New exhibition explores the nearby natural environment
Plus Pride in Medway's overall winner, a new collection from Medway poet Philip Kane, we review Mrs Sourdough Bakery, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more
Three local artists have come together for a new exhibition at the Royal Engineers Museum. The Eutierria exhibition features new work inspired by the nearby natural environment, so we’ve been speaking to the artists to learn more. Further down, we hear about Pride in Medway’s overall winner, a Medway poet with a new collection, we review Mrs Sourdough Bakery in Chatham, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more.
New exhibition explores the nearby natural environment
Eutierria is a new group exhibition at the Royal Engineers Museum, bringing together local artists David Frankum, Laura Fisher and Fiona Spirals. We spoke to them to learn more about the exhibition and just how to say ‘eutierria.’
Originally, the Royal Engineers Museum approached David Frankum to put on a solo art exhibition. “I've exhibited there a few times now, and it's always been a joyous place to exhibit,” says David. “They also own several of my pieces in their archives as well.” David admits to feeling honoured to have his work in the archives. “They're not always on display, but they come out every now and then, and that's just a wonderful thing.”
David initially agreed to the exhibition, but as time went on and he thought about the space, he realised how well it could work for three people. “A piece of wall space each, all equal, no egos, no one's headlining.” He immediately thought of fellow Medway artists Laura Fisher and Fiona Spirals. “He invited Laura and myself because he thought it would be nice, and he's a generous guy,” says Fiona. David has exhibited with them in the past, and “from that point, it all became quite mysterious for all three of us,” David notes. “Because even though we were producing work for the exhibition, none of us informed one another of what we were actually producing.” Whilst this carried with it some risk that it would not work, “I knew in my heart that it would all pull together.”
The theme that connects all three creatives is their joint love of being outside and the aesthetic of celebrating and connecting with the outside world. “We are three friends that share the same interest in the outside,” says Fiona. “David loves walking, Laura loves taking photographs outside, and I'm in love with the marsh and nature, basically.” Laura tells me, “David was looking at the landscape, Fiona looks at nature within the landscape, and I look at buildings and structures within the landscape.”
“I work in collage,” explains Fiona, “cutting up climbing magazines, but more now tissue paper and drawing and painting. Mixed media.” Fiona’s part of the exhibition is titled ‘The Plight of the Curlew.’ “In June this year, I'm doing an exhibition in Higham called Marshy Mud Flats and the Call of the Curlew. It's all about North Kent Marshes and the bigger picture of the curlew, who's under threat. A curlew is a large wading bird with a long-curved beak. They live in different parts of the world, but they live and breed in England. “They're endangered because of the way humans are taking their habitats and they have the most amazing call. It's such a soulful, plaintive sound.” All of Fiona’s work is about nature. “That's where my heart is. It's mainly about the marshes because I live a stone's throw from the marsh. I can see the Thames from my studio in the top of the house, a very strong connection with large open spaces with the Thames running through it.”
David is known for having a varied style, whether pen and ink sketches, his brutalist architecture drawings, or his much sought-after designs for Careful Now Promotions gigs. For this, he set himself a challenge. He has produced a series of water-coloured paintings, “which have been collected from within my own head,” David tells me, based on his hiking of the Saxon Shore Way. “I was never quite sure why I was producing little thumbnail studies, very abstract studies along the way.” David wanted to challenge himself because the hike itself had been challenging, “both physically and mentally in many ways.” For a decade, David hasn’t used watercolour paints properly for final pieces of artwork. “Watercolours are incredibly unforgiving because once you've stained the paper, there's no turning back.”
Laura is a documentary photographer. “I like looking at structures and objects.” While on a birthday walk, she came across Shornemead Fort, an old disused fort on the Thames near Higham. “It's got some lovely views up and down the river. The fort was designed by a Royal Engineer. I've taken sepia tone shots of the fort, because that ties in nicely with the sepia-toned photography from the 1870s,” matching the period when the fort was built. Laura’s photos attempt to echo that time, “although the photographs are mainly of this abandoned fort and the graffiti that is there now.”
Finally, we come to the name of the exhibition. I ask David about the title, who helpfully “can’t remember. I should have got everything out in front of me. It's on the poster. I've completely forgotten.” He says they had struggled to come up with a unifying title until a word stuck out because of its meaning. David came across the word in a book. He hadn’t seen the word before but instantly felt it was fitting to all three parts of the exhibition, summarising approaches and topics. “We had to break down how to say it because we all had difficulty saying it.”
I asked Fiona if she could pronounce the title. “Nope. David came up with the name, and I said, ‘How do you say it?’ He spelt it out phonetically. I'm dyslexic. It's got a name that I can't pronounce. If I practiced every day for a week, I might remember it.” Laura tells me that “this had all tied together quite nicely when we knew that we had a show coming up and then decided on the title, Eutierria, which is about mindfulness and being out in nature.” I congratulate her on being the first to actually pronounce the title of the show. “Oh, you're welcome. I've been practising.”
Eutierria, coined by Australian environmentalist Glenn Albrecht, is pronounced ‘you-tee-‘er-ee-uh,’ and means ‘a good and positive feeling of oneness with the earth and its life forces.’
David Frankum’s ‘Walking the Saxon Shore Way’, Laura Fisher’s ‘Shornemead’ and Fiona Spirals ‘The Plight of the Curlew’ exhibitions can be seen at the Royal Engineers Museum from 15 April until 29 June. You can find more details here.
In brief
🤠 Jonathan Neame, Chief Executive at Shepherd Neame, has been appointed the new High Sheriff of Kent.
🥚 For some reason, a chocolate company in Strood has made a 300kg easter egg.
🎶 Ideas test is seeking live music acts for a project in Luton. This is a paid opportunity for acts with no more than three members. Interested musicians can email Wayne to get involved.
🚜 Diggerland turns 25 this month, a remarkable feat for a theme park based around heavy machinery.
⚽ Chatham Town FC are hosting the 3v3 Kent Regional Cup football tournament for players between 6 and 15.
⚽ Medway’s Kyra De Coninck put together the music for a recent advert from Arsenal FC. It’s a banger.
🤷 Courteeners have been announced as the final headliners for Rochester Castle Live in July.
👋 Kevin Grist has stepped down from his role as Executive Director at Electric Medway. Speaking exclusively to this publication, he assured us that it was not due to any scandals and that he was looking forward to new challenges.
Paul Dennington named overall Pride in Medway award winner
Last Friday was the Pride in Medway awards, for which Local Authority hasn’t been nominated since 2022, not that we’re bitter or anything. But anyway, the overall winner this year was Paul Dennington. We caught up with Paul, disturbing his family holiday on a cruise ship in the process, to talk about his campaigns and award win.
When Paul and I are able to establish a video link, he is somewhere between Durban and Cape Town aboard the Queen Anne, which is on its maiden voyage around the world. “We're not doing the round the world voyage,” Paul is quick to make clear. “We joined in Singapore, and then we're getting off in Cape Town.” As reasons to miss the awards ceremony go, we’ve heard worse.
Paul was nominated for the Pride in Medway award for his work for Prostate Cancer UK. His voluntary work is made up essentially of two strands. “One is driving awareness,” highlighting to men the risk and if they are in the risk area. He encourages men to go and get tested “because whilst prostate cancer is the number one cancer in the UK now, in terms of diagnosis, not just the number one male one. There is still no screening program.” Successful diagnosis and treatment relies on well-informed and willing men to get themselves tested when they're at risk and to insist on having a test through their GP. Paul can often be found at events, hosting a stall and raising awareness. Indeed, that is how we first met. He also gives talks at companies and events where possible.
The second strand is fundraising, “selling the pins, doing raffles, et cetera.” Paul has also done a number of sponsored challenges. “When I was diagnosed four years ago, I set myself the challenge to do 25 million steps, which is basically 14,000 steps a day for five years,” which would have got him from Medway to the equivalent of New Zealand in five years. He has since done more challenges like the Yorkshire Three Peaks, three walking marathons in three days. “I've done gym challenges, such as eight hours on the cross trainer.” He has now raised £88,000 for Prostate Cancer UK.
The next challenge “is my maddest, probably most stupid thing that I've decided to set myself up for. It's kind of developing a bit of a life of its own.” Called ‘My March Through Life,’ Paul is starting where he was born, just outside Newcastle, and he intends to walk through all the key places in his life. Places where he has lived and worked, where he went to university and hospitals he has been treated at, ending at Hempstead Valley. “It's 588 miles, 36 days, no breaks, no rest days. I'm going to average about 16 and a half miles a day. I'm going to attempt it. I'll train as well as I can. I do a lot of walking, but I'm also very prone to blisters.” I ask what brought Paul to the Medway Towns, “My wife. I met my wife through work. All her family were here, so I moved to Medway and commuted since 1998.”
Paul was diagnosed with advanced incurable prostate cancer in February 2021. “My prognosis was five to eight years.” Whilst his treatment is going well, he doesn’t know when that will change, so when he isn’t raising awareness, he focuses on “purely creating memories whilst I can with my wife,” which sounds like a valid endeavour indeed. I thank him for his time and leave him to get back to his well-deserved cruise.
You can check your risk level for prostate cancer in 30 seconds via Prostate Cancer UK, who can also offer practical advice and support.
Philip Kane is the Decipherment of Nature
Philip Kane has been part of the Medway poetry scene since long before I even knew about poetry, let alone a Medway poetry scene. We met him at the Frog and Toad pub in Gillingham to talk about his new poetry collection.
The Decipherment of Nature is both the title of the book and “the title of the main sequence that begins the book.” Phil loves that I ask him the perennial question of what the book is about. “Just because I've always wanted to say this, it's about sex and death.” Which is actually true. It is an attempt by Philip to grapple with certain ideas “around the dialectic of the rational and the non-rational.” I nod over my drink as if I understand what he means.
The book is about our relationship with nature, but “not in a of twee way, hopefully.” Instead, nature which is essentially sex and death. “There is a rhythm to it,” insists Philip, in the way that the order of the poems in the book has been designed, “which may not be immediately clear, but the idea is it will hopefully create a subconscious response, a non-rational response in the reader.” I again nod over my drink as if I understand what he means.
I go in for the killer question: “This is a poetry book?” Philip is patient with me. “Yeah, it's a poetry book.” I foolishly ask him if this is his first solo poetry book. “No, I can't even count them now. I think there's been eight or nine books published so far.” There are even more if you count pamphlets. None of his books were self-published either, as Philip worked with Cultured Llama and Whiskey and Beards before they went out of business. “Not as a result of my books. I have to emphasise that.”
The new book is published by Sul Books, where several publishers have come together as a single organisation. Philip had worked with them writing poetry and non-fiction essays for their ‘A Beautiful Resistance’ journal. He approached them with his latest manuscript. “It's been brilliant, really. With a small press, the marketing is not really there. It's basically down to the writer to do all the marketing and believe me, self-promotion is something I am awful at.”
Having enjoyed catching up with Philip over a drink, I don’t think he has been too bad at self-promotion. If you see Phil at upcoming readings, you can buy a copy of the book or order it online.
Out to Lunch: Mrs Sourdough Bakery
In which Steven Keevil assesses the lunch options available in our towns. This week, he’s been down to Mrs Sourdough Bakery in Chatham…
Based in a former restaurant, this bakery/café may or may not be found in Chatham Intra, the Schrodinger of Medway map reference points. I remember first coming across it after it had just opened, and wondering if it would survive where it is. Having interviewed Kata, the owner, it is an example of sheer force of will to maintain a business during difficult times.
The café area is spacious, with a counter area for you to see the range of baked goods available to eat in or take away, as well as the sourdough breads that are made on site and available to buy. If you choose to eat in, then you can have the opportunity to watch the bread being made live. There is, frankly, something hypnotic about the process.
I ordered a range of products to sample, including a cheese and onion quiche, a cheese pretzel and a serrano ham and cheese toastie. The quiche was served with no side salad getting in the way, and the pretzel was the size of the plate. The toastie took a little time to get to us, so thankfully, I had my ‘snacks’ to see me through.
Lunch for two was reasonably priced for artisanal baked goods made on site. The food was all delicious. The quiche was delicately balanced, with a layer of onion on top of the pastry base. Once delivered, the toastie was great.
If, for some reason, you haven’t eaten at Mrs Sourdough, then do. The pretzel alone is worth the visit, making a perfect snack as you possibly walk through parts of Chatham Intra.
Events this week
🎤 11 - 12 Apr - Rainham Poetry Festival // Two-day festival of poetry headlined by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage. St. Margaret’s Church, Rainham. Free.
🎸 Sat 12 Apr - Mitchell Lane EP launch // Headline show for Medway alternative band, supported by Deadgeese and Lily Madison. Three Sheets to the Wind, Rochester. Entry £3.
🗣️ Sat 12 Apr - Medway Choir Festival // Bringing together groups from across the Medway Towns to celebrate community choir music. Pilkington Building, University of Kent, Chatham. Tickets £10.
🛍️ Sat 12 Apr - Rochester City Artisan Market // Stalls dotted along Rochester High Street, selling handmade gifts, crafts, food, and more. Rochester High Street. Free.
🎭 Sat 12 Apr - Where We Meet // Immersive dance theatre meets XR technology, from Unwired Dance Theatre. Galvanising Workshop, Chatham Historic Dockyard. Tickets £10.
🗣️ Wed 16 Apr - Medway Question Time // Our latest live event where you can put questions to a panel of significant Medway figures. MidKent College, Gillingham. Free.
More Authority
For our monthly Voice column, where we hear from Medway’s elected representatives, Rochester and Strood MP Lauren Edwards writes for us for the first time about her recent work in parliament.
Coming up on Sunday, our interview on Sunday for paid supporters is with the newly elected Cllr David Finch, who is the leader of the Reform Group on Medway Council.
Footnotes
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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: A Compilation by The Gorgons and Some People Are On The Pitch They Think It’s All Over It Is Now by The Dentists.
Loved the piece on our built heritage along the shore. So much hides there, just for the want of looking.
Mrs Sourdough Bakery ‘reasonably priced’? And how long is a piece of string? I know that Steven is a man of fine tastes, but is he a man of limitless means?