Art at the Apna

For a short period only there's a new exhibition at the Apna in support of PEACE ONE DAY. The show consist of three striking images by Jalal Abdin and Saif Mistaul Ali, both young artists studying at Huddersfield and Liverpool Universities respectively.  

The Apna itself is closed over Eid but reopens at the weekend - come and visit to see these powerful works. They will only be on show until Thursday 1st October when we will be hanging work by Rahima Begum which will open for the Rossendale Art Trail weekend. 

Worth mentioning too that the Chand Raat and Eid Bazaar held last Friday was an enormous success, with over 200 ladies attending and the little Apna bursting at the seams! Thank you so much to everyone who helped or took part.

Eid Mubarak!

A future for the Apna?

The Apna programme has now been planned right through to the first day of November when the rental agreement for the Apna as a pop-up space ends.

There are 44 events being planned during this period, ranging from Guided Walks to Calligraphy Masterclasses; from World Braid workshops to a special Eid Bazaar and Mela.

The activities calendar only went public last Sunday, but already many of the classes have been fully booked. Arry is busy organising the timetable and signing-up participants (above).

When we decided to try a pop-up centre, with a focus on providing activities for local South Asian women, it was very much an experiment. I'm astonished at just how quickly it has proven there to be a need, and how enthusiastic people are about what's on offer. It's a great credit to Arry Nessa and her small team of helpers.

Now we're having to make some calculations and decisions about whether the Apna has a future...

A stock-take

Now that we're in September there are just 6 months left of the Different Moons project or, rather, 6 months left of the work funded by the Heritage Lottery under that title. So, inevitably it's time for a stock-take in order to make some decisions about the immediate future of the work - and beyond.

The interviews 

We've completed the main body of interviews with first-generation immigrants (from Pakistan and Bangladesh) to Rossendale, and transcribing these is almost completed. The transcriptions will be bound into folders during the next few months and donated to local libraries and archives, along with the original audio files.

The animations

Short animated films are being made of extracts from some of the interviews. So far there are 6 films completed or almost completed. We expect to double this number by early 2016. They will form part of a Different Moons website when the project is completed. 

Workshops

Our programme of training and other workshops is now finished. It's been brilliantly successful and the resulting artwork, mainly in the form of poetry, are being gathered together in the form of a 100-page book to be published in March 2016.

The events programme

In the Autumn of 2014 we held a number of events to celebrate the Different Moons project and announce the DM exhibition at the Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery. This year we'll do something similar in order to spread the word about our book launch. We're planning a mela and a music event at Haslingden Community Link, as well as a special Book Launch mushaira. We're also beginning a season of Bollywood films at the newly renovated Boo, down the Valley in Waterfoot.

The Apna

The Apna has grown out of the Different Moons Events programme, It's an intimate community space and gallery and to a large extent it is carrying on the work of DM workshop and events programmes. Situated in a small shop premises right in the centre of Haslingden, it is (half-way through) a three-month experiment in creating a community centre, focused on the needs of local South Asian women. So far it has been an outstanding success, and we will soon be having to decide on whether to extend this work. It has to some extent already taken on a life of its own since Arry Nessa, who has coordinated and brilliantly managed the Apna, has received a grant from the Arts Council for her work at the centre.

A performance

Shamshad Khan, who has led the Different Moons project, and Bob Frith, who devised and has overseen the work, are currently working together on creating a touring performance inspired by the project. This is still in its early days, but the hope is to create a show incorporating poetry, puppetry, film and story-telling.