Toran Natak is one of four surviving traveling theater groups in Gujarat, India.

In a state which has lost thousands to communal violence in recent years, these 25 artists coming from varied castes and religions reaffirm the idea of peaceful and positive co-existence.

In the 1970s, traveling troupes were at the height of their popularity. Supporting over a hundred artists and a repertoire of over 50 plays from different genres, competition between rival troupes was immense and many performers were nothing short of being stars.

Since the 1990s, television and mainstream cinema have practically destroyed their livelihood. With the number of people attending performances dropping every season, the remaining troupes find it very hard to continue. For the government these artists simply do not exist. They are provided with no support, monetary or otherwise, in fact, putting on a show often involves paying bribes to various government institutions.

Election times are particularly difficult, as there is a law stating that no more than five people can congregate together. This can put a working troupe out of action for months, and reflects the lack of respect and acknowledgment for performing artists outside of the mainstream in present day Indian society.

But at least for now, Toran Natak are continuing, even if it’s just for takings of 5000 rupees (roughly £70) a night to be shared between its 25 performers.

They know it better than most - the show must go on!

For more about Lenscap, follow this link.

21 year old Sophie Ashraf is an artiste of her times, a creative force informed by the post 9/11 world, a daring new voice like no other.

"It’s like when you really like a band, you wear T-shirts of that band... Well we really, really like Islam, so we wear the burkha. I rap because I can’t sing. But I love music, so it had to be rap. Soon, the burkha and the rap formed an identity, and people started recognising me as The Burkha Rapper.

The Justice Rocks Concert was the first platform where I felt the setting and the timing was right to talk about Islam. The Mumbai attack had just happened and everyone was waiting for a proactive Muslim to come out and say what Islam was about. I was just blown away by the response.

People tend to think that someone who tries to be different and someone who breaks the rules are the same. I work within the rules, but I find those little loopholes that allow me to do my thing.

There are those who are not convinced about the burkha, sure. Now that we wear it, we feel empty, naked without it. There is a line in the Quran that says: “To you, your religion, and to me mine.” And so they are letting me express myself the way I want to."

Carlo and Nick invite you to the opening of the brand new Empty Shop HQ.

Set over two floors and featuring 6 exhibitions, this is the biggest Empty Shop event yet and also celebrates the opening of our first ever full time venue.

The event features:

• The 2nd Annual Empty Shop Open
• Work by the new Empty Shop studio group, The Freebirds
• The first residency in the new Stairwell Gallery
• A new mixed media exhibition by photographer Toby Lloyd
• Original wall drawings by the Cloud Commission
• Expanse Gallery Expanse: The smallest gallery in the world curated by 50ft Long Horse

"MAstars is an annual online selection of the most promising artists from the UK's leading MA courses. Selected by influential artists, curators, academics and arts professionals, MAstars keeps you up to date with the artists to watch and gives you an insight into the future of the UK art scene."

For more about Richard and other MAstars, follow this link.

North East Photography Network yesterday released the details of its first major event - 'Photography (w)here?', a two day symposium and portfolio review.

"Explore some of the pressing issues facing contemporary photographers and share some of your ideas with our panel of leading curators, editors and practitioners. What new opportunities exist for photographers? What are the pitfalls and how can we sustain our professional practices in the current economic climate? How are new photographic practices being supported and disseminated?"

Symposium, Saturday 12th March: Photographer Sarah Pickering will be the key-note speaker. The round-table discussion will be chaired by Alessandro Vincentelli, Curator, Baltic.

Portfolio Reviews, Saturday 13th March: An exciting opportunity for one-to-one conversations with reviewers of your choice. Each review will last approximately 20 minutes, and booking is essential.

Reviewers: 

• Camilla Brown, Senior Curator, The Photographers’ Gallery, London

• Malcolm Dickson, Director Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow

• Patrick Henry, Director, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool

• Greg Hobson, Curator of Photographs, National Media Museum

• Marc Prüst, Freelance Photography Consultant and Curator, Paris

• Alistair Robinson, Programme Director, NGCA, Sunderland

• and others TBC
  

Venue: The Mining Institute, Neville Hall, Westgate Road, Newcastle, NE1 1SE

Admission to the symposium is free, but booking in advance is essential.    

Portfolio Reviews cost £5 per session. For more information, follow this link.

Cheers, Lucy

News just in that the 'Tattoos of the Tees Valley' exhibition will definitely be touring to two more venues this year.

It will first open on Saturday 30th January Saturday 20th February at the Maritime Museum in Hartlepool and run there until sometime in April 11th, then afterwards ship to The Head of Steam Railway Museum in Darlington for the 2010 summer season.

We'll post more precise info as it comes in - updated 22/01/2010.

Cheers, Lucy

It took Richard and me longer than we thought to get to Cowshill for Louise's opening, but though we were late there were still quite a few people there, and plenty of wine and nibbles. These pix were all taken by Louise before we arrived though, the place was heaving all afternoon she said, so the event was obviously a success! In the photo above you can see people holding or leafing through their copies of the centenary book.



Louise's photo exhibition is part of a multi-faceted heritage project undertaken over a period of a year. With other members of the Heatherycleugh community, Louise has been involved with many aspects of it - a massive amount of work, and a fantastic achievement! And as if that weren't enough, she also cooked us dinner before taking us down the local pub for the evening.



We got another chance to see the exhibition this morning before heading home, and it was packed out again. It runs until 5th December - and for anyone passing next Saturday morning, the bacon butties are also highly recommended!

So, Louise is opening 'Centenary' tomorrow afternoon.

Information above, and also on the 'Centenary' page of the 'What We've Done' section of this website.

"Directed by Franny Armstrong, The Age of Stupid casts Pete Postlethwaite as a mournful archivist in 2055, looking at footage from 2008 of flash floods and rampant air travel and wondering where it all went wrong." Guardian

6pm on 1st December, there's a screening of the film at the Friends Meeting House, Skinnergate, Darlington...

AND IT'S FREE.

Arts collective BLIMEY! are hosting an event on the theme of 'social', 2-8pm on Saturday 21st November at the Darlington Railway Institute. Curated by James Lowther, BLIMEY! members and selected guest artists - including Wideyed's own Louise Taylor, who will be giving a sneak preview of some images from her upcoming exhibition 'Centenary' - will show and create work, and the event will end with an auction.

For more info about the programme and participation, email blimeydarlington@yahoo.com or look for BLIMEY! on Facebook.

We were all too busy chatting and scoffing jelly babies last night, so by the time any of us remembered to take any shots of the preview the gallery was closing...



But this installation shot of Richard's work couldn't have been taken before the end (too many people in the way).



The man himself in situ.



Zhou Lucun's installation.



And Zhou Lucun. His piece about employment prospects for the nearly 2.5 million students who graduate in China every year is really interesting.



Class of 2009 - from the left: Zhou Lucun, Siwan Liu (his work is amazing, but best seen in print), Yu Zhu (whose piece on homosexuality in China is interesting too), Patritsia Panayi and, of course, Richard Glynn. Congratulations everyone!

First outing for Wideyed this month! Details of Richard Glynn's MA show opening at NGCA below.

And for more info about Richard's part of this exhibition, see 'Lost Waltz' in the "What we've done" section.