Hastings’ Creative Spring

Hastings’ Creative Spring 2019 was a great chance for 14 to 18 year olds to learn about some of the things that can be done with creative media. It ran from 18 to 22 February, and gave the participants a taste of ways to go with work, study or hobbies. It was all about personal development, new opportunities in the fast-growing creative industries, and having fun.

The Hastings’ Creative Spring programme was developed from our earlier Hastings’ Creative Summer 2018 programme. Course tutors were introduced to the amazing ethnographic resource of diaries, photographs, sketches and artifacts brought back to Hastings by the extraordinary Annie Brassey, a 19th century traveller, writer and Baroness, whose account of her travels, A Voyage in the Sunbeam, became a bestseller.

Annie Brassey’s work informed approaches to the sessions offered to the young people in the programme. Fascinating stories and data were discovered about our town decades ago in Unpacking the Past and were written about in Ghosthunting. Animated sequences were created to make a visual story in Stop Frame Animation. Audio soundscapes were built to accompany visuals in Audio Camp. Documentary Photography included learning about digital cameras (DSLRs). Visuals and stories were turned into an experience on mobile phones in Coding History.

Sarah French, who contributed to the research for the programme, has continued her work in an ongoing PhD thesis and research project called Doings of the Sunbeam. It contains fascinating insights and photographs about Annie Brassey’s travels and her writings. Sarah is a PhD researcher and freelance arts and cultural heritage professional, specialising in photography, museums and collections.

Hastings’ Creative Spring was developed by MSL Discover and funded by Arts Council England.

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