The Road to Stokes Croft China
Big Brother says shopping is permitted, so our Stokes Croft China shop will be open for business from 11am next Wednesday, 2nd December. Our free local delivery offer ends as the shop opens, but we're still offering a free click & collect service, and free UK delivery on all orders over £40! Our Christmas opening hours are:
Monday - Saturday : 11am - 6pm
Sunday : 12 - 4pm
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Double Speak
These are surreal linguistic times, where freedom of movement can be stopped in the name of liberty, a 'world beating' track and trace system means no system at all, and a government that has presided over an ever widening gap between the life expectancies of the UK's rich and poor keeps claiming to have a 'levelling up agenda' (replacing the hackles raising 'all in it together' message of the last bunch of austerity pushing public schoolboy millionaires).
So, what a time to release a new mug celebrating the late great George Orwell, and the warnings he packed into his dystopian classic 1984. This limited edition offering from Stokes Croft China features the quote 'War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength'. We can't help wondering how George would have dealt with 'alternative facts', 'war on terror' or 'take back control', and we are sure he would have had something to say about 'too big to fail' as well.
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Limited Edition George Orwell Mug
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£15.00
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Fuck Austerity Teapot
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£150.00
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In other news, while Bristol has been locked down, culture, creativity and political protest have been seeping out of the gaps and creeping across the city walls.
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These moving tales from @conversationsfromcalais appeared in Stokes Croft earlier this week, then disappeared not long after. We are very glad to have had a chance to read and record them before they went, and to share them here with you.
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People’s Art Fair:
Winter Edition
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Friday Dec 4th – Sunday Dec 20th
 We are waiting with bated breath to hear if the People's Art Fair Winter Edition will be allowed to physically open on Friday, but we are fully ready to launch the online show whatever happens.
The People's Art Fair is a platform and celebration of local creativity, featuring established Bristol artists alongside bright young talent exhibiting for the first time, and with pieces celebrating everyday beauty; exploring issues of race or gender; challenging power dynamics; or capturing a fantasy on canvas, this show is guaranteed to offer up something for everyone.
The People's Art Fair brings together over forty amazing artists, ready to dazzle you with their work. The closed doors of lockdown this year have hidden a frenetic world of quiet creativity, and these creations are now ready to spill out into the world.
Artists L to R: Zlyzab, Raluca Bobis, Britta Glass Art, Beautiful Things in Foreign Lands
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 We Are From Dust Artspace
The team from Artspace Lifespace are turning the grounds of Ashton Court Estate into a family-friendly art park, exploring ideas of play, protest and transformation with sculptures from both the UK and USA. The collaboration between We Are From Dust and Artspace Lifespace brings artists Paige Tashner, Hugo Farmer, Andrea Greenlees and Cjay Roughgarden together to form an interactive trail of immersive artworks.
Catch the opening event on Sunday 6th December from 4-6pm, with walkabout circus performances and special guests Air Giants showcasing two of their beautiful expressive large-scale soft robotic sculptures outside the Arts Mansion.
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Bristol Palestine Film Festival
Opening a week on Friday, the Bristol Palestine Film Festival's 10th annual festival runs from 4-13 December. This year all the screenings are online, find out more from BPFF »
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Tangent Calling
In the latest episode of Tangent Books' audio series, Richard and Sol chat to Stanley Donwood and Mat Consume. The pair take us on a mesmerising journey from discount raves with brain machines in Plymouth to working with Radiohead to their recent collaborative project - the enigmatic, profound and utterly fantastic ‘Broadmead The Movie’.
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 Play Inside: Other Mothers
A performance experienced at home, Play Inside is an experiential podcast where the listener is invited to mirror the actions of the characters. Other Mothers is four stories written from the internal perspective of people circling around motherhood from different sides. The perspectives draw on the writers' direct experiences and interviews with others from their POC and queer communities. The stories can be listened to individually or all together in a one hour omnibus.
Play Inside is now available on most major podcast platforms including Spotify, or listen online here - all you need is a pair of headphones and a mobile listening device.
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Lift up Lockdown
Eastside Community Trust have curated a series of fun activities to do at home under the cheerful title of Lift Up Lockdown, from yoga to festive wreathmaking.
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North Bristol Arts Trail Virtual Gallery
You have until 6th December to catch this virtual exhibition from the North Bristol Arts Trail. The interactive experience is a nice look at how we have adapted to display art for remote viewers.
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From the Pope to a Flat White
Tomorrow evening (26 Nov) the Martin Parr Foundation is hosting an in-depth photo documentation of Ireland over the last four decades through photography taken by Martin Parr. The man himself will be present via Zoom for a discussion of the work. Full details and tickets here »
© Martin Parr
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Festive Cheer - Lightpainting your way to Christmas
An online photographic ‘Festival Cheer Lightpainting Workshop’ will be taking place next Tuesday 1st December at 6.30pm, hosted by The Royal Photographic Society. Tickets are only £3-5, book here »
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The Path Leads to Bristol
A new exhibition focusing on culture, identity and stories from people’s lives opens next Friday at Arnolfini. Bridges for Communities have created a local response to Hassan Hajjaj’s exhibition The Path.
Chantal Joffe: For Esme – with Love and Squalor
Arnolfini are also collaborating with Rising Arts Agency on a series of commissions; Manoel Akure’s film is the first of these.
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Christmas Makers Market online
Estate of Arts is hosting a Christmas Makers Market online, inviting people to learn how to make different arts and crafts such as woodcraft, jewellery making, Bristol themed art and homeware, crochet, painting and more.
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St Paul's Adventure Playground transformed
No Time to Waste Arts have just finished building a sensory garden at St Paul's Adventure Playground. The chameleon represents the transformation from burnt earth to regrowth: "From the devastation of fire nature can burst back into life and the land turns from black to green again". The chameleon, bee hotels and living wall were made with help from kids at the playground.
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Your City, Our Future Citizens' Assembly
6,535 people completed the council’s Your City, Our Future survey in August sharing what is important to them about Bristol, what they think needs improving, and how their lives have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be a Citizens’ Assembly in January, February and March next year to discuss the question ‘How do we recover from COVID-19 and create a better future for all in Bristol?’. The outcomes of those discussions will be used to deliver recommendations for the Council’s Cabinet in Spring 2021.
Invitations to join the Citizens’ Assembly will soon be sent randomly across the city, and residents who receive a letter will be invited to put in an expression of interest. Panel members are expected to be confirmed by early December, with the first Assembly sitting in January 2021.
PRSC is waiting to see if this leads to real progress and ushers in an era of transparency and accountability in the council, or if this will just add another level of obscurity and confusion in the BCC decision making process – a place where the right hand so often seems oblivious to what the left hand is doing.
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West of England Future of the Region survey
WECA is asking people living and working in the West of England for their views about the future of the region. The feedback will help shape a Spatial Development Strategy that will make sure that homes, employment spaces and transport links are planned in the right places over the next 20 years. Closing Monday 14 December, you can respond online or call to request the info in an alternative form: 0117 428 6210.
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What does it mean to belong?
The council has a new Belonging Strategy for children and families in Bristol. They invite children and families across Bristol to complete these surveys:
Those who complete a survey will have the chance to win a £50, £30 or £20 voucher. The surveys close on Monday 30 November. Easy read versions are available.
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 Human Kind is a new book from Rutger Bregman, the young Dutch historian who rocked up at Davos and told the global 1%ers "PAY YOUR TAXES!!". A glass-half-full thinker committed to challenging doom and gloom, his previous book Utopia for Realists was a worldwide bestseller.
This book, subtitled A Hopeful History, is an enjoyable thought provoking read. Bregman starts by reflecting on his own introduction to the ideas on human nature of Thomas Hobbs and Rousseau. What follows is a journey through time, place and people, young and old. Evidencing, arguing and illustrating his case, Bregman challenges the idea that people are basically bad. It establishes, celebrates and considers the consequences of changing the prevailing view to humankind as basically decent.
A note from reviewer Sue Kilroe: "I’m a hardbaked cynic with low tolerence for uplifting texts. Much to my own surprise, this book has made me feel more hopeful."
Get yourself a hard cover edition of Human Kind »
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We love Adbusters
It's true, we do, and this latest issue is no exception... "Our 200-page year-end issue offers a new tone, a new aesthetic, a new structure of feeling for the 21st century. A must-read for writers, artists, filmmakers, musicians and creative people of all stripes."
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Local Restrictions Support Grant
If your business has had to close due to the November lockdown; if you have adapted your business model and are selling goods via a 'click and collect' method; or have begun selling food/drink as a takeaway, you can now apply for a COVID-19 business grant, known as the Local Restrictions Support Grant. Check eligibility and apply here »
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Despite being closed, the Space has been a hive of activity in the last few days... CJ is rebuilding the bar, while Zamzam and Object... paint PRSC HQ in miniature to go above it. Can't wait to see it all installed!
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An experiment in printing, we learn by doing. #WeMakeOurOwnBoxes
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Just before this latest lockdown, we hosted a pop up event by artists M Huncho and Nafe Smallz. Their young, fans stretched round the block waiting for a brief socially distanced meeting.
Hopefully this December cultural venues such as our own will be allowed to start bringing people safely together again in their shared passion. Our culture is the lifeblood of our communities.
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Our mural wall looking stunning by night.
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We have a new neighbour.
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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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