House of Rising Sun

An interesting art project we are now undertaking is the building of a series of scale models for a unique community building.

The design is a cone or tipi shaped structure which, when built to full scale could feature trees inside and a DNA double helix staircase up the middle among many other features.

The basic idea is that by building our maquettes with young children to begin with, and then progressing towards a larger version (working also with older children, including young adults as we go) we can begin a process of creative, intercultural community building, through inspiration and the linking of art to individual, and cultural transformation.

Enfield and Southgate MP David Burrowes is supportive of this project and he has kindly us in touch with a local primary school, located in one of the more socially deprived areas in the borough. This seems like an excellent place to start, and the head teacher is keen to develop the project.

Ultimately we aim to finish with some permanent structures, the first one to be built somewhere in the Southgate/New Southgate area. David has also suggested a number of possible plots of land for this.

So, we aim to start the project with the construction of a small model, or maquette at said primary school but we also want to build larger models to a higher standard of engineering, using art and design machinery and perhaps student facilities, while working with older kids as mentors. This process of model building could take between two weeks or three plus months (depending on the school or colleges's needs) with the young people engaging in the process, and with the artists involved, in whatever way the college feels appropriate.

Model building artists colleagues Edmond Beus (Ed) and Arul Vettivelu, plus myself, artist and teacher Ilham Sadellah, Peter Fennel (local architect) are the core team on this.

The design is a bit like the Eden Project in Cornwall. It's about the individual's relationship with society and the natural environment - from consumers to creator-artist-citizen-stewards. It's a cone, or tipi shaped structure, symbolic of indigenous human wisdom, it's transparent at the sides and at full size could feature trees growing inside. It's got three floors, a spiral staircase in the middle (in the shape of human DNA strands), a maypole structure at the top (with a crows nest for good views/meditation or prayer) plus (possibly) a helter skelter waterflume around the sides.

Since initially posting on this and proposing it to various schools and local leaders we've been advised to start with the reclamation of a small piece of land for a community kitchen gardening/eden project. Two potential plots of land, one in New Southgate owned by the Millennium Trust, and one much closer to home on Mayfair Terrace in (old) Southgate, next door to West Grove Primary School have been suggested. Currently the Mayfair Terrace land is used for drug use and as it runs underneath a set of arches it could make a really great garden, involving the both residents and school children in common cause. We are now in the process of contacting the land owner in question to move this forward.

Carnival as Culture

'A Model for Culture' by Brian Eno
What makes for a great carnival? I've pondered this question, as I've watched, year by year, the Notting Hill Carnival in London expanding to become the world's second largest (after Rio's).

My conclusions: Carnival is good when the number of participants isn't grossly outweighed by the number of spectators. Carnival is good when many of the `spectators' are actually also joining in (dancing and singing along). Carnival is good when the participants exhibit a range of skills from the absolutely minimal to the absolutely astonishing (the first being an invitation not to be intimidated -- "Hey! I could do that!"--and the second an invitation to be amazed). Carnival is good when people of all ages, sexes, races, shapes, sizes, beauties, inclinations, and professions are involved. Carnival is good when there's too much to look at and everything's mixed up and you have to sort it all out for yourself.

Carnival is good when it dignifies and rewards all sorts of abilities-singing, jumping, laughing infectiously, dressing weirdly, writing the hit song of the carnival, wiggling your backside, standing on a soapbox praising Jesus or the local hardware store, frying salt fish over an oil drum in public, inventing symphonic arrangements for steel bands, designing and building fabulously impossible things. Carnival is good when people try to outdo each other, and then applaud with delight those who in turn outdo them. Carnival is good when it gives people an alibi to become someone different.

Carnival is good when it lets people present the best part of themselves, and be, for a little while, as they'd like to be all the time. Carnival is good when it gives people the feeling that they're really lucky to be alive right here and now. Carnival is good when it leaves people with the feeling that life in all its bizarre manifestations is unbeatably lovely and touching and funny and worthwhile.

Now substitute `culture' for `carnival.' There's a vision for the future of culture..

Read about the mother of London's Notting Hill Carnival, which began with the motto
'A people's art is the genesis of their freedom', here:
The Great Claudia Jones
Claudia Jones Biography

With thanks to Massimo for these two links.

Grian's The Gardener

The chapter is called "From the Love of Trees"

The arrival of the autumn began to announce itself in the garden. The oaks and the maples had slowly begun to strip themselves, dropping a leaf here and there on the green lawn surrounding the pond.

A young couple, who used to visit the solitude of the garden to find calm, went to see the gardener.

'Forgive us for bothering you, gardener, but we consider you to be wise and good and we would like you to give us some advice on the new life my beloved and I are going to begin. Very soon we will join our lives in matrimony, and we would be grateful if you could tell us how we must nurture our love so that in time it doesn't wither.'

'Nobody is wise and good' answered the gardener with a smile. 'Wisdom and goodness are like a hole in the ground; the bigger it is, the emptier you find it. But, as you have asked me for my advice, I will tell you what Life has shown me. Sometimes by hard lessons, and other times with a caress.'

Inviting them to sit down on the grass, he told them: 'Be careful that your love is not like the mistletoe has for the oak, sinking its roots in its trunk to suck its sap and strength. Nor let it be like the love of bramble for the pine shoot, growing and wrapping around it and suffocating it between its spines.
'Rather, aim for a love like that of the trees. Each one embraces the earth with its own roots, and rises up in the morning sun with arms stretched towards the sky, giving thanks for each new dawn.

'Take care to plant your roots at a sufficient distance from each other, in case the branches of one make the other's flee, and it has to twist its trunk and cannot grow towards the clouds.

'Be careful that you keep the correct distance, so that the earth can sufficiently dampen your roots and the wind can clean the dry leaves from the branches. So that you can grow a large and sturdy crown to give shade to travellers and nests for the birds in the sky, and so that when you have grown and scattered your seeds to the wind, the ends of your branches will touch one another in the high reaches, and you can rejoice at the sound of the Dance of Life.'

1st Green Pea Art Class!

I figured a report was in order..

What a wonderful, but exhausting week. First of all, a huge round of applause to Sinead, Ilham, Lucy, Samantha, Mary Anne, Vanessa, Lisa and Nisrene (who not only helped out brilliantly, but also brought about 6 children with her, some feat) and everyone else that helped. All of you were brilliant. And the art classes went well, too..

20+ children (of all ages) came to both sessions. All appeared to have a good time: making things, dancing around, listening to stories, jumping about, and singing.

On Tuesday the theme was Africa (the day after Africa Day, which commemorates the beginning of the pan-African political project).

That day we made clay pots, masks, and a jungle collage.We also enjoyed some beautiful African music, Vanessa's wicked face painting and the story of Jumping Mouse which though not African, comes from another, native American indigenous culture.

On Friday the theme was seeds and stars, so we made stars & moon mobiles, half a robot (an unfinished masterpiece) pinned ourselves on the cosmos, and made more masks. We planted sunflower seeds to take home along with decorated watering cans (made from recycled plastic milk containers). Then some of us pretended to be seeds, starting inside the earth, then feeling the sun and the rain before growing tall, reaching for the stars (to the obvious S Club 7 soundtrack). Finally we had a little story, sing-song and a party for Peace Stars and Earth Children, during which time the importance of courage (to not quarrel unecessarily) and of patience and kindness were discussed. Readers will be glad to know even the grumpy stars were welcomed to the party.

Once again, a big thanks to everyone, but also to Punto for the free portraits, which the parents really liked. But most especially, to Lisa for the delicious, DELICIOUS home-made fudge!!

housequake

Did you know that every Sunday, in countless meeting houses throughout England and elsewhere, there takes place a most beautiful meditation, free of all religious dogma? This is an invitation to come and meet, and worship with, the Quakers, or set up your own..

Three hundred and twenty years from their origins, the Quakers (or, to use their 17th century name, The Friends of Truth, or as is now said, simply friends) meet every Sunday, to pray together. Quaker worship in the UK is different from other churches, and also Quakers in the USA. They do not usually sing hymns, or follow a set prayer, but instead all sit together, in silence ~ waiting on God's Presence. This is known in Christian theology as 'parousia.'


Qs seek stillness, but paradoxically 'quake, in the name of the Lord.' Worship is based on silence, is non-hierarchical (everyone is potentially a priest as ministry is welcome, from anyone at any time during the silence.. if you feel moved to speak, you should.. simply follow your instinct) as in, 'when the spirit moves'..

The Qs started through the work of one preaching visionary man, named George Fox, who walked the length and breadth of the country, speaking passionately about all the revelations he had experienced. This was at the time of the English Revolution and all the religious non-conformism that went with that time.

"Quakerism is a way of life, rather than a dogma or creed. It rests on a conviction that by looking into their inmost hearts people can have direct communion with their Creator. This experience cannot be described in words, but Quakers base their whole lives on it."

Even belief in God is not a necessary part of attending worship. At one meeting I recently attended a woman spoke about how she felt that, after reading Richard Dawkins book, "The God Delusion" and in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting she felt unsure about how a benevolent God could exist.

Like Buddhists, Sufis and other contemplative traditions, Qs cultivate equanimity, compassion and wisdom through the practice of silence, stillness and an emphasis on God's presence, insight and revelation. Qs believe that God's presence is everywhere, and that it can be felt through Christ who is simply the 'inner light' common to all.

This is a form of communion unlike other contemporary Christian services. But it is probably as close to the original teachings of Jesus as the modern church gets.

Worshippers at Winchmore Hill are truly fortunate. Q meetings are enjoyed in a beautiful, airy, wood panelled room in a solid 18th century meeting house, set in delightful gardens (yes, I am a real estate brochure) full of flowers, an ancient cedar tree and a peaceful burial ground. And there's an art creche for the kids while the grown ups do the meeting. Afterwards everyone takes tea, and sometimes there's singing too!

But it's worth noting that Q history is not just about spirituality, it is also laced with radicalism and political activism. As progressive bourgouise English capitalists in the new, scientific 18th century, they consistently set themselves apart from others, becoming the most influential, successful but also invariably the most just. Qs have been prominent business people, known for their honesty and prosperity but also for their plain-living, mutually supportive ways and social egalitarianism.

Qs were leading activists in the fight to end the slave trade. This is much less well known than it should be, because Q's were then disbarred from political office, so had to campaign outside the system. They helped to spearhead Wilberforce's successful campaign (Wilberforce was Church of England, so was entitled to be an MP). You can read more about the curious Quaker history, here: Quaker History

And also, on the interesting question of the link between George Fox and Gerrard Winstanley (leader of the Diggers), go here



Apart from incorporating the special spiritual nosh-up we call holy communion, a bit of bowing (to Almighty God, the invisible nameless Living One!) and a spot of dancing to put the stillness into worldly context (+ maybe a permaculture, free-food garden..?) there's really only one person missing at Winchmore Hill Meetings, but I don't suppose..

.. SSHe'll come in a hurry !! ;-)



Click here for more general info on Quakerism in the UK

a star studded cast

A real, human superhero, taking his top secret codename from the stories of Bond, Q (featured below in his alternative form ~ we put the mess in messiah, the heat in your fire) is possibly our most important ally. His business card reads: 'provider of rare services' and he is certainly that, and more.. he's a co-founder of the outstanding groupDown2Earth which supports social and ecological projects worldwide. Might Green Pea and Down2Earth work together in the future? If so, who's M ? Moneypenny? What about Bond? These are important questions and we need answers!

Anyway, to give you an idea of his superhuman abilities, Q (aka Prasanth) is currently making solar panels for the latest instalment of the author, Dan 'Idler' Kieran's latest project. P&Q being one of 3 intrepid members of Dan's brave, and soon-to-be-famous pilgrimage west (ahhh, to the dreamy land of Avalon, I'm coming over all Arthurian just thinking about it) presumably as part of the quest for that Holy Grail of politics, the future vision for our skeptic Isle, Kingdom of Albion! You can catch this project as it unfurls at: 'Three Men in a Float.' :-)

But to go back to the delightful P&Q (pictured here, fuzzily with Dan at D's recent wedding), he is multitalented, at home making (delicious) potato curry, or dressed as Kim Basinger (guys, got a picture?), fixing electric stuff, building stage sets, doing photoshop, VJ-ing or, seamlessly, carrying out professional photographic assignments. Truly a provider of rare services Pras, from Tamil Nadu South India is, quite simply, a lovely lovely person, and genius, all rolled into one.

Anyway, to introduce you to some more of the extended Green Pea gang, here's a picture of Dan's son Wilf sitting proudly behind the wheel of said Milk Float, nicknamed 'The Mighty One' as it awaits Prasanth's transformative work. Wilf will obviously be a key man in the future enlightened civilisation we are now, even as we speak, struggling to make reality (we are all of us on the Majesty's Secret Service..) so it behoves me to introduce him. Billy Bragg's immortal lines come to mind: "I am the milkman of human kindness, I will leave an extra pint"

So, as they embark on their 'Seige Perilous' of Arthurian legend: May the Farce Be With 'Em, with those 3 floaters as they venture West for their media shower.. full of good ideas and another book in the pipeline.

Green Pea Art Class 29th May/1st June

Fun, friendly art activities for ages 4 - 6 years
Imaginative workshop for children who love making things.


Painting, drawing, clay modelling and collage.
Class also includes music, movement and meditation.

Tue 29th May 11am - 1pm
Fri 1st June 11am - 1pm

The Bourne Methodist Church Luther Hall,
The Bourne, Southgate N14 6RS

£5 for 2 hour session
or £8 for two children/both sessions

Places are limited, so please book in advance

email: greenpeaproject@gmail.com

Green Pea 1st Sunday Expedition

Last Sunday Green Pea took it's very first field trip. Thanks to a red hot tip off from secret agent aka Lucy (ex military-wing, Bohemia, codename Kingdom of 'O') we knew of a possible dream 'community building' building, located tantalisingly close to our lovely MP's local surgery headquarters, Southgate Town Hall which is, bizarrely, 2 miles from Southgate in Palmers Green. No idea why as of yet though.

So, Sinead, Jordan, Eran & Lucy took a trip, dedicatedly in the bucketing rain to see this fabled house, called 'Truro', for ourselves. On arrival we were greeted with a giant, elegant and suitably ramshackle country villa, built alongside the local canal.

It looked vacant. Could this be our new community centre, just waiting for us to liberate it?? We cased the joint, strolling along the delightful canal in the drizzle, stopping only to commit random canoodle, in time honoured fashion at the kissing gate, oblivious in our love for one another to the misery of the weather.

And, to our great excitement, when we peered over the slanted wire fence, and over the overgrown garden, as we wondered whether the security alarms were working or the satellite dish functioning, lo and behold! we spied a distant shadowy figure in the romantic mist, standing by what looked like a plume of smoke coming out of a barrel. Someone was having a fire in the rain! I waved at the figure and gestured somehow (I forget exactly how) as if to say 'can we come in?'

To our enormous and palapable joy, he waved back, signalling for us to come round to the other side, near where we had originally parked the car. Great! I thought, this is it ~ it could only mean one thing, couldn't it? Squatters!

Excitedly, thinking this was our big break ~ we would easily now make friends with these lovely people, and then of course the rest would be history ~ I urged the others to run with me around the building, we were like puppies slipping and sliding with brollies akimbo, rushing to meet our new soon-to-be-best-friends.

Turned out of course that the individuals were, bizarrely, a somewhat well-dressed group of Romanians, paid to live in and look after the property to protect it from, you guessed it, squatters! They worked for some corporate big-wig, waiting for planning permission to do it and carve it up into yuppie flats.

They were having a barbeque for their friends, who arrived just as we were being turned away. In the rain. No room at the inn..

Oh well, keep looking Lucy Lu, & we will find the perfect space in the end. or die laughing trying!

VIP Photo

+ in the middle one of the group snuck off to the US of A and here's a picture
of him standing on the bridge over Clearwater, FL

come back soon John

:-)

Community Youth Club

Would you like your child to take part in a unique, community-led Arts Club?

We are working towards a new, inexpensive 8-13s Club at the Alan Pullinger Youth Centre (near Southgate Library) initially every Monday & Tuesday afternoon. The Club is designed to be working parent friendly, so we’ll be safely picking up the young people from school, and sessions at the Centre will run ‘til 6.30pm. Activities planned so far include sports, self-defense, guerrilla-gardening, fine-art, citizenship projects, film-making and much more.

Our experienced facilitators are all CRB-checked, & pricing affordable for all. For more information, and to ensure a place (with reduced fee for early bookings) please contact greenpeaproject@gmail.com, or call Mark on
0208 211 4681 / 0785 439 0408

April 28th Meeting - Cancelled

This meeting has been cancelled as we've decided to do a newsletter before we go any further. Watch this space!

Upcoming Meetings

Anchor Meeting's will restart soon, I promise

All welcome

Date of post 30th April 2009