Art In The Docks Archives

Exhibition forms part of Newham Black History Month with a focus on African and Caribbean culture

Image shows a woman with braided hair in a denim jacket — The Social Art Of Braided Hair will be on show from October 18-20 and 26-27

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BY LAURA ENFIELD

The practice of combining strands of hair has been around for thousands of years. But it is about much more than creating a neat appearance.

Exhibition The Social Art of Braided Hair will showcase it as an art form and the people who design it as artists.

The show has been produced by Royal Docks collective Art In The Docks with Stratford-based social enterprise Nurture Academy.

It will be open to the public on October 18-20 and 26-27 as part of Newham Black History Month.

Matilda Russell from Art In The Docks tells us more about the people and ideas behind it.

what can visitors expect?

The Social Art of Braided Hair is a photo essay positioning the cultural and social importance of braided hair.

All of the work being shown in the exhibition is contemporary to Newham Black History Month.

Rather than images of professional models with carefully manicured hair shot in soft focus, this show centres entirely on local east Londoners, shown as they really are.

the meaning behind it?

As well as portraying braided hair as an art form and the people who wear it as living artworks, the exhibition will show the powerful social impact of braided hair.

The time spent between a mother and child braiding hair is a deeply bonding moment.

The legacy hair design remains as a visual reminder of a time spent together.

what is Art In The Docks?

We are an artist-led social enterprise in east London, committed to making art and culture accessible to people who might otherwise feel excluded.

Regular events, activities and workshops are delivered to the local communities, as well as exhibitions, dance and theatre performances. These are free and open to everyone.

what is Nurture Academy?

It’s also a social enterprise based in east London working with individuals of all ages to promote and understand the significance of braided hair.

The organisation nurtures, mentors and teaches individuals lifelong skills while unlocking confidence.

As well as working with families and young children, Nurture Academy shines a pathway into new career directions for ex-offenders and the long term unemployed.

Image shows the back of a woman's head with braided hair in place — Art In The Docks has worked with Nurture Academy to create the exhibition

how have you worked together?

Nurture Academy promotes the understanding of braided hair, its cultural significance and the techniques used.

While braiding skills are often handed down from one generation to another and practised between siblings and friends, Nurture Academy teaches people how to optimise these techniques in workshop environments.

The exhibition will include images of these workshops, and the teaching methods used. Several of these workshops will accompany the exhibition on Saturday, October 19, 2024, and will be totally free to access.

what inspired the exhibition?

This project came about as the result of shared values between both Art In The Docks and Nurture Academy.

Both are committed to showing how the capacity for creativity fundamentally defines who we are as a civilisation.

The title of the exhibition reflects these values and highlights the importance of societal reference points.

why is it important?

Much has been said about braided hair and cultural appropriation. In the same way that tattoos are ‘not just for sailors’, exclusive title to the of art braided hair cannot today be claimed by any one section of society.

However, there is no doubt that it is deeply rooted in black African and black Caribbean culture and we have chosen this as the central theme to this exhibition.

This visual human story will be told in 22 frames, each the same size and dimension. It will centre on the people we see around us every day and invite us to stop and look, maybe to learn.

key details: The Social Art Of Braided Hair

The event runs October 18-20 and 26-27 at Art In The Docks in Royal Albert Dock, a short walk from Gallions Reach DLR station.

Find full details of the exhibition here

Image shows traders at a Black Pound Market — Black Pound Markets are set to take place on October 12 and 19

more to do during Black History Month

Newham Black History Month is here offering free talks, workshops, markets, and musical performances.

The programme runs from October 4 to November 4, 2024, with the theme Reclaiming Narratives, dedicated to addressing historical inaccuracies and seizing control of stories, allegories, and histories.

It has been organised by Newham Council as part of its 15-year Building Newham’s Creative Future Cultural Strategy, launched in March 2022.

Mayor Of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz said: “Black History Month provides a crucial opportunity for us to recognise and celebrate the immense contributions of black African and Caribbean communities to our borough and beyond.

“This celebration is not only a reflection on the past, but also a source of empowerment for our present and future.”

Councillor Rohit Dasgupta, deputy cabinet member for equalities, social justice and culture said: “Through this celebration, we aim to challenge ignorance, prejudice, and racial hatred, and to build a more inclusive and harmonious society.”

Black Pound Markets

A celebration of Newham’s black businesses and entrepreneurs featuring music and entertainment for the whole family.

Saturday, October 12, 9am to 3pm at Woodgrange Market

Saturday, October 19, from noon to 4pm at Rathbone Market

My Story Is Of Healing

Two workshops produced by East London-based mixed-media artist Marilyn J Fontaine.

The first is Rewriting the Health Narrative Of Black Women on Tuesday October, 15. It will explore the link between emotional healing, black women’s activism and care provided for black women, referencing Dr Angela Davis and Dr Melba Wilson.

Participants will create an “emotional genogram” using coloured pens, fabric and self-portraits followed by reflections and discussions.

The second is Women’s Rest is Resilience on Thursday, October 17. It will be an exploration of language around black women (sacrifice, resilience, endurance) and community organisations in the 1980s and 1990s in Newham who delivered art workshops for the black community to support mental wellbeing.

Creative activities will be used to craft a new narrative to reflect the relationship between self-care, community empowerment and wellbeing. Participants are required to bring a picture of themselves.

October 15 and 17, 6-8.30pm, Applecart Arts, The Passmore Edwards Library, 207 Plashet Grove, E6 1BX

Improving Black Health

An event focused on enhancing the health and well-being of Londoners within the black community.

It will include discussions on various health topics affecting the Black population.

The aim is to hear and understand the health experiences of individuals from black communities in order to initiate a discussion on addressing long-standing health and wellbeing inequities, explore culturally appropriate public health strategies for combating chronic conditions such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes and discuss and develop strategies to improve health outcomes for patients from the black community at a local level.

Friday, October 18, 6-7.30pm, City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, E16 1ZE

Art Workshop Inspired By Professor Sonia Boyce

Part of a series of events to reclaim narratives by exploring the political innovations, artistic achievements and cuisine of black residents and how they have contributed to life in Newham and further afield.

This event will focus on the trail-blazing career of Dame Sonia Boyce. The British Afro-Caribbean artist and educator is a Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London. She explores art as a social practice and has been closely collaborating with other artists since 1990.

In 2016, she became the first black female to be elected to the Royal Academy Of Arts in London.

Wednesday, October 23 (time TBC), Custom House Bookshop, 3 Freemasons Road, E16 3AR

Finale: From Beats to Legacy – 30 Years of Black British Influence

A showcase of grime music, film, poetry and a special guest Q&A. More details TBC.

Saturday, October 26, 6-9pm, Stratford Old Town Hall

Find full details of Newham Black History Month here

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

The Royal Albert Wharf-based creative talks dinosaurs and intuitive working in the studio

Charlie Tymms with her T-Rex puppet – image Matt Grayson

Royal Albert Wharf might look like a relatively ordinary residential area – brick clad oblongs arranged sensitively around both the waters of the dock and the older buildings in the area. But look behind the doors and windows of its lower floors and you’ll find a thriving community of artists and makers.

The presence of Bow Arts and Art In The Docks – which recently opened its artist-led project space at the development – ensures a rolling programme of public activities, helping the work spill out to a larger audience.

So when puppet maker Charlie Tymms, strapped and velcroed into her latest creation, steps out onto the quayside – tail whipping behind her – it only causes a minimal stir.

The beast is one of a series of creatures she has made for The Dinosaur Show, a new production that enjoyed its maiden run at the Blue Orange Theatre in August. It’s also her first ever single-person puppet.

“He’s a really naughty character on stage and chases after the palaeontologist and nicks sweets out of her rucksack – he’s delightful,” said Charlie.

“While we were doing our research and development for this project – a really important part of the process – we had a puppeteer, the puppetry director, two producers and myself play around for three days with basic prototypes.

“It was really good fun because it quickly became The Dinosaur Show That Went Wrong.

“We had the size of the theatre marked out on the floor and the sheer scale of the T-Rex – with its huge tail knocking things over – was where the part of the story about this one being really naughty came from.”

One of Charlie's sketches for the T-Rex — One of Charlie’s sketches for the T-Rex – image Matt Grayson

Collaboration has been a constant feature of Charlie’s career, which began when she was asked to do some scenic painting 25 years ago for her mum’s friend. She went on to work in set design and fell into her current area of expertise “by accident”.

“In terms of puppetry, which I now specialise in, I was asked to sculpt a full-size elephant – a massive polystyrene thing – with four people inside for the legs that could carry a small child on its back,” she said.

“It was for a Michael Morpurgo show called Running Wild and through that process I met this amazing puppet-maker called Nick Barnes, who is very well established. I’ve been making with him for years – almost as an apprentice – on loads and loads of projects. Then, through that, I’ve been gradually doing my own projects.

“With Nick I’ve tended to be the sculptor and painter, while he designs all the armatures and mechanisms.

“It’s a really nice process because everybody gets involved at some point – the puppeteers and the people producing the shows. I’ve gravitated towards collaborative projects because I like working with other people.”

Every project Charlie takes on is different but all her puppet creations involve translating an idea into a physical form that can be manipulated.

“For the T-Rex, I made the first model out of cheap plumbing pipes to try out the length of it and the harness,” she said.

“In the end the frame became more of a rigid structure as I decided on the best form of engineering for one puppeteer and the easiest way for them to control the dinosaur.

“I’m a very intuitive maker, so I don’t generally pre-design – I do it on the hoof but I do loads of anatomical research, so I’ve got hundreds of pictures of skeletons of T-Rexes – their skulls and anatomy – and loads of sketches.

“Then you start with the human and build it around them. In the end you want to ask the audience to believe that this thing has a life and a spirit.

“The puppeteers are amazing creatures in themselves, because they can bring things to life, but the maker can help the process enormously by where they position all the joints and where the strength needs to be to operate the puppet.

“So, with T-Rex the thighs are really important, because they’re just so massive – along with the head and the tail – visually they are the anchor points.

“Then the audience can use their imagination to fill in the gaps. In this model, for example, there is no rib cage.”

Charlie demonstrates another puppet – image Matt Grayson

Those aged three and over watching The Dinosaur Show, will also have to use their imaginations when it comes to another of her puppets.

“We knew quite early on we wanted a large head of a brachiosaurus coming out and looking over the tree canopy, then craning into the audience,” said Charlie.

“I wanted to make it really huge, but that would have been too terrifying so a head on a long neck is what we’ve ended up with. The children will be able to feed it leaves as it swings out.”

Charlie, who has produced owls for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, been on puppet hospital duty for Wes Anderson’s Isle Of Dogs movie and created a Toto out of gingham scraps for Wizard Of Oz at the Chichester Festival, said watching her puppets in performance was always a mixture of anxiety and joy if the audience liked the show.

“With every job you learn a little bit more about how to do things in a better way, to solve problems,” she said. “It’s a very inventive life, which I love.

“Puppetry is definitely having a renaissance partly down to the success of His Dark Materials and especially War Horse, which put the puppet at the centre of the story.

“It was quite a radical statement for a theatre company to do that and it kind of lifted the genre.

“Then there’s Lyndie Wright of the Little Angel Theatre who’s a figurehead in our world and her daughter Sarah who set up the Curious School Of Puppetry a few years ago, that every year sees 12 puppeteers come out, which is having a real impact in terms of growth.

“Anyone interested in becoming a puppeteer should take a look at its website – curiouspuppetry.com.”

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Tag: Art In The Docks

Royal Docks: How puppet-maker Charlie Tymms creates magic through movement

The Royal Albert Wharf-based creative talks dinosaurs and intuitive working in the studio