Goodbye to ARKA and Volunteering at the Heart of Community; Blog 163

Dzień dobry

So its finally the morning after the night before! And the ARKA project is over. The motley and happy crew flies off this morning from Stansted and Southend airports back to Wroclaw. 

And so it is that my final project for Arc after almost thirty years in the driving seat is complete. I haven't had much time to think about this in the midst of the machinations of curating an international visit, but its what is there for me this morning - the final chapter.

The ARKA visit was great and yesterday's involvement with the Happiness and Wellbeing Festival in Barking town centre gave our guests a taste of our community here, a pulse and heart beat of the culture that is burgeoning.All round the day brought much fun and later back to Jasmine Street for supper on the terrace, lovingly prepared by Amari, and with the addition of a huge pot of delicious pasta prepared and donated by Aleya Chowdry. That and a big bag of fresh vegetables grown by Kathy Mason from Plantastic Prescription Gardens which arrived seemingly from nowhere. Its been that kind of project.... unexpected daily moments of kindness and giving. And this generosity has been manifest in many ways. 

When I decided on this hairbrain notion to invite ARKA to Arc back in April I realised that August was possibly the most challenging time to do so given that virtually the entire Arc team would be on holiday. Fortunately Arc's Community Portfolio director Josh has been around and its been great working with him as always. But he's waiting for the birth of his first child and at the same time moving home - so has much to juggle. No news yet.

What this has meant for me is the need to gather a team of willing and committed volunteers to help me to make the visit happen, and I am truly grateful to Ann Nixon (see her comment posted below), Val Jones, Amari, Maciej, Cameron and Anula for being there for the ARKA team throughout and to Aleya, Mercy and Kathy for their contributions as well as to all our donors of course.Its the first time I have had the privilege of leading a mostly volunteer team, and its been wonderful. I think it has brought out the best in all of us - the giving for the sheer pleasure of taking part is something very precious. Its not about money or hours, its about pure energy, commitment and initiative - bags of it. And love too. Experiences like this lift us all up and remind us what it means to belong and play our different parts. The smooth (and not so smooth at times!) running of the project is down to these guys, a gift given freely without counting the cost. Thank you to you all for believing in it and making it happen. 

And so last night's show was wonderful, a great response from the audience who once relaxed into its raw and physical style allowed the images and emotions to take them to another world, the interior continent that is the imagined Stephen Hawkings. The audience was mostly local, and a couple from Dagenham who had heard about the show by chance said that they felt they had uncovered a hidden jewel here in Barking. It bodes well for the future of the development of the Malthouse Performance Studio here at the Icehouse Quarter. Its early days and you don't build an audience over night, but I feel that we have taken our first important baby steps in that direction and am looking forward to the next ones at Jasmine Street.

So today is about clearing, cleaning, closing doors and returning keys. And next week I will turn my attention to website building for Jasmine Street, Bread and Hunnies and the commencement of my new projects - one of which is to devise and direct a new piece for ARKA next year. My meeting with Renata - ARKA's Artistic Director yesterday firmed up some of the plans and ideas. I am minded to make a piece about beauty and difference. We'll see.

In the meantime I look forward to an ongoing creative dialogue with Arc and hope we might collaborate again sometime in the future. Its been a blast.

Have a lovely Sunday.