Watermans Art Centre is a combined arts centre. It is located in Brentford, England alongside the banks of the River Thames overlooking Kew Gardens in West London, England.
Built on the site of gas works, Watermans Arts Centre was in planning for 15 years.[citation needed] A trust was put in place in 1975 and there was a fundraising drive. The Hounslow Arts Trust managed to raise around £150,000 but it was not enough to build the centre. A planning deal was made with the developer of offices adjoining the current site which, along with the Trust's money, paid for the construction. It took about three years to build and cost about £2m.[2] The building was designed by the architectural firm Oscar Garry & Partners. The original building contained a theatre, cinema, and gallery. The two studios are a later addition.[3] John Baraldi was the first director of the arts centre.[4]
MusicEdit
The first event in the theatre was a concert by sitar player Ravi Shankar.[5]
Watermans established a reputation for live music and early raves took place there. In fact, the term Acid Jazz was originally coined by DJ Gilles Peterson at one of Nicky Holloway's Special Branch gigs at the Watermans in late 1987.[6] Gilles Peterson recollected that "Acid jazz happened when Bangsy and me were playing at the Waterman's Art Centre in Brentford. A one-off gig by Nicky Holloway. I think Paul Oakenfold or Pete Tong were DJing. It was all ‘get on one, matey’ and it was banging acid house."[7]
On 19 August 1988, alternative rock band Spacemen 3 gave an unusual live performance. An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music took place in the foyer to act as a prelude to a screening of the film Wings of Desire. Peter Kember, Jason Pierce and Will Carruthers were joined by Rugby musician Steve Evans. They played a 45-minute jam, based around a single chord strummed by Evans, featuring riffs from some of the songs from their as yet unreleased Playing with Fire material. This performance was recorded and was later released, in 1990, as Dreamweapon.
The performance was not well received at the time. Pat Fish said "it was fucking beautiful, but in this setting it was really, really annoying people. It was quite loud in the room... tempers were beginning to fray."[8]
FictionEdit
Robert Rankin held a position as the Writer in Residence of Watermans during the 1980s and organised a regular poetry event which he claims was the largest in Britain.[9] Rankin's The Brentford Trilogy is a series of nine novels humorously chronicling the lives of a couple of drunken middle-aged layabouts who confront the forces of darkness in Brentford.
In that decade. there were several reported sightings of a Griffin near Watermans. John Baraldi reported that "a woman came from the parking along the street. She was in an awful state. She had seen a huge bird and was obviously rather shaken by it." Robert Rankin said "it has been a local myth for years. There were sightings of the ones prior to the last year. Previous ones go back to at least before the Second World War. A year ago a jogger called John Olssen reported seeing the bird as he was running by the arts centre. And a woman saw it from the top of a bus."[10] The legend went on to be referenced in Rankin's book Web Site Story.
Asian-British artsEdit
During the 1990s, Watermans was known for focusing on South Asian arts.[11] Doctor Alda Terracciano argued that "the last decade has witnessed the rapidly increasing achievements of a number of British Asian playwrights, directors and actors – a trend fostered by the support of venues such as the Watermans Arts Centre," noting that the comedy circuit benefited from Watermans' support through the regular 'One Nation Under a Groove...Innit' event which "offered the opportunity to a number of emerging Asian comedians to exercise their skills before being cast in proper comedy dramas."[12] Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar's musical comedy double act "The Secret Indians (non-Asian)" performed at Watermans.
Other performersEdit
Comedian Jo Brand visited in 2008. She said of Watermans that "these sort of places are important for local people in west London. You have the West End but the average person cannot afford that, so their only access to theatre is somewhere like Watermans." She also noted: "I was in a stand-up show there about 20 years ago."[13] Other notable names who have appeared include Peter Greenaway, Elvis Costello, Mica Paris, Meera Syal, Melvin Bragg and Shabana Azmi.
PresentEdit
Art in Watermans Art Centre in 2014
Watermans presents a year-round programme of independent cinema, children's theatre, cabaret, dance, music, talks and creative workshops. Watermans also works across the borough of Hounslow, bringing outdoor arts to Bell Square, a purpose-built outdoor arts space in Hounslow Town Centre. It leads the Creative People and Places Hounslow consortium, which is a 10 year programme funded by Arts Council England to help engage new audiences in the arts.[14]
During the Covid lockdowns Watermans instituted a fortnightly film club 'No Ticket Required' to continue its film programming and support its audiences.[15]
ReferencesEdit
^"Morphogenetic Creations – Andy Lomas". UK: Watermans Arts Centre. 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
^"Watermans' history – Keep Watermans in Brentford". Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^"Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, GB". Cinema Treasures. 7 January 2001. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^"John Baraldi". Linkedin.com. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
^. 29 October 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^The Story of Acid Jazz – Steve Bunyan, Marc Lessner.
^. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^"Birmingham Science Fiction Group to host Robert Rankin 8th April " Birmingham Writers' Group". Birminghamwriters.org. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^London Urban Legends: The Corpse on the Tube and Other Stories, Scott Wood, The History Press, 2013, ISBN978-0752482873
^James Rampton. "Comedy". The Independent. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^Dr. Alda Terracciano. "South Asian Theatre in Britain" (PDF). Sadaa.co.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^"Brand throws weight behind Watermans". Get West London. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^"About Us". Watermans. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^No Ticket Required: Lovers Rock promo trailer, archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 9 March 2021
watermans, arts, centre, watermans, centre, combined, arts, centre, located, brentford, england, alongside, banks, river, thames, overlooking, gardens, west, london, england, morphogenetic, creations, digital, exhibition, andy, lomas, 2016, includes, seat, the. Watermans Art Centre is a combined arts centre It is located in Brentford England alongside the banks of the River Thames overlooking Kew Gardens in West London England Morphogenetic Creations digital art exhibition by Andy Lomas at Watermans Arts Centre in 2016 1 It includes a 239 seat theatre a 125 seat cinema two galleries and two studio spaces citation needed Contents 1 History 1 1 Building 1 2 Music 1 3 Fiction 1 4 Asian British arts 1 5 Other performers 2 Present 3 ReferencesHistory EditBuilding Edit Built on the site of gas works Watermans Arts Centre was in planning for 15 years citation needed A trust was put in place in 1975 and there was a fundraising drive The Hounslow Arts Trust managed to raise around 150 000 but it was not enough to build the centre A planning deal was made with the developer of offices adjoining the current site which along with the Trust s money paid for the construction It took about three years to build and cost about 2m 2 The building was designed by the architectural firm Oscar Garry amp Partners The original building contained a theatre cinema and gallery The two studios are a later addition 3 John Baraldi was the first director of the arts centre 4 Music Edit The first event in the theatre was a concert by sitar player Ravi Shankar 5 Watermans established a reputation for live music and early raves took place there In fact the term Acid Jazz was originally coined by DJ Gilles Peterson at one of Nicky Holloway s Special Branch gigs at the Watermans in late 1987 6 Gilles Peterson recollected that Acid jazz happened when Bangsy and me were playing at the Waterman s Art Centre in Brentford A one off gig by Nicky Holloway I think Paul Oakenfold or Pete Tong were DJing It was all get on one matey and it was banging acid house 7 On 19 August 1988 alternative rock band Spacemen 3 gave an unusual live performance An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music took place in the foyer to act as a prelude to a screening of the film Wings of Desire Peter Kember Jason Pierce and Will Carruthers were joined by Rugby musician Steve Evans They played a 45 minute jam based around a single chord strummed by Evans featuring riffs from some of the songs from their as yet unreleased Playing with Fire material This performance was recorded and was later released in 1990 as Dreamweapon The performance was not well received at the time Pat Fish said it was fucking beautiful but in this setting it was really really annoying people It was quite loud in the room tempers were beginning to fray 8 Fiction Edit Robert Rankin held a position as the Writer in Residence of Watermans during the 1980s and organised a regular poetry event which he claims was the largest in Britain 9 Rankin s The Brentford Trilogy is a series of nine novels humorously chronicling the lives of a couple of drunken middle aged layabouts who confront the forces of darkness in Brentford In that decade there were several reported sightings of a Griffin near Watermans John Baraldi reported that a woman came from the parking along the street She was in an awful state She had seen a huge bird and was obviously rather shaken by it Robert Rankin said it has been a local myth for years There were sightings of the ones prior to the last year Previous ones go back to at least before the Second World War A year ago a jogger called John Olssen reported seeing the bird as he was running by the arts centre And a woman saw it from the top of a bus 10 The legend went on to be referenced in Rankin s book Web Site Story Asian British arts Edit During the 1990s Watermans was known for focusing on South Asian arts 11 Doctor Alda Terracciano argued that the last decade has witnessed the rapidly increasing achievements of a number of British Asian playwrights directors and actors a trend fostered by the support of venues such as the Watermans Arts Centre noting that the comedy circuit benefited from Watermans support through the regular One Nation Under a Groove Innit event which offered the opportunity to a number of emerging Asian comedians to exercise their skills before being cast in proper comedy dramas 12 Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar s musical comedy double act The Secret Indians non Asian performed at Watermans Other performers Edit Comedian Jo Brand visited in 2008 She said of Watermans that these sort of places are important for local people in west London You have the West End but the average person cannot afford that so their only access to theatre is somewhere like Watermans She also noted I was in a stand up show there about 20 years ago 13 Other notable names who have appeared include Peter Greenaway Elvis Costello Mica Paris Meera Syal Melvin Bragg and Shabana Azmi Present Edit Art in Watermans Art Centre in 2014Watermans presents a year round programme of independent cinema children s theatre cabaret dance music talks and creative workshops Watermans also works across the borough of Hounslow bringing outdoor arts to Bell Square a purpose built outdoor arts space in Hounslow Town Centre It leads the Creative People and Places Hounslow consortium which is a 10 year programme funded by Arts Council England to help engage new audiences in the arts 14 During the Covid lockdowns Watermans instituted a fortnightly film club No Ticket Required to continue its film programming and support its audiences 15 References Edit Morphogenetic Creations Andy Lomas UK Watermans Arts Centre 2016 Retrieved 20 October 2016 Watermans history Keep Watermans in Brentford Retrieved 31 October 2016 Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford GB Cinema Treasures 7 January 2001 Retrieved 31 October 2016 John Baraldi Linkedin com Retrieved 3 April 2016 Watermans History 29 October 2014 Archived from the original on 29 October 2014 Retrieved 31 October 2016 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link The Story of Acid Jazz Steve Bunyan Marc Lessner Archived copy Archived from the original on 24 March 2016 Retrieved 2 April 2016 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Spacemen 3 and the Birth of Spiritualized Erik Morse 2004 Omnibus Press ISBN 978 0711996021 Birmingham Science Fiction Group to host Robert Rankin 8th April Birmingham Writers Group Birminghamwriters org 7 April 2011 Retrieved 31 October 2016 London Urban Legends The Corpse on the Tube and Other Stories Scott Wood The History Press 2013 ISBN 978 0752482873 James Rampton Comedy The Independent Retrieved 31 October 2016 Dr Alda Terracciano South Asian Theatre in Britain PDF Sadaa co uk Retrieved 31 October 2016 Brand throws weight behind Watermans Get West London 31 January 2008 Retrieved 31 October 2016 About Us Watermans Retrieved 31 October 2016 No Ticket Required Lovers Rock promo trailer archived from the original on 13 December 2021 retrieved 9 March 2021 51 29 09 N 0 17 55 W 51 4857 N 0 2987 W 51 4857 0 2987 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Watermans Arts Centre amp oldid 1172467349, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
