‘SELF’ a Student Group Exhibition, 2 – 12 May
We are very pleased to welcome students from the University of East London to the Belfry and North Gallery. They will be showing their print works created in response to asking ‘What is your individual identity’. The works will also showcase new techniques and skills they have acquired over the last twelve weeks as part of their studies. The students have been exploring the possibilities of displaying their prints in the atmospheric spaces of the Belfry and North Gallery and the exhibition promises a new and creative use of Sir...
read moreWhy, in spite of the invitation, I won’t be at Baroness Thatcher’s Funeral
As a parish priest in Bethnal Green I was asked to take the funeral of Reggie Kray when he died in 2000. In the week or so preceding the funeral the Press were very keen to know my views on the gangster – what was I going to say about him in the service? Was I going to take the line that he loved his mum and never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, or denounce him as a violent thug? My response was that a Christian funeral was not about choosing between competing public images; rather it was to place a human life in the context of the...
read more‘Lost and Found’, a Celebration of Artistic Inspiration, 4 – 14 April 2013
We are pleased to welcome artists from the Community Art Room here at St John’s to the Belfry. They will be showcasing works created in the classes using Mosaic, Stone Carving and Stained Glass inspired by found objects and rediscovered ideas. Artistic inspiration comes in many forms – it could be an old photograph or a picture in a book that has not been opened for years; a memory recalled by a piece of music or a fragment of ceramic found on the shores of the Thames. Join us for a special opening night on Thursday 4 April from...
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An exhibition by Interact, on 7th March and 14th to 20th March “Multiculturalism is Dead.” Or is it? Nicolas Sarkozy certainly believes it is, and David Cameron has claimed that it has failed. Do the young people of today’s Britain agree? The youth-led organisation Interact are giving young artists aged 18-30 a platform to express their views on these controversial political opinions. From Indian to Irish, UK natives to international migrants, these artists will discuss whether they believe...
read more‘Death & Mourning’, Group Photography Exhibition, 7 February – 1 March
We are very pleased to host ‘Death and Mourning’, an exhibition of recent photographs of death and loss by students studying at The University of Greenwich. It is easy to forget that death comes to us all, but whether we like it or not, our existence is unquestionably finite. In fact, the one thing, and perhaps the only thing that we can be sure of, is that we are going to die. Photography is by definition, a melancholic art. Photographs refuse to forget, they cling to the image of the past as if their...
read moreWelcoming the Child, New Free Theatre, 16 – 23 December
We are pleased to welcome the New Free Theatre at St John on Bethnal Green. In a contemporary take on the traditional nativity play, they are presenting an installation of audio and text in the Belfry during the week leading up to Christmas. ‘Welcoming the Child’ takes inspiration from Hugo Ball’s surrealist ‘Simultaneous Nativity Play’ in order to think through questions of textuality and performance in relation to the nativity play as a central although not-exactly-canonical feature of the...
read moreGHost IV: Presence & Absence, 6 – 8 December
An exhibition and series of art events exploring the desire to materialise what is absent via the medium of haunted landscapes or by the metaphorical manifestation of a ghost. Works have been selected in response to research seminars, held earlier this year, at UOL. The exhibition will feature audio-visual installations plus a programme of performances and artists’ film screenings all sited throughout the church. The winter nights are long and dark and the church’s stone floors breath out cold vapours. Wrap up warm, or bring a blanket!...
read more‘The Darkness’ – Opening Night 1 November, 6pm – 9pm
A show about the relationships between light and darkness, mechanisms, cameras and lenses. Exhibition open 1 November to 30 November Thursdays and Fridays: 6pm to 8pm Saturdays: 12noon to 5pm We are pleased to welcome Pedro Pires to the Belfry at St John on Bethnal Green. Pedro is a Portuguese artist based in London who has taken inspiration for his solo exhibition from the following text by Gonçalo M. Tavares: “If there was an electricity to make the dark appear, just as there is an electricity to make light appear, the number of...
read moreTrace your Steps – Big Draw 2012, Saturday 20 October, 12 – 4pm
Join us for an afternoon of creative fun as part of the Big Draw 2012. Artist Eleanor Wemyss will help you explore the church in a new way using a range of different and unusual materials. ‘Lines’ will be at the heart of the experience with plenty of space to express yourself. At the end of the afternoon the results of your efforts will be displayed in a large puzzle and mobile displays! The workshop is free and suitable for all ages and abilities.
read moreBlack History Month – ‘Trading Voices’, Saturday 13 October, 7pm
A musical celebration of Black History Month Musicians from London’s pioneering world and jazz ensemble, the Grand Union Orchestra, and an East London choir that moves the heart and lifts the soul, the Sanctuary Voices, are joined by music makers and singers from all ages and cultures in this joyful musical celebration of the true spirit of Black History Month. The concert is free – book your place on: http://tradingvoices.eventbrite.co.uk ‘Trading Voices’ is supported by Tower Hamlets Arts and...
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