Category Archives: Events

“Always On Their Mind”: Elvis Presley and Consumer Culture

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Registration is now open for

“Always On Their Mind”: Elvis Presley and Consumer Culture

3rd June, 2017

University of Kent, UK

Since Elvis Presley’s rise to stardom, his star image and persona has been used to sell products. However, it is through his death that his name and image can be found in seemingly unrelated locations and commodities. The estate’s company, Elvis Presley Enterprises, has attempted to further Presley’s fanbase through re-releases of his music, Graceland, and most recently, an exhibit at the O2, London. The combined effort of the Authentic Brands Company, EPE, and the ability to re-create Presley through fictional and non-fictional texts, has allowed Presley a unique position in contemporary culture.

To celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death, this conference will attempt to re-evaluate and explore how Presley’s star persona continues to be a commercial success. Commodities; re-runs of television documentaries and concerts; re-mixes of Presley’s music; tourist attractions and the expansion of Graceland’s entertainment complex, are just a few of the ways that Presley’s ubiquitous stardom is presented and sold to contemporary society. Through this conference we would like to explore the connections between consumer culture and stardom, analysing how Presley’s star history has allowed his continued presence in today’s culture.

 In addition to the conference, participants are invited to take part in a screening of Elvis documentaries made by members of our industry panel on the 2nd of June. More Elvis Presley screenings, workshops and events are soon to be confirmed.

Register here 

Check here for our conference schedule 

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The World Is So Small It’s Enormous

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The University of Kent Paris School of Arts and Culture is pleased to invite you to an exhibition of the recent work of our associate artists, Alice Gauthier and Rob Miles, known as ‘Crocolitho’. Held in the Grande Salle of Reid Hall, the beautiful home to the Paris School, the art work on show will be a selection of drawings and lithographs made in the artist’s studio, a short walk from Reid Hall in the site of Les Grands Voisins in Denfert-Rochereau.

Vernissage (Preview):

21st of March at Reid Hall
in La Grande salle, from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm.
4 rue Chevreuse, 75006 Paris – Métro Vavin.
free entry – Cocktail
Do join us for drinks and the opportunity to see the work and talk to the artists, plus a short concert by Rob Miles & Les Clés Anglaises (8pm).

The exhibition will be open to the public for two weeks until the 4th April, between 8am – 11am, Monday to Saturday (apart from the 31st), and the artists will be available to join you by appointment – crocolitho@gmail.com

With many thanks to the artists, and to Columbia Global Centre Paris for their collaboration in hosting this exhibition.

WHIST at the Gulbenkian

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AΦE present WHIST…

WORLD PREMIERE | 12-13 APRIL 2017 | THE GULBENKIAN, CANTERBURY

BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE

“Amazing! Complete transportation into another space/ time/ world.“ 

“Very engaging experience, vivid and powerful images.“ 

What happens when the desires hidden in the dark corners of your mind are suddenly brought to light? What if they have been the driving force of your choices all this while?

Inspired by the work of Sigmund Freud, WHIST invites you on a journey into the unconscious mind, where your instincts will guide you through a narrative of surreal dreams and fears.

The experience merges Physical Theatre and Mixed Reality Technology, in an environment that blurs the boundaries between consciousness and unconsciousness, reality and fiction, the physical and the virtual. Through art and sound installation coupled with cinematic and interactive 360° film, you will be immersed in a world of unfolding dreams. Who knows where your subconscious will lead you?

WHIST is an installation that combines 360° film with 3D sound, physical designed objects and physical theatre, where audiences becomes active participants of the journey through introduction of touch and auditory sensory and movements in space.

 

Opportunities at the Canterbury Festival

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Canterbury Festival are looking for submissions for works of Dance and Performance for their Made in Kent Competition, offering dance companies and artists the opportunity to perform in the popular Festival venue of St Mary’s Studio Theatre as part of the 2017 Canterbury Festival.

More information on the dance competition can be found here.

More information on the performance competition can be found here.

The Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year Competition 2017 has also just launched so now is the time to release that inner poet and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and send in your poems, limericks, ballads, odes, haikus, whatever! More information.

Finally, the Festival are also currently looking for volunteers! 

By volunteering with the Festival, individuals will

  • gain experience of customer care and events management
  • meet new people and be part of a friendly team
  • feel a sense of achievement
  • be supporting the arts in Canterbury
  • enjoy high quality performances (although often it is not possible to see the whole show)

As the public face of the Canterbury Festival, volunteers provide a customer friendly service for the audience.  Volunteers have the chance to experience different roles within the festival.  The Festival will seek to give you the support you require, and training where appropriate and in return ask for 100% attendance and involvement.  It is a mutual commitment.

For enquiries please contact Mark Burford, Business Manager at mark@canterburyfestival.co.uk.

Get Discounted Tickets for some great Gulbenkian Shows!

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Get £2 off the standard student ticket rate at the Gulbenkian by using discount code ‘ SOA1’ when booking online for these great shows…

ROSALIND

JAMES COUSINS COMPANY present ROSALIND.

Rising star of the British dance scene James Cousins’ latest work is inspired by one of Shakespeare’s most headstrong and independent heroines. Set in a modern city – conservative by day, wonderland by night – the curious, courageous heroine Rosalind embarks on a journey of self-discovery, fuelled by love and oppression.

HEAVEN EYES

By David Almond

Three youngsters run away from their children’s home and sail down the River Tyne on a makeshift raft. Stuck on the mudflats, they meet a strange girl who lives with an old man, Grampa. The girl has a secret only Grampa knows …. and he’s not telling.

RUN

2Faced Dance present RUN.

A triple bill choreographed by Tamsin Fitzgerald, Lenka Vagnerova and Rebecca Evans
Original music by Angus MacRae and Tomas Vychytil

Fight or flight? There is always a choice.

A gritty and explosive triple bill from the award winning and physically adventurous 2Faced Dance Company. Featuring three exhilarating commissions by world class choreographers Tamsin Fitzgerald, Lenka Vagnerova and newcomer Rebecca Evans, RUN explores the darker side of humanity, through an explosion of movement, theatre and design.

STEPMOTHER/STEPFATHER

Arthur Pita & HeadSpaceDance present Stepmother/Stepfather.

In a new commission by DanceEast, award-winning Director and Choreographer Arthur Pita, in collaboration with HeadSpaceDance, presents a wickedly gruesome, darkly surreal double bill of dark dance.

Stepmother leads us into a menacing world where macabre folklore meets the terrifying grotesque. Fairy tales distort into nightmares as familiar characters from Snow White to Hansel and Gretel are pursued by a force of monstrous and abusive stepmothers.

Stepfather tells the grisly tale of a twisted family situation, inspired by the folk punk ‘Country Death Song’ from cult American band Violent Femmes. Spiralling into a hellish world of incest and murder, the search for redemption is played out beyond the grave.

The American Dream: pop to the present at the British Museum

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A new exhibition opens at the British Museum on 9th March on The American Dream: pop to the present.

A full programme of events is scheduled with our own Art History academic, Prof. Martin Hammer giving the lecture ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane: Artistic Exchange between Britain and America in the 1960s.’

Get offers on tickets today:

  • Groups offer – If you would like to bring a group of 10 or more people, tickets are priced at £13 per person and the group organiser goes free. Book by phone on 020 7323 8181.
  • Group lecture packages – Available on selected days, for a minimum of 20 adults, these include coffee and biscuits, a curator’s lecture and timed exhibition entry. £27 per person. Information and booking: 020 7323 8849 or hwilliams@britishmuseum.org
  • Student ticket offer – Student and 16–18 years, £13. Plus 2-for-1 tickets on weekdays after 14.30 (phone booking and walk-up only).

Image: Jasper Johns (b. 1930), Flags I. Screenprint, 1973. Collection of Johanna and Leslie Garfield. © Jasper Johns/VAGA, New York/DACS, London 2016. © Tom Powel Imaging.

Find the Right Words with Dean Atta

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At 6pm on Wednesday 15th March, Dean Atta will perform poems alongside students from the workshop in Jarman 1.

Wine in the foyer from 5.45pm. The performance will be followed by a short Q&A. All welcome – the performance is free

Dean Atta is a poet from London, UK.  His debut collection was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. He was named as one of the most influential LGBT people in the UK by the Independent on Sunday Pink List and featured in Out News Global Pride Power List. He has performed across the UK and internationally at the Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (Italy), CrossKultur (Germany), Ordspark (Sweden), PuSh Festival (Canada) and Word N Sound (South Africa). He is a member of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen and Point Blank Poets and Writer in Residence 2017 with Creative Future. He has been commissioned to write poems for BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, Dazed & Confused, Keats House Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern. He is currently working on his second collection The Black Flamingo.

FREE Writing and Performance workshop for Drama Students – Wednesday 15th March 2pm-5pm (followed by performance at 6pm)

In the afternoon performance poet and playwright Dean Atta will lead a workshop where he will conduct students through an afternoon of his favourite writing and performance exercises, building towards you having your own poem ready to perform. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience and is open to Drama students and staff Participants from the afternoon will be invited to perform in the evening alongside Dean Atta. If you would like to take part in the workshop please book your place here.

This workshop, available to Drama students and staff, has been made possible by the 2016 Barbara Morris Learning Support Prize, won by a team from the School of Arts.

A CAREER IN FILM with Caroline Hewitt

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Date: Thursday 16th March

Time: 6.30pm

Title: A CAREER IN FILM

Caroline Hewitt will discuss her career in film and the changing face of independent film-making from the early ’80’s to the current time.

Wine in the foyer from 6pm. The talk will be followed by a Q&A.

Caroline Hewitt is an eminent Film Producer known for her work on, among many others, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Mr Bean’s Holiday and Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. She has just co-produced The Mercy (directed by James Marsh featuring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz) and Mary Magdalene (directed by Garth Davis featuring Joaquin Pheonix and Rooney Mara), both due to be released this year. Film students are strongly encouraged to attend, but any student with an interest in working in film production is welcome to attend. This talk is likely to be popular and places are limited; booking is strongly advised to avoid disappointment. To book visit Target Connect; https://careers.kent.ac.uk/home.html