tea, from India and China. Tea was one of the main cargoes carried by ships the Lascars sailed on. People really liked the smokiness of Lapsang Souchong and the refreshing taste of "Gunpowder" tea from China.

Children and adults had the chance to play "Carrom" - a board game which is a cross between air hockey, marbles and snooker! This game has been played in countries the Lascars came from for centuries, and probably found its way onto the tea clippers and other ships sailing to Britain on which the Lascars worked.

It was a great day and gave other people in the area an opportunity to find out who Lascars were and and why they were sailing to Britain. They also saw some of the video footage from last year's projects in Croydon, Wandsworth and Greenwich.

The yacht club made us very welcome, and we hope to go back when the tide is high to learn some more essential sailing skills!

Out of the Shadows! - puppet workshop May 15th 2010

2010-05-28T12:15:00.016+01:00

Who knew that taking cardboard, household items, and garden canes, and using them in different combinations to cast shadows would result in a really fun day making and using our own puppets to tell a fantastic sea story?!

In partnership with the Puppet Centre Trust and with guidance from Alison and Sara - expert puppet designers and puppeteers - members of the SAILING TO BRITAIN crew, plus some new hands, learnt how to use the light from an overhead projector to cast the shadows from their own puppets.

We discovered that shadow puppetry would have been a traditional way of story-telling in many of the countries from which Lascars would have come. Puppets made of leather or metal, with intricate patterns punched out, are still used today.

Daniel and Pauline designed and made a fantastic big fish which was poured from a bottle and managed to swallow everything in its path - including a large boat

Justnara's Sea Lady rod puppet - a vision of blue-green gauze, operated by 2 people, managed to save Filiz's drowning man and return him safely to his island!

It sounds bizarre, but really, you had to be there! It was magical!

We plan to use some of these skills in future SAILING TO BRITAIN workshops and performances.

PUPPETRY WORKSHOP with TARA & Puppet Centre

2010-05-01T19:40:00.004+01:00

An invitation to young people and SAILING TO BRITAIN participatants to take part in a day of interactive puppet making with Sara Ekeneger and Alison Alexander of the Puppet Centre - we promise a fun-filled workshop.

Learn to make different types of puppet, how to manipulate them and create a story performance - all in one day!

Part of TARA's Arts and Heritage project SAILING TO BRITAIN http://sailingtobritain.blogspot or www.tara-arts.com for more!

Saturday 15 May 10am to 4pm
For 14 to 22 years
ALL places £3.50
Call 0208 333 4457 to book a place on the

Sailing to Britain Exhibition at the Museum of Croydon

2010-04-26T10:40:00.003+01:00

On Thursday 29th April 2010 there will be a private view of the Sailing to Britain exhibition at the Museum of Croydon. This is the 1st ever exhibtion on Lascars and has been curated by the participants.

As part of the celebrations some of the Sailing to Britain participants will be performing a short piece. Below are some pictures of their rehearsal yesterday.

If you would like to attend the private view please contact Katie Elston on 020 8333 4457 katie@tara-arts.com as places are limited!

Upcoming Sailing to Britain events

2010-03-08T11:59:00.002Z

Here are some upcoming events that we're sure you'll want to get involved in...

Sunday 21st march 2010
Where? TARA Studio, 356 Garratt Lane, Earlsfield, SW18 4ES
When? 2 - 6pm
What? Rehearsals for the performance at the opening night of the Sailing to Britain exhibition: When the exhibition opens at the Museum of Croydon in April, we will be starting the evening off with a performance - the funeral and dance routine from the Croydon show in 2009. If you would like to take part in the performance you must attend the rehearsals. Also a chance to see and discuss the content of the exhibition.
Cost? Free

Sunday 25th April 2010
Where? TARA Studio
When? 2 - 6pm
What? Rehearsals for the performance at the opening night of the Sailing to Britain exhibition: Final rehearsals.
Cost? Free

Thursday 29th April 2010
Where? Museum of Croydon, Croydon Clocktower, Katharine Street, CR9 1ET
When? Time to be confirmed
What? Performance at the opening night of the Sailing to Britain exhibition. You must have attended rehearsals to take part.
Cost? Free

Saturday 15th May 2010
Where? TARA Studio
When? 10am - 4pm
What? Puppetry taster workshop. Professional puppet makers Sara Ekeneger and Alison Alexander will spend the day teaching participants how to make and manipulate all sorts of puppets. There will be a final performance at 3.30pm. Please book your place early, as spaces are limited to 30.

To take part in any of these activities please call Sarah Clews on 020 8333 4457 or email her at admin@tara-arts.com

Dates for your diary:
Monday 26th July - Friday 6th August 2010
Sailing to Britain summer workshop @ Greenwich Theatre

Sailing to Britain needs you!

2010-02-01T12:12:00.001Z

In April 2010 the first ever exhibition on Lascars will open at the Museum of Croydon. Drawing inspiration from Sailing to Britain, we would like your help to put the exhibition together! Never curated an exhibition before? The museum’s experts are going to help us…

During the February half term the Museum of Croydon will be hosting
2 exclusive workshops free to Sailing to Britain participants to learn how to create an exhibition.

Activities will include:
A tour of the exhibition space.
Discussion of the key messages the exhibition aims to convey
Selecting the objects and images to fit the space available
Looking at how we will arrange the Sailing to Britain exhibition
Writing text for the captions
Introduction to editing films.
Editing and resizing images.

This is a rare opportunity to learn how exhibitions are put together, and to have your say in how the story of the lascars is told. What do you think it’s important to include?

When? Monday 15th & Tuesday 16th February 2010, 10am – 2pm

Where? Museum of Croydon, Croydon Clocktower, Katharine Street, Croydon, CR9 6ET

How do I get involved? Email Sarah Clews on admin@tara-arts.com
or call 020 8333 4457 by Thursday 11th February 2010.

Sailing to Britain 2009 Awards and Movie Night

2010-01-29T11:21:00.009Z

On Saturday 16th January 2010, some of the Sailing to Britain crew gathered at TARA to watch the 2009 performances and to take part in the Sailing to Britain 2009 awards ceremony.

Here is a full list of the awards as well as a few photos of the evening.

Thank you to all of you who made it, it was great to see you all! For those of you who were unable t0 attend, your awards are winging their way to you in the post!

Tammy Abedi: Smiliest Participant

Sandra (JJ) Antonio: Best Musical Performance

Tok Aofolaju: Best Death

Lorraine Aol: Best Photographer

Ashley Asobie: Best Action Hero

Saif Beejay: Best Use of a Hairband

Ross Binfield (& his wooden leg): Best use of a ball

Hannah Brennan: Best Audience Interaction

Mehmet Cucel: Best Use of a Foreign Language

Julie Cummings: Most Convincing Prosecutor

Alice Dixon: Best Tragic Performer

Zoe Goff: Best Use of a Musical Instrument

Louise Harvey: Best Newcomer

Frank Holsgrove: Best Ghost Acting

Dilu Hossain: Most smiley facilitator

Kiran Hunjan: Best Love Scene (shared award)

Naia Johns: Best Researcher

Tiffany Johnson: Bravest Person

Tom Kanji: Best Street Dancer

Martin Kisambira: Most Inquisitive

Jessica Linehan: Best Use of a Prop (shared award)

Nicky Mahandru: Best Love Scene (shared award)

Carmen McFarlane: Best Villain

Conrad McFarlane: Most Interactive

Nicholas McInerney: Widest range of knowledge

Renu Mehto: Best Drunk

Bill Muir: Best Tour Guide

Pauline Nakirya: Best recurring character for the Fortune Teller

Vuyina Nyaba: Best Use of a Prop (shared award)

Sarah O'Connor: Best hunter gatherer

Erdem Ozaltan: Best Traveller

Filiz Ozcan: Most Enthusiastic

Hannah Phillips: Best Group Treat - Pancakes

Nicholette Pollard-Odle: Best Detective

Justina Eniola Runmonkun: Most Sympathetic Defence Lawyer

John Seamons: Most Hardworking

Ian Shaw: The Hidden Gem

Jupitaire Sylla: Best Sailing Scream

Jules Tipton: Ship Shape Captain

Husnara Zaman: Best Comedy Character

Justnara Zaman: Best Impression of Royalty

Sailing to Britain short video

2009-11-23T18:28:00.002Z

Some highlights from Sailing to Britain 2009. Ah the memories!

Thank you to Sarah O'Connor and Luke Todd.

The National Maritime Museum wants your ideas!

2009-11-21T12:16:00.001Z

A message from Andrea Cunningham, Head of Informal Learning and Access @ The National Maritime Museum:

We need you to shape our future!

There are 10 places for a special one day workshop just for you at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. The ‘Sailing to Britain’ crew are invited to help us shape a new gallery due to open at the Museum in 2011.

Saturday 5 December 2009
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
11.00 – 16.00

The gallery will be about trade in the Indian Ocean, and how this has affected people’s lives in Britain and Asia. We are looking for enthusiastic people with great creative ideas and inspiration on how this new gallery can appeal to future generations of young people.

No previous experience necessary, you just need to be keen, interested and up for some fun.

Pizza lunch will be provided and all participants will receive a free ticket to London’s only Planetarium.

If you would like to participate please contact Sarah Clews on 020 8333 4457 or via email to admin@tara-arts.com by Thursday 3rd December 2009.

Our New Archivists!

2009-11-20T15:18:00.005Z

During the October half-term, Justnara and Hannah B. spent 5 days at the National Maritime Museum.

Along with Tom Kanji, the 2 archivists learned about a wide range of preservation and archiving techniques which will be really useful for the Sailing to Britain Exhibition at Croydon Clocktower next year, as well as for archiving the whole of the project!

Justnara and Hannah presented a fantastic exhibition at the end of the week, to demonstrate what they had learned. Staff from TARA and the National Maritime Museum were all very impressed with their work - well done girls!

Here are some pictures from their week...

Half-term @ National Maritime Museum

2009-10-06T11:39:00.005+01:00

Sailing to Britain Archivist training week @ National Maritime Museum

Archive: A place or collection containing records, documents, or other materials of historical interest.

Monday 26th – Friday 30th October 2009, 10am – 4pm

During the October half-term holiday, 3 lucky Sailing to Britain participants will have the opportunity to take part in an exclusive scheme at the National Maritime Museum. The Museum’s experts have designed a bespoke training programme exploring archives and collections especially for the project’s young people who will work along side Museum staff in order to learn how to archive Sailing to Britain.

This is a unique chance to witness what goes on behind the scenes at one of the UK’s most prestigious museums. The skills gained during this week can then be transferred to Sailing to Britain to ensure the project is recorded and archived effectively.

Topics covered will include the role of archivists, Lascar related documents from the archives, paper preservation, exhibition planning, object handling, digital preservation and research techniques.

As there are only 3 places available on this scheme, interested participants will need to apply. Here’s how:

1. Register your interest with Sarah Clews by phone: 020 8333 4457 or email: admin@tara-arts.com by Monday 12th October 2009.
2. You will then be allotted an interview time for Saturday 17th October at the National Maritime Museum.
3. Prepare a 3 minute presentation.

The presentation:
Choose 1 aspect of the summer 2009 Sailing to Britain workshops, i.e. a game, an exercise, a fact, an excursion etc. and explain why and how you would like to archive it. You can use props if you would like, or you can just talk, it’s completely up to you!

The panel:
You will be talking to a panel of 3 people:

Andrea Cunningham, Head of Informal Learning & Access, National Maritime Museum.
A member of the National Maritime Museum’s Youth Advisory Panel.
Sarah Clews, Participation Officer, TARA Arts.

Transport costs will be paid for the interviews.
Successful applicants will have their travel and lunch costs paid during the training week.
Before applying please ensure you are available for all 5 days of the training week.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Sarah Clews at TARA.

Sailing to Britain Creative Team

2009-10-05T17:35:00.000+01:00

TARA TEAM
Jatinder Verma: Artistic Director
Claudia Mayer: Associate Director (Design)
Jonathan Kennedy: Executive Director
Katie Elston: Marketing Officer
Xiao Hong (Sharon) Zhang: Finance Officer
Mukul Ahmed: Studio Programmer
Jules Tipton: Project Director
Sarah Clews: Participation Officer
Tom Kanji: Workshop Facilitator
Pauline Nakirya: Workshop Facilitator
Filiz Ozcan: Workshop Facilitator
Sarah O’Connor: Stage Manager
Nicholas McInerny: Playwright
Delwar Hossain: Musician
Ian Shaw: Musician & Research Assistant
Naia Johns: Research Assistant

Crossing the Line

2009-10-05T17:16:00.003+01:00

Saturday 29th August 2009 @ Greenwich Theatre.

Synopsis:

A story of betrayal and consequences.
Four teenage friends board the Artemis as lascars. Bound for London they meet three female passengers: the wife of the curry cook, a Christian governess and a day-dreaming
musician. As their relationships with the women develop, will the boys remain loyal to each other? What will happen
during the voyage, and what are the consequences once the ship docks in London?

Cast:

Ashley: Elizabeth
Saif: Rham
Ross: Esa
Hannah B: Grishna
Mehmet: Serang
Julie: Elizabeth / Prosecution Lawyer
Alice: Lekha
Justina: Lekha / Defense Lawyer
Frank: Juna
Tiffany: Catherine Booth
Martin: Bosun
Tok: Curry Cook / Crimp / Judge
Hannah P: Grishna
John: Shouk

Honour & Obey

2009-10-05T17:12:00.005+01:00

Friday 21st August 2009 @ TARA Studio.

Synopsis:

Fleeing her rural village to avoid an arranged marriage, a young Indian girl Paro follows her brother Rahul to Calcutta. She disguises herself as a boy and joins the lascar crew of the Princess Louise. With a six month voyage to London ahead, surely her secret will be
discovered. And will she succeed in hiding her
burgeoning attraction to the young ship’s doctor John Foster?

Cast:

Lorraine: Lottie/Neighbour/Lascar
Louise: Serang/Pub owner/Neighbour
Kiran: John Foster
Niharika: Paro/Nassib
Renu: Elizabeth/Neighbour/Lascar
Erdem: Rahul
Husnara: Mrs Foster/Lascar/Neighbour
Justnara: Mr Foster/Queen Vistoria/Rita

The Ballad of Sangi & Abdool

2009-10-05T12:18:00.005+01:00

Friday 7th August 2009 @ Croydon Clocktower.

Synopsis:

Two teenage brothers, leave their rural village to support their
widowed mother. Travelling to Calcutta to collect a debt from a ship’s Serang, they also bring the family’s opium to sell.
To avoid paying the debt the Serang tricks them and traps them aboard the Mary Louise. They wake in the middle of a tea
shipping race to London, and are forced to join the lascar crew.
How will they adapt to this alien environment? And what will
happen when they dock in London?

Cast:

Tamara: Thomas Hutton, Captain of the Mary Louise
Sandra: Gita, the mother
Zoe: Achong, the curry cook of the Mary Louise
Jessica: Sangi, 13
Carmen: Amir Alee, The Serang of the Mary Louise
Conrad: Narrator / Money lender
Vuyina: Abdool, 15
Nicholette: Lascar Sally
Jupitaire: John Randall Pilot of the Mary Louise

Intrigue!

2009-08-17T16:21:00.003+01:00

A clue to Wandsworth's past, perhaps?

The Wandle Delta!

2009-08-17T15:36:00.002+01:00

We made it all the way to the Thames!

The Youngs Brewery

2009-08-17T15:30:00.003+01:00

Sadly no longer in use, although we have got some pictures of the yard from over 100 years ago!

Going in the right direction

2009-08-17T15:26:00.002+01:00

Bill and Renu decide where we are

What have you found?

2009-08-17T15:11:00.002+01:00

Louise has discovered something

Searching for facts

2009-08-17T14:59:00.003+01:00

Husnara the detective

Penwith Bridge

2009-08-17T14:46:00.002+01:00

Getting to grips with the cameras

Which way?

2009-08-17T14:39:00.003+01:00

The route of the Wandle walk, but will we get lost?

Raring to go...

2009-08-17T14:17:00.003+01:00

TARA Studio participants getting ready for the Photo Safari

The TARA workshops

2009-08-17T12:24:00.002+01:00

We are now in the second week of the Sailing to Britain workshop at TARA Studio. So far the participants have learned lascari words and songs, been sailing at Wimbledon Park Sailing Centre, been on a photo safari and worked with playwright Nicholas McInerny. Not bad in a week!

Stay posted for some photo highlights...

After the performance

2009-08-17T12:20:00.002+01:00

The cast of the first ever Sailing to Britain performance looking pleased with themselves - quite right too!

Stage combat

2009-08-17T12:16:00.001+01:00

Carmen and Jess practice a fight

Heave ho!

2009-08-17T12:13:00.002+01:00

Tammy and Nicholette show how hard the work of lascars was

More physical work

2009-08-17T12:08:00.001+01:00

Jess and VV demonstrate a lift

Getting Physical

2009-08-17T12:04:00.001+01:00

Tammy and Nicholette try some lifts

Ship's Charter - Croydon

2009-08-17T12:00:00.002+01:00

The Croydon participants made a list of rules by which to work

Proving it

2009-08-17T11:57:00.001+01:00

The Croydon evidence wall showing all the things we found out

Getting our hands on it

2009-08-17T11:52:00.001+01:00

Croydon participants getting to grips with the fantastic handling collection from the Museum of Croydon

Tea tasting

2009-08-17T11:49:00.002+01:00

Conrad doesn't seem very sure about some of the teas.

Where in the world?

2009-08-17T11:45:00.002+01:00

Jess, Ria and Tania show where some of the participants families have travelled from to Britain

Searching for Stories

2009-08-03T11:08:00.002+01:00

Sailing to Britain participants search for stories:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ITX-UB3cw

Sailing @ the Ahoy Centre, Deptford

2009-07-31T11:37:00.005+01:00

Tired but happy Sailors! Well done everyone!

2009-07-31T11:35:00.000+01:00

Sailing on the River Thames - we were nearly struck by lightning!

2009-07-31T11:29:00.001+01:00

Tea tasting - yum!

Croydon Participants Set Sail!

2009-07-31T11:03:00.003+01:00

Today is the 6th day of the Sailing to Britain workshop in Croydon. So far the participants have played lots of fun games, mapped their family's journey to Britain on a map of the world, visited the Museum of Croydon (including touching a coin once held by Queen Victoria!) Searched for stories in the Croydon archive, had a tea-tasting session, worked on storylines and genres with Nicholas McInerny, our playwright, paddled in a dragon boat and learned to sail.

Not bad for the first week! Here are some pictures of the Sailing to Britain team in action...

Sailing to Britain makes the News!

2009-06-24T11:23:00.001+01:00

Check out: http://www.wandsworthguardian.co.uk/search/4454800.Fancy_being_a_part_of_London_2012_/

Thank you for taking part in the taster workshops!

2009-06-24T11:21:00.002+01:00

A big thank you to everyone who took part in the Sailing to Britain taster workshops last weekend!

It was great to meet you all an we're really excited about working with you again in the Summer. If you haven't already, get your forms back to us!

Taster sessions filling up fast

2009-06-09T12:19:00.000+01:00

Hurry! Places are filling up quickly.
Less than 2 weeks until the Sailing to Britain taster workshops!

Book your place now on 020 8333 4457
or via email to admin@tara-arts.com

2009-06-05T11:05:00.002+01:00

New Sailing to Brtiain Video Montage

2009-06-05T11:00:00.002+01:00

Check out the new Sailing to Britain video montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTQJtd--Z7E

A montage of still and moving images, set to the haunting music of Nitin Sawhney. This video will give viewers a taste of the sights and sounds which will be explored during TARA's summer project for 14 - 22 year olds.

Arts Beat supports SAILING TO BRITAIN

2009-04-16T13:17:00.004+01:00

Arts Beat is TARA’s young people’s theatre scheme. We are aged between 14 and 22 years and have been creating shows and developing arts projects with TARA since summer 2007.

There are over 15 young people in Arts Beat and we live and study in Wandsworth and south London. We love what we do at TARA Studio and so far we have been in three Shakespeare productions and two massive shows in Trafalgar Square for India Now and the Beijing Olympics Torch Relay last year.

The people at TARA listen to us and what we want to achieve. We met with Jonathan, Jatinder and Claudia from TARA earlier this year to talk about SAILING TO BRITIAN and the lascars project.

We are really excited about this project, Husnara Zaman one of our group is going to help with the marketing this year and some of us are on the steering group to help promote the project and decide what happens.

We will be involved in the workshops to research the history of lascars; going out to see archives, museums and find lascars stories from across London and we are really looking forward to creating the exhibition for Croydon Clocktower and learning about making a website. It will be great to work with other young people from across London as well.

We think its really important that young people from different cultures get to find out about our shared past so that we can learn from each other and get an understanding about what lascars actually experienced when they came to London.

taraartsbeat@googlemail.com

http://taraartsbeat.blogspot.com/

Pauline Nakirya, Justnara Shuma Zaman, Sarah Ball, Joanna Scott, Remaine Slight, Katie Brazier, Amal Ismali, Husnara Zaman, Joycelyne Praman, Illena Christoforou, Mukul Ahmed, Filiz Ozcan, Murat Ozcan, Ayshen.

Taster Workshops

2009-03-28T18:06:00.011Z

If your interested in participating in free SAILING TO BRITAIN taster workshops as part of the STORY OF LONDON, on Sat 20 and Sun 21 June.

Contact:

Greenwich Theatre

Sat 20 June 10 to 12 noon

To book a place call 0208 858 4447

http://www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk/

Croydon Clocktower

Sat 20 June 3 to 5pm

To book a place call 0208 253 1034

http://www.croydonclocktower.org.uk/

TARA Studio

Sun 21 June 10 to 12 noon

To book call 0208 33 4457

http://www.tara-arts.com/

Project Director: Jules Tipton

Participation Officer: Sarah Clews admin@tara-arts.com

SAILING TO BRITAIN

2009-03-14T15:42:00.005Z

An interactive summer project led by TARA which will end in a major performance on the River Thames in London 2012.

If your are aged between 14 to 19 years and want to research and perform a new piece of theatre inspired by lascars - migrant seafarers from India, China and West Africa - contact TARA Studio, Greenwich Theatre and Croydon Clocktower, or call 0208 333 4457, admin@tara-arts.com.

We will be running taster workshops at all 3 venues in June for the Story of London.

SAILING TO BRITIAN is supported by London Councils and Arts Council England.