Shoulda gone to Specsavers
As we tumble headfirst into another lockdown (to the surprise of literally nobody), generating surreal headlines such as "Police may be asked to stop England residents escaping to Wales to avoid lockdown", life goes on.
In celebration of the professionalism, clarity and consistency of our political leaders, who will clearly suffer all the hardships of lockdown right there with us, we present the Dominic Cummings British Exceptionalism Commemorative Plate.
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Stokes Croft China online
Our physical shop may have to close for now, but rest assured you can still shop online, and we've made it even easier for you to support us if you live locally...
Click & Collect
We're offering FREE collection from our Jamaica Street shop, with three time slots each week. Place your order online then pop down to the shop to collect on a Tuesday or Thursday from 12-7pm, or a Saturday from 11am-3pm.
 Local Delivery
If you're shielding, or unable to collect, we are also offering FREE local delivery, anywhere within two miles of the Stokes Croft China shop.
All orders over £40 still qualify for free delivery anywhere in the UK!
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Be Kind - Dalai Lama Mug
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£12.00
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Bristol Bicycles
Mug
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£10.00
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Truth Beauty Justice and Respect Mugs
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£12.00
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L to R: Rocio E Bucheli, Lisa Travers, Phil Constable, Bev Milward, Object...
The People's Art Fair will not be stopped!
Our upcoming People's Art Fair is set to be the best one yet, with 30 talented artists showing off all kinds of skills, crafts and creativity in a mid-winter arts extravaganza.
Of course this is 2020, and by now we've all noticed the theme of the year, so we aren't going to be opening on Nov 20th as planned. We will however be poised and ready to open the moment the government gives us the green light, and we will then stay open until Christmas (if allowed) to give everyone a chance to experience the wonder of art.
We are still accepting submissions so please invite any talented artists that you know to join in. Apply online »
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Venue Hire and other events at PRSC
We are not taking any bookings for public events at the PRSC and our life drawing, comedy nights and yoga sessions have been cancelled.
However people are still allowed to meet ‘non-socially’ for business purposes, to provide essential services or for support groups. This means that if you are a professional band or performance group (if they still exist) looking for rehearsal space, or if you run a support or educational group looking to provide socially distanced sessions then our venue is available for you to hire. We are currently offering our space at a reduced rate of £10 per hour in order to support whatever is left of our cultural and mutual aid sector.
We are also able to continue running Street Survival, our homeless drop in service every Tuesday - an increasingly important offering in light of Caring in Bristol’s latest video. The Little City That Can looks at the possibility of homelessness rising by 33% this winter.
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CYN Workshop
Last week PRSC had the great pleasure of working with a bunch of highly talented young artists down at the Creative Youth Network, exploring and discussing their experiences of lockdown. Supported by Bristol artist DNT, the young people practised their photography, spray paint, stencil cutting and compositional skills.
The striking work produced during the week was shown in a pop-up exhibition in the PRSC venue on Friday.
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Colston Day?
This coming Saturday is Colston’s birthday, typically celebrated each year as Colston Day. In 2017 The Bristolian described Colston Day as: “the day when the city’s sad old white men with too much money and no functioning conscience pursue their CULT OF COLSTON by donning fancy dress and parading through Bristol before attending a church to hear sermon from a hired vicar heaping praise and warm words on mass murderer Edward Colston.”
The full Bristolian article explained how the traditional parade had hit a stumbling block that year when St Stephen’s church refused to host the Colston Day sermon anymore, due to the increasing protests the celebration was triggering.
If you want to read more about the relationship between Colston, slavery and Bristol, then pick up a copy of From Wulfstan to Colston from the Bristol Radical History Group, available in our online shop of course.
It’s hard to find any pro-Colston celebrations planned for this weekend (Colston supporters seem to be keeping their heads down), but the Black Lives Matter movement which toppled his contentious statue in the summer is still marching strong. Colin Moody captured these shots of their latest protest on Sunday.
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Brandalism takes on HSBC
Activists in ten UK cities (including Bristol, that's St Werbs pictured above!) have covered billboards and bus stops with spoof HSBC adverts, accusing HSBC of ‘climate colonialism’ and demanding the bank end its financing of fossil fuels, detention centres and climate destruction. Over 250 billboards, bus stops and tube ads have been hijacked in a national grassroots campaign by Brandalism activists, aiming to expose the bank’s harmful impacts on the climate and communities globally (read more from Private Eye about the evils of corporate banking).
Adfree Cities Conference 2020
On the topic of corporate advertising, Adfree Cities and Adblock Bristol are running the second national anti-advertising conference this Saturday 7th November. The talks are all online, and free to attend. Details and signup here »
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Jamaica Street Studios Winter Auction
Jamaica Street Studios is one of the largest artist-led studios outside of London, with over 30 artists working across three floors. As their popular Open Studios event was unable to take place this year, they're running a Winter Auction online to help raise funds. You have until December 11th to get your bid in!
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Radical Past
Our friends at Future's Venture have just released a radical arts handbook online - issue one is available to read now.
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Background Bob
A heart warming project involving international artists and one boy called Bob. If exhibitions are allowed to happen again before the end of January then you can check out the show in Colchester. Otherwise take a look at the book...
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Freedom in the Parallel State
Running from 2-4pm this Saturday 7th November, this online event will be welcoming speakers and creatives from Bristol to discuss and share their words and poetry, mainly on the topic of freedom. Guests include Shawn Sobers (Filmmaker, writer and photographer), Roseanna Dias (Producer and curator), Zakiya McKenzie (Environment activist) and Lavz (Musician).
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Disenchanting the Mysteries of Digital Money
A two-part event from CoResist, exploring, inspiring and evoking action around global and personal finance; because money matters. Disenchanting the Mysteries of Digital Money is an evening of artistic exploration and practice-based research by two talented Bristol-based artists and PhD candidates. Happening online next Wednesday, November 11, at 7pm.
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Invented Futures
This free online workshop from Invented Futures, for the Bristol Technology Festival, will bring together thinkers, researchers, technologists and artists to uncover the role of speculation - through prototypes, fiction, philosophy, literature - in re-shaping our understanding of the ‘future’ and the technology we live alongside.
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Council Crackdown on established walls?
After the recent arrest and charge of a street artist painting in the Mina Rd train tunnel, PRSC's own Benoit Bennett discusses the lack of clear guidelines around where to paint, and how this might be resolved.
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Are you eligible for a Test and Trace £500 payment?
If you’ve been asked to self-isolate by the NHS Test and Trace service, you’re unable to work from home and are on a low income, you may be eligible for a payment of £500 by the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme.
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Protest in Kingswood
After MPs voted not to extend the offer of free school meals to Britain’s hungry children this Christmas, the people of Kingswood decided to respond. Empty plates and messages were posted outside Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore's office in Hanham in the pouring rain last Friday morning. The protesters also made a huge collection for local food banks. Two Kingswood mums organised the efforts and many more people contributed to the event. We fully approve of dinnerware-based protesting!
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A Message from the RWA
“Despite the current challenges, we are cautiously optimistic, and extremely relieved to be able to share some 'light (and inspiration) at the end of the tunnel'. We have recently been awarded a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £1.37m towards a transformational £3.8m heritage project that will save the RWA from permanent closure.”
See their plans here »
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PRSC kit in use at the DIY skate park
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Fancy new cupboard decor in the Space, courtesy of PRSC volunteer Zamzam
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Ever wondered what our Bev gets up to when she's not decorating china or loading the kiln? If you're in Bath get yourself down London Road for a closer look at The Window of Dreams, "a unique exhibit featuring the fretful visions and internal wranglings of Ms. Beverley Milward, Mr. William Datson & Ms. Lilly Foxx".
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Some topically relevant graff spotted on Instagram
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It's mushroom season in the yard again!
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And finally, this poem by Charlotte Harris, created during the CYN workshop last week, sums up the mood of the nation.
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Throughout this crisis our work with rough sleepers continues. Please click on the button below to support this ongoing work.
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