Great War MK Project Update

Great War MK is a collaborative project led by the Arts & Heritage Alliance Milton Keynes (AHA-MK). It explores the impact of the First World War on the communities of Milton Keynes – an area now covering six towns, 41 villages and 1/4 million people – through research, commemorative events, participatory learning activity and community workshops.

This Heritage Lottery funded project enables partners from the AHA-MK membership collectively to commemorate not only the stories from 100 years ago but also their legacy for modern Milton Keynes. Our aim is to inspire active participation amongst both native and new communities in Milton Keynes – in interviews, workshops and creative activities to produce informative and engaging new works. Great War MK will generate film screenings, music, dance, performances, archive material, exhibitions and installations, all of which will give fresh insights into the turmoil – and creativity – of those times.

If you want to get involved with Great War MK you can attend a workshop or come along to an event, all listed here or get in touch here.

You can find out more about the projects on our Vimeo page: http://vimeo.com/greatwarmk and Facebook www.Facebook.com/GreatWarMK or follow @AHA_MK #GreatWarMK on Twitter.

Great War MK Programmes and Events

Festive Road – Milton Keynes-based carnival company Festive Road are building full
size WW1 tank that will form the backdrop to their new performance informed by the tensions and challenges of frontline fighting. This outdoor artwork will be presented at night in various locations around Milton Keynes.

The Banner Project – Working with a talented textiles artist, Vinny Stapley, Westbury Arts Centre aims to create over 500 banners informed by the stories and memories of WW1. These beautiful commemorative banners will then be used to create a large-scale dance performance. Working with renowned choreographers Helen Parlor, Effie McGuire-Ward and Chris Bradley, a team of over 100 dancers will take part in this act of remembrance.

Cowper & Newton Museum – Working with Olney RFC the Cowper & Newton Museum will stage a commemorative Rugby match in January 2015 – in memory of local hero Edgar Mobbs. The Museum is also developing a Songs and Poetry Evening and an energetic Old Time Music Hall, breathing life into 100 year old music and verse, as well as presenting a new animation inspired by life in the trenches.

Frontline – MK Gallery is working with four local schools to explore the concept of conflict and how artists have represented war and wartime in their work. Groups of students will be visiting the Imperial War Museum and working with artists to develop their own artworks – culminating in an exhibition at MK Gallery project space in June 2015.

Living Archive – Working with a group of talented young people, professional musician Steven McDaniels will be supporting the development of new songs and music inspired by the WW1 stories held by Living Archive. These new songs will be performed at an event in May 2015. In addition, Living Archive will be developing digital stories bringing new life to re-mastered Living Archive Band recordings.

Independent Cinema MK – Local independent cinema company ICMK is exploring the ideas of propaganda and truth in their work creating stop-time animations with school children. These animations will form part of several ‘WW1 style’ screening events to take place around Milton Keynes, alongside other WW1 relevant film and footage.

Serving King and Country – Deanshanger Village Heritage Society have undertaken a research project to uncover information about the village in the WW1 period. Research will uncover life on the home front, those that served, those in reserved occupations – working on the land and at the famous E & H Roberts Iron Foundry. This project will result in exhibitions, creative workshops with school children, walks and archive material.

MK Heritage Association – Through support from MKHA, these local history projects also form part of Great War MK. These include:

Simpson History Group’s research project to better understand the lives of the men represented on their war memorial, work to restore the local memorials and production of a booklet to commemorate their sacrifice.
Bucks Constabulary Museum’s WW1 exhibition
North Crawley Historical Society’s research project to track and commemorate all those who fought and died from their village, producing an exhibition and booklet.

November 12, 2014

Seasonal Fayre @Westbury_Arts

Westbury Seasonal Fayre

Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd November 2014, 11am – 4pm

Come down to Westbury Arts Centre for a festive seasonal fayre – Westbury artists will be opening their studios, we have at least 20 stall holders in the house and the barn selling arts, crafts and produce.

There will be live entertainment – including the stilt-walking elves!!! Art activities for all the family and lots of refreshments.

October 8, 2014

Want to know what’s going on in Milton Keynes?

AHA-MK has been working closely with Total MK to promote events and projects – we have been very pleased with the service provided by Sammy and we hope that you will be too.

Total MK says:

‘Make Total MK your one-stop ‘shop’ for all your leisure needs. Total MK is bursting with what’s on, theatre and music news, together with competitions, beauty and lots more.

To share your news, promote your events or advertise with MKs dedicated leisure site contact editor Sammy Jones by emailing info@thisistotalmk.co.uk ‘

September 4, 2014

Heritage Open Days, 11th – 14th September

This year Heritage Opens Days is bigger than ever. With 50 FREE events to choose from you’ll be spoilt for choice. Use this oppotunity to explore somewhere new, learn about a new place or visit somewhere you have never been before.

Click the link below to view the brochure: http://www.livingarchive.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/MK-HODS-2014final.pdf

The Milton Keynes Heritage Open Days website is here: http://www.mkheritage.org.uk/hodmk/

July 14, 2014

Art in the Park returns to Campbell Park with food, art music and more, #MadeinMK

MK Islamic Arts, Heritage and Culture Group presents their annual art of integration festival, bringing a diverse selection of art, food and events to Campbell Park. August 2nd and 3rd 2014, Saturday 1-7pm and Sunday 1-6pm. Everybody welcome, Free Entry!

Highlights include: Art wall, Healthy food cook-off, Funfair, Bouncy Castle, Face painting, Henna art design, Tug-of-war, Story telling, Fashion shows, Calligraphy and Geometry workshops and much more…

Art in the Park

You can download this flyer here: MKIAC Flyer Festival

July 3, 2014

#MadeinMK launched at MK Gallery ‘Cadences’ preview

Our Made in MK summer programme, back by popular demand for 2014, was launched at the MK Gallery ‘Cadences’ preview on 26th June 2014.

Between 26^th June and 14^th September Made in MK will showcase the unmissable events that are taking place in Milton Keynes.

There are opportunities to come along to exhibitions, workshops, open days, craft events and performances. Made in MK will appeal to all ages and many events will be free. The larger events within Made in MK include the International Festival, MK Festival Fringe and the Walking with Giants Parade, MK Gallery’s summer show, World Picnic, Art in the Park cultural festival Proms in the Park and Heritage Open Days.

In the next few weeks look out for Love Milton Keynes photography exhibition at MK Hospital (http://mkartsforhealth.org.uk), Shakespeare in the Park – 4th July at Willen Lake (http://www.theparkstrust.com), Westbury Fair – 5th July at Westbury Arts Centre (http://www.westburyartscentre.co.uk), MK Museum Country Fair – 13th July at MK Museum (http://www.mkmuseum.org.uk), MK Disability Awareness Day – 13th July at MK Rose (http://www.theparkstrust.com) and much, much more. Do take a look at our listings page for the whole programme.

To find out more about the full event programme across the summer visit www.aha-mk.org/MadeinMK. You can also follow Made in MK on Twitter using #MadeinMK or find us on Facebook and hear about our events on MKFM.

Made in MK is being co-ordinated by the Arts and Heritage Alliance Milton Keynes (AHA-MK), with support from its members and MK Council. Media partners are MK Citizen, MKFM and TotalMK.

June 19, 2014

#GreatWarMK website now live

‘Great War MK – From Conflict to Cosmopolis’ is a collaborative project led by the Arts & Heritage Alliance Milton Keynes (AHA-MK). It explores the impact of the First World War on the communities of Milton Keynes – an area now covering six towns, 41 villages and 1/4 million people – and examines their evolution from a time of conflict to that of cosmopolitan opportunities.

This Heritage Lottery funded project enables partners from the AHA-MK membership collectively to celebrate not only the stories from 100 years ago but also their legacy for modern Milton Keynes. Our aim is to inspire active participation amongst both native and new communities in Milton Keynes – in interviews, workshops and creative activities. Great War MK will generate film screenings, performances and exhibitions, all of which will give fresh insights into the turmoil – and creativity – of those times.

You can see the website and blog for Great War MK at www.GreatWarMK.org.uk as the projects get underway, the blog will be updated with information and images and details of workshops and events. Our Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/GreatWarMK

March 28, 2014

Celebrating Post War Architecture with photographer James Smith

A Brutal Wilderness copyright James Smith

On the the 5th March 2014 AHA-MK welcomed documentary photographer James Smith to speak at our Forum, below are a few highlights and thinking points from James’ talk. You can see more of James’ work on his website: http://j-smith.co.uk

With an encyclopaedic knowledge of New Towns and their development, James has completed signature projects in communities such as Corby, Milton Keynes, Hatfield, Luton, and most recently Harlow. Picking out often unnoticed or overlooked architectural detail; James’ photography looks at the cityscape in a brand new way.

James describes himself as a documentary photographer who carries out reconnaissance and research in the urban landscape. He is particularly interested in the period before regeneration takes place.

By exploring new places from an outsider’s point of view, James feels that he can provide a new perspective on a town or area – being a foreigner in a community or landscape allows an artist to take an objective point of view and to identify stories or aspects that are less obvious, and can be more effective, or moving.

James prefers to shoot on overcast days – providing an anti-subjective viewpoint with neither shadows, nor illumination from sunlight.

James has worked with councils and developers on projects to document change as it happens, to understand communities better and to look at how spaces are designed and used. These projects have helped communities to come together and aided developers in understanding the social and design challenges of their regeneration projects.

In many cases James has found that his work provides an opportunity for the parties involved in regeneration to take stock and perhaps to realise that although urban landscapes that are deteriorating need to be refurbished, by completely clearing and re-building our heritage is being destroyed.

James’ interest in post-war architecture and design principles has led him to work in new towns and his work clearly shows the different stages of construction and phases of new town buildings. It is now possible to see several generations of new town in the urban landscape of one area, providing interesting documentation of how these different architectural styles interact.

The image above is from Milton Keynes, and shows the ongoing fight of nature to exist and thrive in urban areas. With the continuous growth and development planned for Milton Keynes, James’ work suggests that the city might benefit from a process of documentation to collect and collate the changes that are being implemented now. There is a wealth of information relating to Milton Keynes’ early development, but how much is being captured now?

March 19, 2014

Highlights from Chairs Note March 2014

Arts Council Grant awarded

It was great to be able to announce at this week’s Forum that AHA has been awarded just under £30,000 by the Arts Council for our “MK Audiences” project. This is part of the Arts Council’s “Audience Finder” initiative launched over a year ago, which Adrienne Pye of the Audience Agency told us about at an AHA meeting in November 2012, with a view to creating an “MK cluster” within this national initiative.

New AHA website

Thanks to all of you who commented on the pilot version of the new AHA website recently circulated. The response was generally very positive, thanks to the enormous amount of work that has been put in. Suggestions have been taken on board wherever possible, and the new website will hopefully go live next week. The address is unchanged: http://www.aha-mk.org.

Discussions with thecentre:MK

Thanks to all those who sent in ideas of eventsexhibitions/activities AHA members might wish to mount in thecentre:MK. We took the whole list for discussion with the centre last week. They seemed impressed with many of the ideas and very positive about offering opportunities in the centre, and are due to get back to us next week.

Registering AHA as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation

Following the preparation of a draft for the Charities Commission, and discussion of this at our January AHA meeting, we have now made the formal submission to the CC. The process thereafter may take as little as a month, but it might be significantly longer.

Guardian profile for MK

In case it hasn’t reached you by other routes, Monica Ferguson did an interview with The Guardian earlier this week: see http://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/2014/mar/04/monica-ferguson-stables-milton-keynes-festival.

Midsummer Boulevard workshop

Many thanks to our Vice-Chair, who participated, on AHA’s behalf, in a 3-day workshop at the beginning of February, the aim of which was to produce a blueprint for developing the eastern end of Midsummer Boulevard. No doubt there’ll be a report on the outcomes in due course: we’ll keep you posted.

Lobbying MK Council on their 2014/15 budget

Thanks to those AHA members who commented in response to my request for responses to MKC’s budget proposals, and especially to those who took the trouble to write to the Council.

Member News/Opportunities

Voluntary work wanted: Raihana Sohrabi is looking for voluntary work as a junior accountant to gain experience. Currently studying AAT level 3. E-mail raihana.ahmad03@gmail.com.

First artist call-out for 2014 Festival Fringe: Information is attached. Please feel free to share this with friends, contacts, networks, etc. Contact Anita Allen anita@mkfestivalfringe.com or on 07952 237421 for an application form. http://mkfestivalfringe.com/callouts/

February 17, 2014

Join us on the 5th March…

…for ‘Celebrating our Post-War Architectural Heritage’ with James Smith and ‘Learning About Commissioning’ with Richard Hollinshead at City Discovery Centre (MK13 9AP) on 5th March.

Download the AHA Flyer 05 03 14 for full details.

Richard currently acts as Public Art Officer for Milton Keynes Council (during Louise Izod’s maternity leave), and is Senior Lecturer in Sculpture and Spatial Practice at the University of Northampton. His talk will focus on the use a small number of case studies to open a discussion about the commissioning of public art for heritage sites.

Members meeting starts at 10am, for non-members James will begin at 11.15am. Lunch is included.

Please RSVP to: aha-mk@milton-keynes.gov.uk