Urban Arts At Wimbledon Library

Go wild in the library on a Sunday

Culture Blast is a new urban arts programme which launches on Sunday October 13 in Wimbledon Library.

There will be live DJ sessions, dub workshops and a look at hip-hop through the years.

There'll also be a cinema screening, graffiti art session and the chance to create your own electronic music.

Entry is free and it runs from 11am-6pm. The full details are:

DJ WrongTom will present Dub Music Workshops, a lecture on the history of Dub Music, and Live Sessions in his special Echo Chamber. Participants will be able to get hands on a recreate some thrilling, classic dub echoes. Tom has production credits on a number 1 LP, has worked on projects for the legendary Trojan Records, released an album with UK rap legend Roots Manuva and his most recent album sees him collaborating with MC Deemas J.

BBC 1XTRA Hip Hop "M1X It Up" Champion (and Rough Trade Dance Buyer), DJ Bobafatt will be running through a live set on the history of hip-hop using two turntables (and Serato). He will also run DJ Workshops exploring turntable and modern day techniques with willing participants.

Inspired by the original roots of Hip Hop and Dub sets, and running concurrently during the music, will be original Essex Rocker, Parlee. Parlee will be working with people of all ages using pens and paper to explore the roots of graffiti, and the art of graffiti ties into the history of Hip Hop and the four elements (DJ, Graffiti, MC, Breakdance).

Film Screenings. Upstairs in the gallery, four films will be screened.

Style Wars (1983) is a classic historical documentary focusing on the emergence of graffiti art in New York City, and discusses whether it is a criminal act or art.
Dub Echoes (2008) shows how the Jamaican invention called dub ended up influencing much of the music we hear today, from electronic music to hip-hop, transforming the studio in a musical instrument and giving way to all of sonic experiments.
Beat Street (1984) is a dramatic film, following Wild Style that features New York City Hip Hop culture of the early 1980s: breakdancing, DJing, and graffiti.
Exit Through The Gift Shop (2010) is a film by street artist Banksy that tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. The film charts Guetta's constant documenting of his every waking moment on film, from a chance encounter with his cousin, the artist Invader, to his introduction to a host of street artists with a focus on Shepard Fairey and Banksy, whose anonymity is preserved by obscuring his face and altering his voice, to Guetta's eventual fame as a street artist himself.

Hip Hop Arts Club – an interactive art installation by Lauren Brown using lyrics and text as a mode to create other artforms. A blast of colour, words and activity, with three main actions will take place in the Club: Lyrical Freeze, Tees and Scenario. A day-version of a club, with participants chatting, making, talking about music and lyrics, spurred on by the sounds of DJ Bobafatt drifting in from the main space. Please note, if you want to design your own T-Shirt print, please bring a white T-Shirt with you.

A paid drone-synth workshop with musician and instrument designer, Sam Underwood. Sam is currently the appointed Sound Artist in Residence at the Town Hall Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Sam will be guiding 12 participants through the process of building a drone-synth from start to completion. An demonstration of the final synth is here - vimeo.com/53276618 Cost of the course is £35 for the day. Please note this is likely to be a popular booking.

Calcuttan Street Food samples created and curated by Asma Khan. Anyone believing that Indian food was all curry, rice and naan should get ready to think again.

The Ringmaster. "George Orwell" will be taking any willing participants around the venue to lend a personal touch to proceedings.

Artist Marianne Zeck presents The Musicians Of Bremen. Come and find out how a Donkey, Dog, Cat and Rooster meet each other and deal with some robbers by creating their own musical sounds. This funky, dynamic theatre and song workshop created for toddlers and children uses movement and rhythm, voice and sound with lengths of fabric to create a performance of this famous European story.

September 25, 2013