We have received many powerful and supportive comments from around the world from people moved by the plight of Osman Kavala in prison.  Many have also said how much they have enjoyed Osman's opera and the way it has shared Osman's story and that of his Snails.

This morning we received the words below via Anthony Barnett, one of the team of the Friends of Osman who has helped not only with the libretto but also in sharing the opera through his vast and concerned contacts as co-founder of openDemocracy.  It comes from a Professor in India who has been friends with Osman since the 1980's.

"It is not often that we can all do something when a great injustice takes place in another country.  Everywhere millions of people are joining their voices and employing their creativity to oppose violence, injustice, and discrimination in their own countries. 

The #MeToo movement, Extinction Rebellion, the mobilisations for the liberty of Hong Kong, against the threat of Muslim genocide in India, and now for Black Lives Matter, together are changing the world. Not in a way that will be easy or quick and the resistance will be powerful. But the epoch of the populist ‘iron men’ has begun to meet its match.

In one country there is an injustice that symbolises the contest between hateful, polarising, elected despotism and truth and justice. The jailing of Osman Kavala in Turkey.

Kavala is Turkey's best-known supporter of culture. A philanthropist, human rights champion and bridge-builder to minority communities he has spent his whole life working for equality and respect for repressed peoples. He stands for the democratic and tolerant beliefs of probably now a majority of the population.
​
For this he is approaching 1000 days in Turkey’s highest security prison on trumped-up charges on the orders of President Erdoğan. 

Now there is a simple way for all of us to protest against his fate and demand his freedom. 
Watch, enjoy and share 'Osman and the Snails'. 

It’s the first ever lockdown opera, ten minutes long, an international cooperation made when everyone was in isolation from COVID-19. 

The music is composed by Nigel Osborne. The production is by Opera Circus. The singers are world class. 
​
I’ve been friends with Osman since the 1980s. Two weeks after he was  jailed, in October 2017, I wrote in outrage about his innocence, sure that he would be released before now. 

But there is one problem in calling for Osman’s freedom. He is an organiser who works tirelessly for others. This means he personifies democratic, civil society in Turkey. But he is not a singer, or writer, or painter. The wider world cannot experience his voice, vision and example. 

Now we all can. By watching 'Osman and the Snails'.

And every one of us who watches the opera becomes a grain of sand in the movement of support for his release. 
Watch it. It is musically a joy. Then please share it and help free Osman Kavala."

Original press release with contacts and further details.
​The film by Robert Golden.

In 2014 Nigel Osborne, composer and human aid worker and Tina Ellen Lee Artistic Director of Opera Circus were invited to a session on Building Peace through the Arts as part of the Salzburg Global Seminars. 
 
We met and heard many inspiring people, one of whom was Osman Kavala, a Human Rights Campaigner from Turkey.
 
As a result over the last couple of years we have been part of a small team of people, who are part of many such teams and groups, fighting to have Osman released from a Turkish prison where he has been unjustly kept in solitary confinement for nearly 1000 days.

Recently a story came out about Osman and his pet snails.
https://www.duvarenglish.com/human-rights/2020/02/20/osman-kavala-looked-after-snails-in-prison-had-to-abandon-them-after-rearrest/
 
Someone in our team casually commented to Nigel,…why don’t you write an opera about this wonderful story? And so Nigel did.

The English subtitled version can be found on Vimeo here.

The Turkish subtitled version and the Youtube links can be found on the press release here.

A work of true collaboration began with numbers of the team helping to write the text; Nigel writing the music over two nights; Opera Circus asking some of the brilliant singers who have worked with the company for many years if they would give their time; a wonderful new partner with TCFT, the youth arts programme of the company, Mikael Hegelund Martin of Beats across Borders in Denmark cleaning up the sound; Andy Morton helping the singers into their roles and Robert Golden, film maker/ photographer working across the globe under our “lock down” making the film. Everyone worked for free and without ego; the purpose to free Osman.

Darren Abrahams who sang the part of Osman said, "  It was a real honour to be asked to sing the role of Osman in this opera. I don’t think I appreciated the technical difficulties of putting together an opera in lockdown when we began. Having to be actor, singer, director, camera, lighting and sound operator at the same time as interacting with imaginary other singers sitting in kitchens on the other side of the world was a very interesting challenge - a bit like when you see Hollywood actors reacting to invisible CGI characters on a green screen. But the result is beyond expectation (thanks to the skills of Robert Golden and Mikael Hegelund Martisen). I hope it delights and entertains while also highlighting the case of a great human who deserves his freedom".

Osman Bey and the Snails film in English on Vimeo here.
You tube and Turkish subtitled versions can be found on the press release here.

The cast are:
Osman:  Darren Abrahams
The Lawyer: Robert Rice
The Snails:
1.  Nadine Benjamin
2. Lore Lixenberg
The Prison Guard: Andy Morton
Piano: Anthony Ingle

Lore Lixenberg, a Snail said, "The UK had been in lockdown for around 6 weeks , Osman had been in prison for almost 1000 days when I was invited by Nigel, Tina and Robert to have the honour to be served to him as a singing snail in his bowl of rocket salad. I was mindful of his plight during the whole process of my small part in the creation of this mini-opera. This was absolutely the focus.

It was the ultimate collaboration over many countries with people I have worked with for years, also with a brilliant soundman who I felt as though I had worked with for many years as well.

On a personal level, it was wonderful to be part of an opera again, as all my projects for the summer vanished in 48 hours after the lockdown was announced, as this was for everyone. It was a joy to work in a team again, to be reminded that making opera exists still.

The technical issues I encountered (creating a total blackout in a white bright, domestic space full of clutter, trying to get the lighting right with a couple of music stand lights, etc), were a challenge, especially as even in lockdown the desire for perfection and excellence is like a homing instinct, anything less than perfection is a stress. But the challenges the performer faced were nothing compared to the amazing alchemy that Robert Golden performed in knitting these disparate mobile phone clips together into a seamless coherent whole at the same time keeping a strong sense of his inimitable style. Why don’t we just do it ‘zoom’ style, I kept asking myself? My question was answered when I saw the result of the work, a smooth poetic whole, that really does justice to the multifaceted, multilingual, beautiful, tough music of Nigel Osborne. 

The amazing work that Mikael ( the soundman who I have never actually met!) was also at such a high level I can only take my hat off in admiration.

It was also really gorgeous to be working, however remote, with my friends again. It was maybe a little painful because no matter how lucky we are to live in a time where communications are so easy, what I really wanted was to be in a rehearsal room with my friends stinking of rehearsal. It made me think again of Osman. How long since he has been in a room with his friends and family. I hope Nigel and Robert's gentle activism helps to get him out of prison."
​
Anthony Ingle is a brilliant and unique musician, one of a kind and a superb improviser. Anthony has worked with Opera Circus for most of its life and is the pianist of improvisatory genius for Impropera, the renowned improv opera company that grew out of Opera Circus in the 90's. 

Anthony's comments on working with the "Snail Opera Team", "It was a remarkably steep learning curve in terms of the technical requirements (I believe for most of us) but, given the impetus of Osman’s situation, the power of Nigel’s writing and the unique world circumstances, the perfect time to give focus to such learning. And the prospect of being part of something which has such potential to make a difference far beyond its immediate aim, with trusted, respected and beloved colleagues, sharpened the focus still further."

The opera will be shared and distributed through Amnesty International, PEN, Open Democracy and by everyone who loves and believes in justice and freedom.  

Please share this blog or the official press release, whichever is appropriate and let us create more global support for Osman's release. Maybe now in this current climate of world collaboration fighting other injustices, Racism through Black Lives Matter, Climate Change led by Greta Thunberg and tens of thousands of young activists or the overwhelming kindness and care for those affected by the tragedy of the Pandemic. Perhaps a global wave can free Osman and others like him, the journalists, writers and others fighting for social justice. Further information can be found on the web site for Osman.

Two weeks after Osman's was jailed Anthony Barnett, co-founder of openDemocracy wrote this article.

Nadine Benjamin (a Snail) wrote, "As someone who is quite severely dyspraxic, I knew that creating art in this way would be a challenge for me. The number of emails, telephone calls, video calls to learn how to actively create a work that would have the authenticity running through it required me to meet every one one of my struggles head on. While doing so, I kept a picture of Osman in front of me knowing that I was not alone in this challenge - that every one of us was meeting an opportunity to grow and surrender to the moment.  Nigel's writing has always had the ability to make sense of the world in ways that are rare and unique. This piece to me is in celebration of an artist and I believe all our artists are here to make the world a better place."
 
This is a work of art. Osman and the lawyer are real people, the prison guard in our story is a fictional character. The snails are themselves.

Osman sent these words to us, “I find the snails’ lines quite realistic, but I cannot say the same thing about the portrayal of the conditions here in my prison. The guards and other employees here talk and act with civility”

Full Press Release: https://www.operacircusuk.com/osman-bey-and-the-snails-press-release.html

​
​Next year it is 30 years since Opera Circus first emerged out of the master classes and performances several of us created in London with the great buffo bass Federico Davia. (We have attached the only biography we could find.)

What followed were nearly 10 years of touring with newly devised and commissioned productions - more information about this elsewhere on this web site - and then a number of years of recreating the company and how we worked and who with.  Often every year something different, depending on the offers, funding successes and the people rolling up.

Probably the most important of these being Nigel Osborne, Composer, Inventor, Human Aid worker, Emeritus Professor of Music at Edinburgh University, community music advocate and recently creator of Music for Well Being with the NHS as well as the music project with Cat Stevens for Syrian Child refugees in Lebanon, the Harmonics Programme.

Currently Opera Circus is working with Nigel and the film maker Robert Golden on a 9 minute "lockdown" opera called Osman Bay and the Snails.  This is based on the story of the imprisonment of Osman Kavala in Turkey and two pet snails who kept him company for a while in his cell. See more of the story on the blog below this one.  The opera will be on line in a few days on this web site and all of our social media platforms. Links to follow.

 What's Next! 
Opera Circus is part of the Dorset section of a national group of people and organisations concerned about the shrinking and distortion of the arts in England called What's Next.  A very interesting process where over 150 artists and arts organisations in this small and underpopulated county are speaking once a week and acting together to help those who are in danger of going under. As usual Governments have no idea of how freelance artists work and talk of profits and this lack of understanding of creative working structures is causing the collapse of many people's livelihoods.  They have just understood how self employed plumbers work so maybe at some point they will try to comprehend the lives of artists.! 

At the moment the What's Next Dorset group are supporting the arts ecology in the county by sharing furloughed staff and their expertise, raising funding through an emergency crowdfunder and promoting projects that are still running to continue to source funding, for instance Bridport Arts Centre's Bridport International Prize for Poetry, Short Stories and Novels. The latter has a deadline of the end of May with chances of winning prizes up to £5000.

Izazov! grows slowly and carefully with the films created through the project work in Sarajevo and Dorset now part of Changing the Story's International Short Film Festival online 1 - 5 June 2020. 

There are plans to screen the films live in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the first weekend of October 2020, if we are allowed to travel and gather. That weekend Reactor-Cluj should be performing at MESS Festival, their 60th anniversary, in Sarajevo and we are looking forward to seeing their work and the long term TCFT activists and friends, Raul and Petro. Dates and details to follow when we know more.

Several of the young people who created the films are either working on a second short film or Part 2 of their first film idea.  If you click on the Changing the Story link above you will find the times of the film screenings as well as the opportunity to join a Q and A with the young film makers at midday on the 5th June.  

Erasmus + KA1 and KA2

If you have never applied for international funding from Erasmus + you are about to lose the opportunity for ever. Between 2014 and 2020 the EU provided €14.7 billion in grants for youth, sport, training  and education. The UK, although many people didn't know that this funding existed, still managed to successfully apply for just under one billion Euros (including University education and exchanges) over this period and there is still one deadline to go for Erasmus +, 1st October 2020.  After that the far right ideology-led Brexit will remove our right to participate in these grants.  It is young people who will suffer the most and this funding will not be replaced in the UK.  

There has been a great deal of lobbying the DCMS, education and youth departments but the assumption is October 1 is the end.

It is the young people from backgrounds where parents cannot afford to pay for trips and school holidays abroad, different educational offers for exchanges, scholarships and studying within Europe, who will have these opportunities denied to them in the future. 

TCFT carries on albeit slowly. The work began to develop in Srebrenica in 2008, more information elsewhere on this web site, and has carried on developing in different ways ever since.  

We have been applying to Erasmus + (KA1 and KA2 Youth Mobility and Strategic Partnership Funding) and at the moment are waiting to hear about the KA1, the announcement is only 7 weeks late.  The KA2 we will hear about on the 16th August. More information on this on the TCFT web site soon.  We will apply again for another KA1 in October and with luck should have 70% of the funding we need for at least another 2 years work with partners in Italy, Kosovo, Serbia, BiH, Denmark and UK.  More soon.

Naciketa - a new chamber opera - music Nigel Osborne and text Ariel Dorfman:

This bit of news is not going to turn into a big moan about Arts Council England and its current emergency funding failures, nor the disinterest of the government in the arts in the UK, see above re this.  
This is part of the Great Pause.
We have no idea.  
Having said that,
​there is a lot of creative thinking going on.  
​We will let you know when we have an idea of
What's next!
​for Naciketa...
and other new work.....

Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far.

More news very soon.

Photography and Film: Robert Golden

​Most of us have been in self-imposed isolation for 30 days. On April 18 2020 Osman Kavala will have been in enforced isolation for 900 days in an Istanbul jail cell. 

Nine hundred days away from every friend, family member and colleague, without seeing even a tree or the horizon. During this time, we have not stopped thinking about our friend, Osman Kavala. 

Today we announce the upcoming world premiere of a small opera film made over seven days by artists in lockdown, entitled Osman Bey and the Snails.

This modern fable is the story of a beloved Turkish philanthropist and activist cruelly jailed-- and of the two little animal friends who shared his cell. Osman Kavala has fought for human rights in Turkey for 30 years. He has used art and culture to build bridges with Kurds, Armenians and Greeks, to make Turkey a fairer and more humane place.

Osman has always loved animals. In his youth he stopped his family firm from building of a hotel on a beach used by loggerhead turtles to lay their eggs. 

In 2017, Osman Kavala was sent to jail by a court on politically motivated fantastical charges. He became one of the country’s best-known political prisoners, kept in severe conditions of isolation. So, the animal-loving prisoner was delighted one day when he found  two snails in his lunch-time salad. The pair became his companions in isolation.

In February this year, in a move that surprised and delighted everyone in equal measure, Osman was acquitted by a court which ordered him to be released forthwith. The prisoner’s first concern was not to abandon his new friends, so he gave the two snails to his lawyer for safekeeping. But that same day he was cruelly re-arrested—on different charges. 
The snails are now free, Osman is not. 

In this era of coronavirus, Turkey’s ordinary criminals have been released; political prisoners have not. Osman's conditions are now even more severe. Family visits have been stopped and he can only speak to his wife and mother for 20 minutes a week on the phone.

Osman enhanced the world of culture by harnessing its power to heal wounds and make peace. Now it is the turn of the world of culture to support him. 

The music is contemporary classical but reflects the various cultures that Osman has honoured in his life's work.
The opera-film Osman Bey and the Snails is written, directed and performed by a team of international artists isolated around the world, all proud to call themselves ‘Friends of Osman’. We look forward to sharing it very shortly.

We will not rest until Osman is free, with his loved ones, and among us, where he belongs. 

“Friends of Osman” 

Darren Abrahams
Anthony Barnett, Co-Founder, openDemocracy
Nadine Benjamin
Robert Golden
Anthony Ingle
Tina Ellen Lee, Artistic Director, Opera Circus
Lore Lixenberg
Mikael Hegelund Martinsen Beats Across Borders
Andy Morton
Paula McFetridge, Artistic Director, Kabosh Theatre 
Nigel Osborne, Emeritus Professor and composer
Robert Rice 
Clare Shine, Vice President and Chief Program Officer, Salzburg Global Seminar

​

In Get Close to Opera, the partners in most cases were delightful, experienced, concerned and delivered interesting and thoughtful work. We all had our roles and we all took our tasks seriously, whether web site design, research, translation, delivering training for the residential week, actively participating in the social media plans, etc.,  We all did far more work than we had been paid for, as is usual with any project, and, in particular, if you are not on a salary. The commitment was obvious. 
 
There was a good mixture of organisations, RESEO, the International Association for Higher Education in Opera and Ballet, the University of Patras, Greece, ESART, in Spain , The European Network of Migrant Women, highly skilled and our moral compass and us, for the UK, the opera company. Each of us had a project manager and we were lucky enough to work with Foteini Galanopoulou, highly skilled in delivering EU projects and with a deep knowledge of inclusion and access in the arts.

In any EU funded project I think it must be very difficult to deliver a piece of work where everyone agrees about everything, we certainly didn’t, but there have been many benefits and learning from the various topics being researched.

In the vitally important context of dealing with Nationalism and Fascism across Europe and really making a difference to all our millions of new citizens, we probably didn’t move mountains. On the other hand we changed some minds, we had important discussions and presentations in large opera houses and small towns and their village halls. We had an opportunity to create small projects reflective of our learning and we did this one…Conversation on Portland which seems to have resonated with a  lot of people.  

We were able to invite three people to work with us in Matera during a training week in February 2019. Opera Circus were lucky enough to be able to invite Nadine Benjamin, Ruth Mariner and Katherine Harri.  They were a vital part of the Conversation on Portland pilot project.
 
We all agreed that GOOD COMMUNICATION is vital always and every time and that it’s not easy. The other is respecting everyone equally and acknowledging everyone's contribution, no matter how small. Creating good and thoughtful partnerships is always hard and there is never enough time to develop these properly. There should be time to talk about values and principles and do we share them, the use of language and the differences, social behaviour, work practice. There is usually the assumption that you put people into a room and somehow we all innately get on and know how to work with each other.  It has made us consider a partnership development process prior to any project, however short, to ensure that there is an understanding before we start and that there are points during a project where we can question and discuss together. It can't just be about outputs and outcomes, data and timelines. 
 
I learnt a great deal from watching Paolo Montemurro from Matera Hub and his incredibly diplomatic and patient project management.

We all were given the gift of being able to visit each other’s cities and countries, Patras in Greece, wonderful food and a culture of deep hospitality, Brussels, learning to love this city, its different quarters and its Turkish food, being able to hold our heads up in tiny Bridport with the support of a local landowners beautiful accommodation and the Jurassic Coast on a sunny early September evening. We had Matera. If you have never been you should go once in your life. Italy is so richly full of beauty and cultural sites but Matera’s strangeness and darkness sits with you and you can believe the Gods exist deep inside their caves. It is unique and a privilege to have been able to work in such an ancient environment.

The great and unique thing about Erasmus + KA2 Partnership funding (GCTO) is that you can actually pay people, unlike KA1 which only pays expenses for travel, accommodation etc, but no fees. KA2 you can get paid, not massively by UK standards, but very welcome in a world where less and less funders want to pay the people who actually organise the work, as if somehow it gets done by magic.

I didn’t realise quite how “freelance” the UK is and how much of an anathema this is to the EU. I don’t think they quite get it.  As much as I love them and don’t want to leave, much of the Erasmus work we have delivered since 2012 as had sometimes been managed as volunteers.  It’s not always possible to find match funding. You also learn the hard way the difference between our financial reporting, rigorous enough as it is, and the gruesome task that is the EU’s requirements.  
 
We, apparently are going to carry on being able to access some EU funds till December 2020 and possibly beyond.

The number of organisations in the UK who have applied for these funds over the years has been very small in comparison to the hoards in Europe who apply.  We estimate in 10 years we have raised around €500,000 (remember no fees and no core funding is included in this sum, only accommodation, travel, visas, and some funding for those who need special assistance to participate) from a mixture of Creative Europe, Youth in Action and Erasmus funding. Most of it has gone to give around 1600 young people from 14 partners (UK (lots from Dorset and London, Manchester, Blackburn, Brighton +), Italy, Georgia, Portugal, Serbia, Romania, Kosovo, Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina) the chance to travel and experience other cultures, learn about themselves and their creativity, access a huge number of opportunities from higher education, finding work, learning new skills and responsibilities, finding support and long term mentorship, participating in youth activism, to being part of an international network of friends - even a marriage! 
 
Nothing worthwhile is easy but while we still can, we encourage you to apply for some funding.

Take a look . There are lots of places to seek advice.

ERASMUS + FUNDING 
Next deadlines April and October 2020
 
As we leave this flawed union, I feel my heart going darker and heavier. I am a European, I grew up deeply imbued with European Culture, my Culture, and it seems to me that taking it away is a criminal act.  I can only hope I live long enough to see the new and far more socially active and caring next generations, demanding to return.  
 
Below are a few of the many hundreds of photographs taken, mostly by Robert Golden (you will be able to tell the difference), of some moments from the many projects we have created with artists, organisers, carers, young people and their communities since 2004 both in the UK and in Europe. They are in no particular date order. At one point we will try and give each a title but don't have the time at the moment. All the projects have been mostly funded by the EU grants for young people's activities with often additional support from Arts Council England and others, including regular crowdfunding. So many people involved, so much skill and creativity, so much love and willingness to work towards the change we must have. Memories, memories!

There have been many names for the projects, Wake Up!, Simply Human, Like a Film in my Mind and
The Complete Freedom of Truth.

The latest project along with Changing the Story is Izazov! and in 2020, the next Erasmus + funded project is called, Freedom is Participation in Power - Building Youth Activism. (TBC)
​
More information soon

Tina Ellen Lee Artistic
​Director and Creative Producer 
​Opera Circus
​19th January 2020

Today on the 4th November is the first day of rehearsals for Silent City. The sun is shining in this beautiful city as we take a small bus to the dance studio and disco which will be our creative home for one month.

Performances are on the 29th and 30th November and 1st December. See more details below.

Silent City is a dream for Vania Cauzillo and Alessandra Maltempo, the two directors of the artistic collective and lead Production Company, Compagnie Teatrale L'Albero in Matera.  A company that creates film, music theatre and arts education programmes. 

​James Bonas, Director with Tina Ellen Lee, Producer and Artistic Director of Opera Circus have brought together a team of artists from the UK and Belgium with one of Italy’s great production managers, Paolo Belluso to collaborate with the Italian artists and others to create the first community opera in this region, Silent City.

Nigel Osborne is the composer and music mediator with the community, Ubah Cristina Ali Farah, the Librettist, Cydney Uffindell-Phillips the Choreographer and Movement Director. Rob Casey is Lighting Designer and Bruno Soriato the Set Designer. Andrea Ciommiento, the fine dramaturg and Gino Marangi, the artist/facilitator in particular working with the children. Zakk Hein is creating video projections for the opera.

​We are all lucky to be working with the superb innovative orchestra from Bologna, Orchestra Senza Spine with the composer and conductor Tommaso Ussardi, who is the music director and conductor for Silent City.
 
Open Design School, a project of Matera 2019 are building the platforms and set parts with design by Bruno Sartori who is responsible for all the design elements.
 
Special mention must be made of Professor Fabrizio Festa and his team from the Conservatorio in Matera who have worked with Nigel Osborne and Peter Nelson in a collaboration between Matera and Edinburgh, to create the electronic soundscape and score.  This was made possible with support and funding from Opera Circus, Nigel Osborne with the University of Edinburgh and the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh.
 
There will be a complete list of all those who have participated in building this Italian/UK collaboration shortly and to all those who have made this dream a reality. 

​At the heart of the work is the community, the children and older people in Matera who have shared their stories and melodies and will be performing alongside the singers, dancers and actors.  Without them, this community opera would have no meaning and we thank them for all their work in helping and advising us during the process.

The performance space is being created in a disco - which is currently for sale and someone should buy it and turn it into an off-fringe receiving venue for Basilicata and Southern Italy before it becomes storage space.  

HOW TO GET TO MATERA AND SEE THE OPERA:

​More information about silent City on the Matera2019 programme.
Tickets and times of performances will be found on this link from November 12th
​
SILENT CITY
 
Ryanair flies directly from Stansted
Alitalia flies via other Italian airports.
You can fly to Naples and travel the rest of the way by bus, which, from personal experience, isn't that reliable
There is no train to Matera.
The buses from Bari to Matera and return are wonderful and only €3.
https://getbybus.com/en/bus-bari-airport-to-matera
 
Plenty of good and reasonable accommodation – even now.

Buy your Matera 2019 passport from here
and this will give you access to all sorts of things in the city including the opera and bus travel for only €19.
 
https://www.matera-basilicata2019.it/en/ticket/terms-and-conditions-for-matera-2019-passport.html
 
The food and wine are of course, wonderful.
https://discoverbasilicata.com/about-basilicata/fooddrink/
 
If you have never been to Matera come and see the opera and spend a weekend in this staggeringly beautiful city.

All Photographs by Robert Golden.

​More information soon.

 The TCFT Team (as part of Opera Circus) are producing 4 days of art, conversation, forum theatre and the first International Youth Short Film Festival in Bridport.  
​There will be more information shortly on the TCFT and Opera Circus web sites/social media.

Led by young people from the UK and Bosnia.

29th October
A day of conversation and activism for Human Rights and the Rights Respecting programme for Children and the Town through Forum Theatre, Spoken Word, Photography/film and Painting. 10 - 5 Bridport Town Hall with David Powell, Rosie Russell, River, Rory Newbery, Shaniqua Benjamin, Ricky Romain and others. TBA.
Maximum number 30 ages 16 - 30

30th October International Young People's Short Film Festival
Creating Bridport's first international youth film festival at The Electric Palace with workshops including Robert Golden and film screenings with short films from the Changing the Story project Izazov! and others.

The Forum Theatre and other work continues at the Town Hall. Forum Theatre led by River Associate Trained Artist with Cardboard Citizens.

In the evening we have a screening of Don't be Nice with Q and A as part of the Spoken Word workshops led by Shaniqua Benjamin.  There will be a donation of £5 to help cover costs including popcorn. This is a massive gift to TCFT by the film makers as the film has only been shown in the UK at Rich Mix. It is a multi award winner in the USA and a complete inspiration.
Door and Bar open at 6pm
Screenings and presentations from 7pm - 9.30pm
Electric Palace
​
31st October
The creative work continues.

1st November Cabaret and Conversation and Supper
6.30 for 7.00 pm - 9pm in Bridport's Historic Town Hall.
A sharing of the week's work and conversation with supper.
This is for everyone and will include Forum Theatre, Music, Painting, Spoken Word and much else. 
Access available through the lift on the ground floor - tourist board entrance

With special thanks to Symondsbury Manor, Electric Palace, Bridport Town Council, Dorset Community Foundation
​with Dorset Performing Arts Fund and many others. 
Full list of all contributions and thanks to follow shortly.

What happens next?

Please put the dates in your diary.
Events Booking Form for the Film Festival and Cabaret Night opens on 10 October.
Crowdfunding Campaign starts on 10 October 
London events information updated by 12 October








​

​This is the second year of our work on the Erasmus + partnership project Get Close to Opera, run by the highly efficient Matera Hub in the region of Basilicata Italy.  Excellent partners in European Network of Migrant Women, ESART, RESEO, University of Patras, Compagnie Teatrale L’Albero and us, where we have met in Brussels, Patras, Greece and Matera, Italy. 
​
We have explored for nearly two years the enigma that is informal arts education and its use as probably the most important tool we have to develop communication between humanity and our widely differing cultures.
 
GCTO is a research project, an experiment and a way of exploring informal arts education, in all its variety, including using Howard Gardener’s Multiple Intelligence Theory.  A fascinating look at how each human being has multiple ways of learning; also see Sir Ken Robinson. If we recognise and respond in 
more sensitive ways to our different intelligences then education can be much richer and more satisfying, rather than the more formal and one size fits all approach that most learning systems still use. MIT has been around for several decades and there are now many other learning theories and tools to resource but it has been an thought-provoking exploration.
 
The project aims to start a community of people that rethink cultural buildings including opera houses as spaces of social innovation, inclusion, cultural exchange and learning, for everyone.  At the heart of this exploration is how do we find a way to share our cultures with the new citizens that are arriving in our countries and not insist that they are only included in our own EU-based values.

​After much discussion we decided to explore what we called, A Conversation on Portland in Dorset. A 2 day exploration of how to start an informal arts project, who with and how to make it as inclusive and democratic as possible. Where to start? Who is part of this conversation?  How to use the arts in the community, who leads, who decides and what can we achieve in the long term. How can working through the arts make deep changes in our society possible?
 
We were welcomed to Portland by the arts and cultural organisation, b-side, who run an biennial arts festival on the island and Friends of b-side, volunteers and residents who support the work of the organisation.
 
Portland was  chosen not just because of its poverty or natural history/landscape, but because b-side already extend the philosophy and practice of participation and co-creation into their work as an arts organisation and are truly embedded and committed to the island as well as b-side’s openness to bringing people from the local community into the organisation. Invaluable contributions were given by Friends of b-side, volunteers on the island who help support the festival.  We would like to thank Tanja, Gina, Charlie, Hazel, Sally and Molly for their involvement, support and welcome.
 
Portland has many challenges including over 40% of its children are below the poverty line. At the same time it is a place of wild beauty and legendary paths, a towering Victorian prison and soaring stones and sculptures.

We invited a rich mixture of people and were delighted to welcome so many from Dorset Council, The Arts Development Company, the British Red Cross, The Shire Hall, Museum of Justice, The Centre for Seldom Heard Voices at Bournemouth University, Hearts and Dreams, an organisation working with young refugees and displaced people, Def-Explorer, Sir John Colfox School and St. Mary’s Primary School, several artists, young producers and even an Erasmus intern from Nimes in France.

The work was underpinned by the participation of Opera Circus in the Structured Dialogue process as part of Voices of Culture in Brussels in 2018. Social inclusion in 2018 https://voicesofculture.eu/2019/05/16/social-inclusion-partnering-with-other-sectors-2/and then reading the report of Dialogue on the Inclusion of Refugees and Migrants through Culture in 2015 https://voicesofculture.eu/2019/05/16/the-inclusion-of-refugees-migrants-through-culture-2/

We learnt a great deal from Foteini Galanopoulou about disability awareness, inclusive practices and creating barrier-free processes. An arts and cultural project manager, and access advisor, working in disability-led art companies and with independent disabled artists as a freelance producer. (http://www.foteinig.net/about-2/)
She delivered the session on accessibility during the training week in Matera, Italy (February 2019), but sadly couldn’t be with us in Portland.
More information about the training week earlier this year can be found on the GCTO web site.  ​

We will be writing a full report and sharing our conversations and views on co-creation and community involvement.

 A brief summary of the two days conversation. Thank you to Molly Scarborough for the notes. We are working on a more detailed report to share with everyone.
 
SUMMARY OF 31ST JULY (AS TOLD ON 1ST AUGUST) 

• Co-creation needs to be fully inclusive. It needs to include people in the conversation before the project is pitched / decided. 
• Conversations need to happen around barriers with participants before the project has started 
• Allow participants to have more control / power in the project 
• Go to where people are. Organisations should step outside of their comfort zone.
• Sometimes projects come and go – this isn’t helpful. Leaving doesn’t help anybody. Projects need to be sustained and have sustained contact with participants / co-creators. Permanent residence. 

Some identified issues / conversation points on the Island: 

• A lot of zero-hour contracts and seasonal jobs 
• Reliance on food banks in the area
• Prisons 
• The education system isn’t up to par 

How can the arts be used to give people a voice or share stories?

• Portland is often overshadowed by Weymouth 
• The new council might give Portland more of a say 
• The community needs to come together to document the social history
• We need to collect and tell stories from now. Use story telling. 
• Create things people can relate and engage with 
• Open up conversations, always 
• We need to step outside of threatening buildings 
• The Spirit of Portland documents and tells the story of the old Portland (stone masonry & fishing) not the new and current 
• Weymouth & Portland should establish a stronger relationship as the borough is separated from the rest of Dorset. Funding stops at the ridgeway. We’re under the ridgeway. 
• Communities are able to create quality art (who says what is and isn’t quality art?) 
• How much is created for community? How much is created for tourism? Creation vs consumption 
• “The lights in Weymouth are for tourists. Not for the local communities or their quality of life 
• Town Council Consultations don’t work. The council doesn’t seem to listen. What can we do instead? 
• Communities need to know their place better - 
  “Know about your place better then you can be filled with pride” 
• “The stories never stop coming and they never remain the same” 

1st AUGUST
When do organisations need to step aside? 
There needs to be opportunity for audience to reflect openly. Not answering prescribed questions. 
Organisations need to allow more time to reflect and adapt. Evaluation of projects could lead to doing it differently – like collaborations. Organisations shouldn’t step aside they should be persistent. Organisations should continue to utilise their contacts and resources but ensure they are working in a way that is helpful to participants / co-creators. 
Organisations / artists need to mindful and not infiltrate a world that they shouldn’t. Be mindful and aware of your own intentions. 
Be willing to listen, learn and understand.
Up/increase-mentorship 
How do organisations create sustained projects that do not overwork or exploit the participants? 
How do arts organisations need to go outside their comfort zone / location to engage new people?

• Do the non-involved want to be found? 
• Know boundaries 
• Don’t group people together and label them as ‘bame’ etc… allow people to participate because of themselves, their interests, not their labels 
• Let individuals tell their own story 
• Allow individuals to have their own experience, recognise it and celebrate it 

Creative thinking leads you to a new lifestyle. Once you’ve done it once, you know it is possible. You can do it again. 
SUMMARY OF CONVERSATIONS
Challenges = poverty, accessibility (buses etc), education 
Trust. Need to take time to understand a community. Work with them and build trust. 
Using arts as a vehicle for communication. 
Include people right from the beginning.