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From Community Newswire....

ART SHOW HIGHLIGHTS CITY DIVERSITY
By Ben Pindar, Community Newswire

ARTS Diversity Liverpool, 02 Mar 2006 - 08:51
A Liverpool gallery was today lifting the curtain on a major new multicultural art exhibition which highlights the city's diverse communities ahead of being named the European Capital of Culture in 2008.

The "Going Native" exhibition aims to address Liverpool's 2008 Capital of Culture slogan, "The World in One City", by providing a unique insight into the cultural experiences and outlooks of artists living and working in Liverpool.

Gallery chiefs will unveil five brand new commissions, alongside existing works, by Liverpool-based artists from diverse communities, backgrounds and disciplines....

Sorry, I've been watching Madness videos this week.
So Arena on Wednesday was a good place to shelter from the rain and the depressing football match but not, unfortunately, the cold. Thank God for red wine on such occasions.
The evening kicked off with a drum band troop called Mana Bohzo. Can't remember all the drum names but Djembe were the main instrument I think. Great foot-tapping beats.
Lots of excellent poetry from the Fiction gang (or 'Massive' now); Nafe (Nathan Jones), Eleanor Rees and special guest Ayo Ogola who I haven't heard before but would love to hear again. I think Dave Bamford was on later but I didn't stay to the end, had to get home and defrost.
No Fiction gig is complete without a bit of weird stuff and this was supplied a-plenty by the Great Gonzo, a German comedian/singer/entertainer. Very funny but mildly scary.

Next event is Sunday 12th March 2006 with lots of acoustic music from John Smith and many others.

From Helen Bryson (thanks Helen)....

"oh what a night... DAVE BAMFORD BLEW ME AWAY, did he really say all that? I'm so glad he did, some real stuff. The drums, by Mana Bozho WOW. THE GERMAN, Gonzo, actually funny, and other stuff poignant and witty and moving. So you can tell I really loved the night. Cheers Mercy, oh yea, and Nafes poems made me laugh, never a bad thing."

Friday March 17th brought a programme of short films curated by James Harding who lectures in Film Studies at Hope University at the Cornerstone followed by electronica music from the Hive Collective with Tom Q and Scrubber Fox.

The films were all 16mm reels so you get added tension of wondering how soon there will be the inevitable technical hitch and the sequence was titled 'UNDER THE FREEWAY/URBAN LANDSCAPES'. Artists' cinema often reveals the sections of a city which have been ignored in standard topographies.

Guy Sherwin's 'Under the Freeway was a (too long) 16 min. film of street-life at a busy intersection beneath a freeway in San Francisco. I found that rather boring to be honest but the other 3 films were more entertaining or short enough to at least hold my attention.
They were 'Money' by Henry Hills, 'Talking to a Stone' by Inger Lisa Hansen and 'Nocturne' by Emily Richardson.

Sadly I couldn't stay for much of the music and left while Tom Q was testing the quality of the speakers via his laptop.

Cornerstone Artists Cinema
Hive Collective