The University’s Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi) is excited to be hosting The Walk on 21 October, one of the biggest international community arts projects ever produced. 

The Walk is a travelling outdoor performance consisting of a giant puppet of a Syrian refugee girl named Amal, created by Handspring Puppet Company, walking from Turkey to the UK via Greece, Italy, France and other countries. Amal is a 9-year-old girl who wants to find her mother, travelling across Europe and meeting people along the way to highlight the plight of refugees. Colleagues in our Migration and Movement Signature Research Theme will join iCCi in hosting a series of events to accompany her arrival. 

Kent is the only university in the UK to host little Amal. We will be welcoming her to the University with a procession, walking from the Cathedral to the Canterbury campus, starting at midday on Thursday 21 October. We will be joined by 350 local school-children and a marching band. She will also be welcomed by a giant red fox (see sketch below), a puppet that Kent Drama students will operate under the supervision of Kent alumnus, Peter Morton, of Half a String and Sam Westbury, our Drama Workshop Manager. 

David Sefton, Director of Culture and Creative Projects for iCCi: ‘I am delighted that The Walk is the first major community event to be produced by the University’s Institute of Cultural & Creative Industries. The fact that this is such a significant public art event nationally and internationally based around a crucially important theme, and that it is able to incorporate the activities of multiple university departments as well as our own outreach initiative, makes The Walk the perfect demonstration of what iCCi is uniquely set-up to deliver for the University and the whole of Kent.’ 

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Making the Puppet until 8 October – Sign up asap!

We need you! Can you help us build the giant fox puppet? The puppet-making workshops have started in the Arts Workshop (Marlowe Building) with Sam Westbury and Peter Morton. Visit tinyurl.com/thewalkkent to sign up to a slot.

Coming along to the procession on 21 October

Join us at the Cathedral at 11.30 on 21 October. We will walk via Westgate, St. Dunstans, Forty Acres Rd, and up one of the footpaths on to campus. More details will be announced nearer the time via the Gulbenkian webpages.

Attending the Refugee Tales evening event on 21 October

On 21 October at 19.00, an event hosted by Refugee Tales will feature tales and music by refugees who have experienced indefinite immigration detention. Amal will also be in attendance. Book your tickets now, priced £10 and £5 for students, on the Gulbenkian webpages.

Posting on social media

Our tags are #AmalatKent and #littleAmal – do feel free to share.

Telling your students

Please feel free to highlight The Walk in class to your students by forwarding this email to them. 

FIND OUT MORE 

We’re looking forward to you joining us in our preparations to welcome Amal! Find out more about The Walk with Amal webpages. You can read more about Amal’s journey in The Guardian. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Margherita Laera. 

Order Up! is Kent’s brand new app for mobile ordering and payment at your favourite bars, cafés and restaurants on the Canterbury campus.

Download for iPhone | Download for Android

Our intuitive app allows University of Kent students, staff and visitors to create an account and save payment details for quick and easy ordering.

Choose from table service or click and collect, and order for speedy service or pre-order for a timeslot that suits your schedule.

Ordering from your desktop? Use our bespoke Order Up! web ordering app on your PC or laptop.

The Order Up! app can be used at:

• Bag It (Rutherford College)
• Create (Marlowe building)
• Dolche Vita (Keynes College)
• Gulbenkian Café
• Hut 8 (Turing College)
• K-Bar (Keynes College)
• Mungo’s (Eliot College)
• Origins (Darwin College)
• Rutherford Dining Hall
• Sibson Café

Have a question about the Order Up! app? Email catering@kent.ac.uk

The Medway Festival of Learning and Teaching is jointly organised by the Universities of Kent, Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church who share the Medway campus. This year’s festival will be held virtually on the 16 September 9.00 – 13.00, via Blackboard Collaborate (a platform that everyone can easily access, even if they are not at CCCU). The festival aims to share, celebrate and promote our practice.

This year our focus is on Community & Continuity: building communities of learning and supporting graduates’ employability. These are consistently strong themes that run through the sector and are a priority for all three universities and their collaborative partners. The topics are also central when supporting learning in a blended and digital environment, as we have all come to realise more fully since March 2020.

Our keynote speaker is Dr Carina Buckley, her presentation is titled ‘Closing the learning loop: The value of narrative in online learning design’.  Technology allows for teaching beyond the confines of the classroom but on its own cannot put students in the centre of their own learning. The four concepts of community, journey, narrative and interaction are vital to the success of learning and teaching online in the longer term, and can act as a tool for humanising the online space and maintaining connection, participation and engagement between peers, and between students and staff.

Call for workshop proposals

We are now inviting contributions in a variety of formats from colleagues at all three Universities and collaborative partners, from practitioners, professional services staff, researchers and students.  Co-authored presentations with students are particularly encouraged.  We welcome contributions on practices that:

• Fostering student engagement online and on-campus
• Promote communities of learning, student and alumni belonging and inclusion
• Demonstrate collaborative approaches to learning, teaching and assessment
• Develop students’ graduate employability and professional skills
• Facilitate authentic engagement with graduate employers and professional bodies

Attending or presenting can help colleagues to evidence professional development or maintain ‘good standing’ for Advance HE (formerly HEA). The length of contributions will be as follows:

• Presentations of practice 10 minutes
• Research papers 10 minutes
• Workshops 30 minutes

Gulbenkian Arts Centre and iCCi at the University of Kent are recruiting participants for a Community Chorus for the upcoming production of The Suppliant Women – would you like to be a part of it?

We’re looking for people who:

• Want to work with a top professional creative team
• Enjoy singing, acting and performing
• Have a willingness to learn, enthusiasm and dedication
• Having an interest in the social and political themes of the play would also be great!

The Community Cast breaks down into 3 choruses as follows:

• The Suppliant Women: Chorus of Young Women aged 18-30 (Some singing and movement experience/ability required but doesn’t need to be seasoned performers.) This chorus is on stage for the majority of the performance and therefore will have the most intensive rehearsal schedule from Sept-Nov 2021 (mainly Tuesday evenings and weekends) and the production week from Monday 8th November 2021.
• The King’s Soldiers: Chorus of Men aged 18-35 (Some singing and movement experience/ability required but doesn’t need to be seasoned performers.) This chorus has a smaller role and therefore less intensive rehearsal schedule, mainly 4 weekend days and then the production week from Monday 8th November 2021.
• Men and Women representing the community: Chorus of the Community aged 18+ (Strong singers and musical readers required – ability to sing without a leader.) This chorus features at the end of the play with one main song.

How to get involved:

We will be running taster workshops at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre on Saturday 11 and Sunday 26 September 2021, from which the Creative Team will select their choruses. To sign up for a slot please complete this short online application form. For more information please contact creativeengagement@kent.ac.uk

It’s been a while since we’ve been able to say this, but our new ‘What’s On’ pages are now live with all the details about the Autumn term concerts!

Live music is back in earnest for the new term, as our Lunchtime Concert series welcomes sitar player Jonathan Mayer, a recital of music for viola de gamba, the Deptford Rivieras in a post-launch party for their latest CD, and a special extra concert featuring the Glyndebourne Touring Orchestra and Pit Perfect, including a post-concert workshop with student string-players.

The December concert by the Chorus and Orchestra has a sparkling seasonal flavour, including music by Tchaikovsky and Vaughan Williams, and the term finishes in rousing fashion with the customary ‘Christmas Swingalong’ featuring the Big Band and the evergreen Ian Swatman.

We can’t wait to be back – take a look at all that’s coming up this term, and we look forward to seeing you in Colyer-Fergusson once more! Full event details are available on the Music webpages.