ENERGY CONSOLE - OPENING EVENT

Group show from TOMA 2022/24 artists 

Opening event: Saturday 27 April from 2-5pm

After party: 6pm - midnight at Twenty One Southend, Western Esplanade, SS1 2EH

Energy Console is the end of year show of alternative art school The Other MA’s current 2022/24 cohort. It will take place at the Beecroft Art Gallery. 

Visitors are invited to experience work created during the past 18 months of the TOMA course. The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of free workshops and public events, details of which can be found on the TOMA instagram. 

Exhibiting TOMA artists are showing work that explores a broad range of themes such as: emerging technologies and performativity, performance and textiles, orchards, permaculture, access intimacy, disability, anti-gallery, consumption and value, science fiction, motherhood, the body and imaginative play, expanded portraiture and digital: analogue, photography, appropriation, memory and collaboration; and the resonance of past experiences in people, places, and things. Artist-led tours of the show are scheduled throughout the exhibition period.

The exhibition entitled Energy Console is inspired by a report on ‘The TOMA way’ written by researcher Jack Ky Tan, titled ‘TOMA Dreamings’ and published in 2023. The report can be read in full here. 

Please feel free to join us for the Energy Console opening event from 2pm to 5pm on the 27th of April at the Beecroft Gallery, and then for an opening party with performances, entertainment, and food and drink available to buy, from 6pm to midnight at Twenty One Southend, SS1 2EH.  

Sunday 10 December 1pm - 5pm - Meet TOMA artists and take part in a collage and monoprinting workshop during our drop-in day.

Wednesday 6 December 6.30 - 8pm - Tune in for a talk about TOMA and ask any questions about the programme.

Join us for a series of reading groups as part of Pluto Press’ The Reading Room project. TOMA and The Old Waterworks are collaborating on these over the coming year.

 Get tickets via Eventbrite HERE.

From May 2023, Elliot Gibbons will host three reading groups that will look at the publication Southend’s Twilight Worlds that he edited on local queer history and Pluto Press’ Towards a Gay Communism by Mario Mieli. Meili’s book was first published in Italian in 1977 and is considered one of the earliest books of queer theory, although it was not seen as queer theory during the time. Over the course of these sessions, you will collectively consider LGBTQIA+ culture and theory by drawing connections between these two books. 

Elliot Gibbons is a curator and writer based in Essex. 

** ALL EVENTS WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED **

Get tickets via Eventbrite HERE.

** ALL EVENTS WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED **

* All events are free to attend but booking is advised and we ask that you can commit to all three groups to ensure continuity *

All sessions will take place at The Old waterworks, North Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS0 7AB

You will be sent readings in advance of each session once you have signed up. If you can’t make the event please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend.

Reading groups are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

The Reading Room is a new collaborative project where people can read, learn, listen, and share ideas. Through linking up with other spaces across the country, Pluto Press and the Left Book Club have created libraries stocked with thought provoking books, where reading groups and opportunities to meet authors are being established, providing resources and activities that hope to catalyse creativity, collaboration and conversation.

Join us for a series of reading groups as part of Pluto Press’ The Reading Room project. TOMA and The Old Waterworks are collaborating on these over the coming year.

Get tickets via Eventbrite HERE.

From May 2023, Elliot Gibbons will host three reading groups that will look at the publication Southend’s Twilight Worlds that he edited on local queer history and Pluto Press’ Towards a Gay Communism by Mario Mieli. Meili’s book was first published in Italian in 1977 and is considered one of the earliest books of queer theory, although it was not seen as queer theory during the time. Over the course of these sessions, you will collectively consider LGBTQIA+ culture and theory by drawing connections between these two books. 

Elliot Gibbons is a curator and writer based in Essex. 

** ALL EVENTS WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED **

Get tickets via Eventbrite HERE.

** ALL EVENTS WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED **

* All events are free to attend but booking is advised and we ask that you can commit to all three groups to ensure continuity.

All sessions will take place at The Old waterworks, North Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS0 7AB

You will be sent readings in advance of each session once you have signed up. If you can’t make the event please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend.

Reading groups are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

The Reading Room is a new collaborative project where people can read, learn, listen, and share ideas. Through linking up with other spaces across the country, Pluto Press and the Left Book Club have created libraries stocked with thought provoking books, where reading groups and opportunities to meet authors are being established, providing resources and activities that hope to catalyse creativity, collaboration and conversation.

Join us for a series of reading groups as part of Pluto Press’ The Reading Room project. TOMA and The Old Waterworks are collaborating on these over the coming year.

Get tickets via Eventbrite HERE.

From May 2023, Elliot Gibbons will host three reading groups that will look at the publication Southend’s Twilight Worlds that he edited on local queer history and Pluto Press’ Towards a Gay Communism by Mario Mieli. Meili’s book was first published in Italian in 1977 and is considered one of the earliest books of queer theory, although it was not seen as queer theory during the time. Over the course of these sessions, you will collectively consider LGBTQIA+ culture and theory by drawing connections between these two books. 

Elliot Gibbons is a curator and writer based in Essex. 

** ALL EVENTS WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED **

Get tickets via Eventbrite HERE.

** ALL EVENTS WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED **

* All events are free to attend but booking is advised and we ask that you can commit to all three groups to ensure continuity *

All sessions will take place at The Old waterworks, North Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS0 7AB

You will be sent readings in advance of each session once you have signed up. If you can’t make the event please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend.

Reading groups are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

The Reading Room is a new collaborative project where people can read, learn, listen, and share ideas. Through linking up with other spaces across the country, Pluto Press and the Left Book Club have created libraries stocked with thought provoking books, where reading groups and opportunities to meet authors are being established, providing resources and activities that hope to catalyse creativity, collaboration and conversation.

TOMA artist Erene invites you and your child/children to a self reflective workshop on mothering and the many ideals put upon us.

Friday 28 April 2023 - 10.30am - 12.30pm @ Twenty One Southend, Unit 21, Pier Approach, Western Esplanade, Southend-on-Sea SS1 2EH

BOOK FREE TICKETS ON EVENTBRITE HERE

You will be working with found, natural and everyday materials. If you own a mothering book that you potentially disliked and would like to destroy with your child or maybe there's one you loved and would like to turn into a temple, please bring it along, or any other mothering or childhood paraphernalia that you could recreate into an art piece. Also if you would like to collect some found materials with your child to bring to the workshop please do.

This will be a self-explorative guided workshop, there is no required outcome, the focus is on process and being guided by your own feelings, experiences and collaborating with your child's experimentation with the materials.  However mothers are also welcome to attend without their child/children. 

BOOK FREE TICKETS ON EVENTBRITE HERE

Erene Dellaporta // www.erenedellaporta.com

TOMA artist Fredrix Vermin hosts a free drawing workshop to build confidence around drawing from you imagination.

Saturday 15 April 2023 11.30am - 1.30pm @ Twenty One Southend, Unit 21, Pier Approach, Western Esplanade, Southend-on-Sea SS1 2EH

BOOK FREE TICKETS ON EVENTBRITE HERE

This FREE workshop aims to show you that everyone can draw, and you don’t need magic! Fredrix will show you how to use modular drawing to create an incredible amount of things using simple shapes, the only restriction is your imagination.

We will be working with black line drawing and delving into how line weight can enhance your drawings. The workshop will last one hour and will be followed by a freeform drawing session where you can explore everything you’ve learnt and contribute to a group drawing.

BOOK FREE TICKETS ON EVENTBRITE HERE

Fredrix Vermin // https://fredrixvermin.com

OPENING EVENT
PATCHWORK ARCADE ~ TOMA 2022/24 INTERIM SHOW
1 April 2023
from 4pm @ Big Screen Southend
from 6pm @ Twenty One Southend

Patchwork Arcade
1 April 2023 - 1 May 2023

Opening event: 1 April 2023
*** Get FREE tickets on Eventbrite here ***

You are invited to the opening event! Meet @ 4pm Big Screen Southend, for a watch of the artist videos outside Focal Point Gallery and then walk down to the show from 6pm - 11.30pm at Twenty One Southend with performances and DJs.

Addresses: Big Screen Southend, Elmer Square, Southend-on-Sea SS1 1NS

Twenty One, Unit 21, Pier Approach, Western Esplanade, Southend-on-Sea SS1 2E
 

This TOMA 2022/24 cohort interim event comprises a dual sharing of short films on Focal Point Gallery’s Big Screen Southend and a group exhibition at Twenty One gallery. Patchwork Arcade offers visitors the chance to experience new work created during the past 6 months of the programme from our current TOMA artists bringing together the artists’ diverse practices including video, painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. 

Artists...

Neeral Bhatt

Graham Burnett

Erene Dellaporta

James Forward

Gülşen Güler 

Jo Hartle

Eva Sbaraini

Kate Sullivan

Fredrix Vermin

Edi McGurk

Fern Worsley
 

 *The Other MA (TOMA) is an artist-run education model set up in 2016 and based in Southend on sea supporting artists who have faced barriers accessing art education and the ‘art world’.

**Big Screen Southend is a purpose-built display screen which opened in 2013 for the presentation of artist commissions, live transmissions, and short and feature films relative to the cultural context of Southend, South Essex and further afield. Twenty One is a live arts venue who work with local performers and artists, have an exhibition space and speciality pizza café & bar, located on Southend seafront.

*** Get FREE tickets on Eventbrite here ***

Join us for a series of reading groups as part of Pluto Press’ The Reading Room project. TOMA and The Old Waterworks are collaborating on these over the coming year.

First up, from January 2023, Morgan Quaintance will host three reading groups that will focus on ‘PsychoPolitics’ by Peter Sedgwick. As relevant today as it was when first published in 1982, the book changed the conversation on mental health and illness, demanding that we assess its relationship to the wider decay of social institutions. Morgan will explore one of the most significant and credible critiques of the anti-psychiatry movement through readings and discussion. 

* All events are free to attend but booking is advised and we ask that you can commit to all three groups to ensure continuity *

GET FREE TICKETS VIA EVENTBRITE HERE

The dates are...

Reading group 1 - Thursday 19 January - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Reading group 2 - Thursday 23 February - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Reading group 3 - Thursday 30 March - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

* EACH EVENT WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED *

You will be sent readings in advance of each session once you have signed up. If you can’t make the event, please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend. Reading groups are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

The Reading Room is a new collaborative project where people can read, learn, listen, and share ideas. Through linking up with other spaces across the country, Pluto Press and the Left Book Club have created libraries stocked with thought provoking books, where reading groups and opportunities to meet authors are being established, providing resources and activities that hope to catalyse creativity, collaboration and conversation.

All events will take place at: The Old Waterworks, North Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 7AB.

Morgan Quaintance is a London-based artist and writer.

Join us for a series of reading groups as part of Pluto Press’ The Reading Room project. TOMA and The Old Waterworks are collaborating on these over the coming year.

First up, from January 2023, Morgan Quaintance will host three reading groups that will focus on ‘PsychoPolitics’ by Peter Sedgwick. As relevant today as it was when first published in 1982, the book changed the conversation on mental health and illness, demanding that we assess its relationship to the wider decay of social institutions. Morgan will explore one of the most significant and credible critiques of the anti-psychiatry movement through readings and discussion. 

* All events are free to attend but booking is advised and we ask that you can commit to all three groups to ensure continuity *

GET FREE TICKETS VIA EVENTBRITE HERE

The dates are...

Reading group 1 - Thursday 19 January - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Reading group 2 - Thursday 23 February - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Reading group 3 - Thursday 30 March - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

* EACH EVENT WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED *

You will be sent readings in advance of each session once you have signed up. If you can’t make the event, please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend. Reading groups are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

The Reading Room is a new collaborative project where people can read, learn, listen, and share ideas. Through linking up with other spaces across the country, Pluto Press and the Left Book Club have created libraries stocked with thought provoking books, where reading groups and opportunities to meet authors are being established, providing resources and activities that hope to catalyse creativity, collaboration and conversation.

All events will take place at: The Old Waterworks, North Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 7AB.

Morgan Quaintance is a London-based artist and writer.

Join us for a series of reading groups as part of Pluto Press’ The Reading Room project. TOMA and The Old Waterworks are collaborating on these over the coming year.

First up, from January 2023, Morgan Quaintance will host three reading groups that will focus on ‘PsychoPolitics’ by Peter Sedgwick. As relevant today as it was when first published in 1982, the book changed the conversation on mental health and illness, demanding that we assess its relationship to the wider decay of social institutions. Morgan will explore one of the most significant and credible critiques of the anti-psychiatry movement through readings and discussion. 

* All events are free to attend but booking is advised and we ask that you can commit to all three groups to ensure continuity *

GET FREE TICKETS VIA EVENTBRITE HERE

The dates are...

Reading group 1 - Thursday 19 January - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Reading group 2 - Thursday 23 February - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Reading group 3 - Thursday 30 March - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

* EACH EVENT WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED *

You will be sent readings in advance of each session once you have signed up. If you can’t make the event, please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend. Reading groups are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

The Reading Room is a new collaborative project where people can read, learn, listen, and share ideas. Through linking up with other spaces across the country, Pluto Press and the Left Book Club have created libraries stocked with thought provoking books, where reading groups and opportunities to meet authors are being established, providing resources and activities that hope to catalyse creativity, collaboration and conversation.

All events will take place at: The Old Waterworks, North Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 7AB.

Morgan Quaintance is a London-based artist and writer.

Join us at The Old Waterworks for a series of events that are part of Pluto Press’ anti-capitalist fashion week which celebrates the release of Tansy E. Hoskins’ text: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion.

You’ll be able to meet the author, take part in reading groups, Q&A’s about the industry, drop-in sewing sessions and customisation and reclamation workshops with local artists.

All events are free to attend but booking is advised. If you can’t make the event, please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend. Workshops are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

24 September 2022. 3.00pm - 5.00pm. 'Meet the Author' Booking Link

*THIS EVENT WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED*

Join us to hear from Tansy E. Hoskins about her new publication. Tansy’s extensive research took her from the clothing warehouses in Solihull all the way to Bangladesh, India and North Macedonia, shining a light on the exclusive and alluring world of fashion to expose class division, gender stereotyping and wasteful consumption.

Join us at The Old Waterworks for a series of events that are part of Pluto Press’ anti-capitalist fashion week which celebrates the release of Tansy E. Hoskins’ text: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion.

You’ll be able to meet the author, take part in reading groups, Q&A’s about the industry, drop-in sewing sessions and customisation and reclamation workshops with local artists.

All events are free to attend but booking is advised. If you can’t make the event, please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend. Workshops are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

18 September 2022. 2.30pm - 4.30pm 'Anti-Capitalist Fashion Reading Group with Angela Smith' Booking Link

*THIS EVENT WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED*

This event is part of Pluto Press’ anti-capitalist fashion week which celebrates the release of Tansy E. Hoskins’ text: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion.

Angela Smith will host a reading group that will focus on chapter 8 “Resisting Fashion” from Tansy E. Hoskins forthcoming book ‘The Anticapitalist Book of Fashion’.

Angela trained in fashion as a mature student in the 80’s and has spent the last 40 years variously employed in the industry, but most consistently teaching in various colleges including London College of Fashion, Southend, and Thurrock and for 8 years led an ambitious fashion department within a women’s prison with the aim of rehabilitating inmates into fashion colleges and the trade.

She has worked in design, pattern cutting, illustration, construction and has lots of associated skills including embroidery and surface decoration, knitting, textile manipulation, deconstruction and repurposing.

Fifteen years ago she made a sideways step and took a BA course in Drawing at Camberwell and has since used art as a creative endeavour particularly forming assemblages including carefully considered found objects, incorporating worked textiles and word pursuing the spiritual life of objects.

She has written with increasing seriousness all her life, frequently using poetry and have completed a novel.

Angela embarks on a Masters degree in Fashion Cultures and Histories at London College of Fashion this September.

Join us at The Old Waterworks for a series of events that are part of Pluto Press’ anti-capitalist fashion week which celebrates the release of Tansy E. Hoskins’ text: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion.

You’ll be able to meet the author, take part in reading groups, Q&A’s about the industry, drop-in sewing sessions and customisation and reclamation workshops with local artists.

All events are free to attend but booking is advised. If you can’t make the event, please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend. Workshops are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

18 September 2022. 11.00am - 2.00pm 'Reclaim and Remake' Booking Link

After talking about the impact of the fashion industry, Philippa Stewart will host a workshop showing you how to offset waste by reclaiming materials from unwanted garments to create something new. Based around and inspired by the hand stitch technique Boro, the process of repairing clothes and reworking cloth is a peaceful process with lots of application.

Please bring some clothes with you to repurpose - old t-shirts or leggings are ideal. There will be donated materials at the workshop if you don't have anything suitable.

Join us at The Old Waterworks for a series of events that are part of Pluto Press’ anti-capitalist fashion week which celebrates the release of Tansy E. Hoskins’ text: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion.

You’ll be able to meet the author, take part in reading groups, Q&A’s about the industry, drop-in sewing sessions and customisation and reclamation workshops with local artists.

All events are free to attend but booking is advised. If you can’t make the event, please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend. Workshops are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

17 September 2022. 4.30pm - 6.00pm. 'Anti-Capitalist fashion Q&A' Booking Link

*THIS EVENT WILL BE BSL INTERPRETED*

Using the themes of The Anticapitalist Book of Fashion, TOW Co-director, Ruth Jones will host a Q&A with Philippa Stewart, a womenswear designer and trend forecaster turned artist.

Please join us with your own experiences and questions as we explore the current situation and think through ways we can enact change together.

Join us at The Old Waterworks for a series of events that are part of Pluto Press’ anti-capitalist fashion week which celebrates the release of Tansy E. Hoskins’ text: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion.

You’ll be able to meet the author, take part in reading groups, Q&A’s about the industry, drop-in sewing sessions and customisation and reclamation workshops with local artists.

All events are free to attend but booking is advised. If you can’t make the event, please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend. Workshops are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

17 September 2022. 1.00pm - 4.00pm ‘Customise Your Existing Wardrobe’ Booking Link

Breathe new life into an old piece of clothing with various customisation techniques with artist Charlotte Hamilton. Using screen printing, patches, sewing and cutting we will transform your clothes into something new, ready to wear many more times.

Bring a piece of clothing from your wardrobe that you're tired of or don't wear to customise. We will cover: basic screen printing techniques, attaching patches, basic hand-sewing and fabric cutting techniques.

Join us at The Old Waterworks for a series of events that are part of Pluto Press’ anti-capitalist fashion week which celebrates the release of Tansy E. Hoskins’ text: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion.

You’ll be able to meet the author, take part in reading groups, Q&A’s about the industry, drop-in sewing sessions and customisation and reclamation workshops with local artists.

All events are free to attend but booking is advised. If you can’t make the event, please return your ticket as soon as you can so someone else can attend. Workshops are not suitable for children under 16 years of age.

17 September 2022. 11.00am - 3:00pm 'Chat and Sew Drop In' Booking Link

Join Tricia North and the refugee sewers group in a drop in session between 12-3pm to mend your clothing, sew, mend or knit and chat about the positive impacts of getting more life out of your garments and homewares.

Bring any clothes that need mending or sewing and knitting projects with you and enjoy an informal chat with an existing sewing group.

Join Lu Williams at TOMA Project Space for a zine making workshop to celebrate Southend Pride.

This is a free event. No ticket required - just come along anytime from 1-3pm!

Lu Williams will be hosting a special zine making workshop during the Southend Pride march to coincide with the exhibition Southend’s Twilight Worlds. Participants will be encouraged to use the exhibition as inspiration for their zine.

Zine making is a versatile process that can pull together ideas, encourage collaboration, function as a method of self care and act as a vehicle for accessibility.

Materials are provided during the workshop, however it is possible for participants to work with their own materials if they wish to bring them, such as their own artwork or writing.

FREE
Saturday 16th July, 1-3pm
TOMA Project Space, Unit 13, Royals Shopping Centre, High St, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1DG

--

Lu Williams is an artist living and working in Southend. They use research and community engagement to produce zines, print, sculpture, drawing, writing, events and workshops. Lu is interested in social history, accessibility, labour, DIY culture, protest and explores this through a personal experience of queerness and working-class culture.

They founded Grrrl Zine Fair in 2015 which platforms womxn, trans and non-binary artists and zine makers through workshops, events, Grrrl Zine Library, based at The Old Waterworks, Southend and Grrrl In print Zine. In 2021 they Co-founded Dog Ear, a place for sculptural dog toys and artist publishing

Join us for the official launch of Southend’s Twilight Worlds, a new exhibition uncovering the complex history of marginalised identities in Southend-on-Sea.

Drinks will be provided and you'll get an exclusive chance to see the exhibition and pick up a limited edition copy of the book.

The exhibition showcases Southend’s queer and alternative histories through new and existing artworks, previously unseen archival clippings, and objects from Southend Museums.

Southend’s Twilight Worlds is inspired by an article published in the Southend Evening Echo following the passing of the Sexual Offences Act in 1967. The article’s author, Louis Blake, writes an investigation into the borough’s twilight world and the three to four-thousand “men in fear who haunt it”. He interviewed many of these so-called “twilight men” of Southend, often highlighting the violence and apprehension most experienced due to their sexuality, despite the introduction of “well-meaning” laws. Even noting how some of these men discriminated against queers of colour.

An accompanying events series includes artist workshops, public tours and reading groups, and a fortnightly youth club for young people aged 16 to 25.

Featured artists include The Agency of Visible Womxn, Sunil Gupta, Ruth Hazel, Josephine Melville (SEACA), George Morl, Amy Pennington, Scottee and Lu Williams.

Southend’s Twilight Worlds is curated by Elliot Gibbons and produced in partnership with TOMA (The Other MA), The Old Waterworks, Grrrl Zine Fair, Southend Pride, Metal Southend, Focal Point Gallery, Southend Museums and Essex Cultural Diversity Project, and is made possible with funding from Arts Council England and Essex Heritage Trust