"...THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF SWALLOWING A SOUL..." JA 7/06

“…THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF SWALLOWING A SOUL…” JA 7/06

June 7, 2017

  ….quote from “In a Cup of Tea”: a Kwaidan fragment adapted by Lafcadio Hearn / Koizumi Yakumo

PLACES, LANDSCAPES, THINGS AND GODS (towards the report). JA 6/06

PLACES, LANDSCAPES, THINGS AND GODS (towards the report). JA 6/06

June 7, 2017

My personal overview: The very assembling of kanji (Japanese characters) when writing is an assembling of things/objects and pictures: the making on paper of a world of matter and elemental forces in miniature. There is a deep sense of placing, space, silence and rhythm in all decisions and actions taken by the Japanese. This is…Read More

Where, who and when: Project meetings (towards the report). JA 6/06

Where, who and when: Project meetings (towards the report). JA 6/06

June 6, 2017

Week One Sunday 21 May – MATSUE En route from the wooden castle on the hill, there is a rainbow aura round the hot sun and we stumble accidentally on the Shinto Shrine of foxes: Hearn’s favourite and so close to where he lived. It is yesterday’s epic Izumo Taisha Shinto Shrine in miniature. And…Read More

Soul. SJ 29/05

Soul. SJ 29/05

June 6, 2017

Thoughts after walking round Osorezan (Shimokita peninsula) It would be hard not to be moved coming here and walking among small piles of stones along the riverbed  (Sai no Kawara), placed there by dead children trying to get across the river to the other side. Through the night, under the protection of Jizo, part Shinto Deity,…Read More

Fushimi Inari shrine. SW, 26 May 2017

Fushimi Inari shrine. SW, 26 May 2017

June 3, 2017

Speaking of religious landscapes (see my first blog) there can be few more striking than Fushimi Inari on the edge of Kyoto. This is a ‘No.1 attraction in Japan’ sort of place with hordes of visitors, but as it is open all the time we managed to get there at 8am before the crowds. The main…Read More

Trusting Direction. SJ, 24 May 2017

May 28, 2017

I started the day truly lost; apprehensive of meetings to come, how to find the location of each meeting… so many unknowns in a new place. A tea ceremony soon rooted me in Kyoto  and I find a new love for macha tea, perfect for a long day of meetings and workshops. We sure needed…Read More

The Smaller Things in Life. SJ 25/5/17

The Smaller Things in Life. SJ 25/5/17

May 28, 2017

Arriving at Izumo Taisha Shrine from Matsue I was struck by how nature is regarded by those around me and their awareness of space, each individual moving within their own sphere.  They are uninterrupted except when I stand and get in the way, too busy looking at the considered aspects of every day objects, like sculpted…Read More

Arriving and Accepting. SJ 24/5/17

May 25, 2017

Often working from a place of tiredness can reap as many rewards as being full of energy exploding aimlessly in a space Outside Gyokusen Hotel waiting for the shuttle to Izumo Taisha Shuffling through immigration at Narita airport, I felt exhausted but accepting of what the still long journey had to bring. I knew that…Read More

Two Houses Both Alike. JA 28/5

May 23, 2017

The Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum and the Bronte Parsonage Museum – how is it they haven’t met?  They are alike in more than dignity and literary associations. Both had a superb renaissance recently and both look to celebrate Ireland in the future, to name but two things in common. Lafcadio’s and Emily’s Celtic heritages have…Read More

Fantastic Fox-Sama. JA, 21 May 2017

Fantastic Fox-Sama. JA, 21 May 2017

May 23, 2017

We went to the castle and left our shoes at the bottom of the tower. Matsue-jo is a wooden tower on a hill nesting over the town. Around it is a moat full of turtles as overfed as ducks are in Ilkley. Its floors and stairs are polished like glass with the feet of centuries,…Read More

The Goddess in the Woolly Hat. JA. 23/5/17

The Goddess in the Woolly Hat. JA. 23/5/17

May 23, 2017

It’s red – the hat – and must have felt hot on Saturday. Every day gets hotter. We don’t have time to travel up and down the Ichibata Railway Company’s Electric Line, that potters between the paddy fields and stone-eyed shrines, to sample all the onsen and hot spring footbaths that pepper the route. But…Read More

Lafcadio’s ghost. JA. 23/5/17

May 23, 2017

On Saturday we visit Izumo Taisha, the grand and graceful Shinto Shrine, on three trains. We are becoming the ninja of Japan Rail. But always: not quite. There is always a moment when we lose it. And then a guardian angel materialises. There was a man in Zurich in a white van outside our Manchester…Read More

Sunset over Lake Shinji. SW 23/5/17

Sunset over Lake Shinji. SW 23/5/17

May 21, 2017

Almost 60 of us watched the Sunday sun setting over Lake Shinji from the designated Lake Shinji Sunset Spot – so popular a viewpoint that it even has its own underpass-with-elevator to give easy pedestrian access across the expressway. Japan is unashamed of its designated beauty spots, as we were reminded today in Kyoto, going…Read More

Starting Backwards (Sunrise in a Tatami Room – Day Two) JA. 21/6/17

May 21, 2017

On the long haul flight, a Japanese lady on our row read her book, hour after hour, back to front. Up or down? Left to right? I’m not sure yet. We sit in the middle, on a magic carpet, watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, eyeless over Europe, Russia, Mongolia and North Korea…Read More

Landscape: Europe versus Japan. SW 12/5/17

Landscape: Europe versus Japan. SW 12/5/17

May 14, 2017

            Cotton grass, Haworth Moor, May 2017   I like to think I inherited a love of landscape from my mother, who came to England from South Africa in her twenties and completely fell for the lush greenness of the Cotswolds and the Lake District. I suspect she had an…Read More

The possible consequences of swallowing  a soul… Wuthering Heights In a Cup of Tea? JA. 4/5/17

The possible consequences of swallowing a soul… Wuthering Heights In a Cup of Tea? JA. 4/5/17

May 4, 2017

Above our farm (Whitestone Arts Research Centre) signposts on Haworth Moor are in English and Japanese…..         Like the hapless main character in Koizumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn)’s translated story fragment In a Cup of Tea, (adapted for the 1965 Kwaidan film by Masaki Kobayashi), dreaming Lockwood swallows a soul right at the…Read More

Ima Tenko Butoh Studio. SJ 2/5/17

Ima Tenko Butoh Studio. SJ 2/5/17

May 2, 2017

Over the past couple of weeks we have been spending time refining our itinerary…yes it’s still developing as we speak with the company finding ways in which we can “follow the brush” in our own research to contribute to what the possibilities of the project will bring for us all. A month ago I felt lucky…Read More

Japan Itinerary. 13/04/17

April 13, 2017

With thanks for all their advice, support and guidance while we assembled this, to: Juliet Winters-Carpenter (host, translator and Professor at Doshisha Women’s College, Kyoto) Susan Meehan (Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation) Damian Flanagan & Lucy North (writers, translators and mentors) Florentyna Leow (Walk Japan) Mami Katsuya and Keiko Yamaguchi (hosts, Kyoto Art Centre) Shoko Koizumi (host,…Read More

Hokohtai: The Walking Body. SJ 10/04/17

April 11, 2017

(“Why go to Japan?”) Stacey – Following the Brush with Butoh 10/4/17 “Do not fight with a difficult sentence, but take it outside for a walk. Nature and the movement of your body will resolve the matter”. Constantin Heger: Emily and Charlotte Brontë’s tutor in Brussels Remembering the route of one’s process is vital and…Read More

Movement towards Expression.  SJ 21/03/17

Movement towards Expression. SJ 21/03/17

March 21, 2017

Two images which have sparked movement in a new direction today as performer… The last work of Pina Bausch, Como el musguito (“Like Moss on a Stone”) is said to have had a sense of the stage feeling haunted with her presence for more reasons than the piece  premiering the same month as we lost this…Read More

Stormy House / Arashi no ie

Stormy House / Arashi no ie

January 31, 2019

Stormy House / Arashi no ie Stormy House/Arashi no ie is a walk-in multimedia installation which immerses visitors in text fragments and hauntings from the ghost world of Wuthering Heights and a parallel universe of kaidan (Japanese ghost tales). The uncanny elements of Emily Brontë’s novel are explored in an extended comparison with these ancient…Read More

50 Steps – Walking and Dancing the Pennine Way

50 Steps – Walking and Dancing the Pennine Way

February 11, 2016

Whitestone was used as the development base for 50 Steps, a mixed media dance project celebrating the Pennine Way in its 50th anniversary year, 2015.  3 dancers, a composer/musician and a videographer undertook a series of 5 walks on different sections of the National Trail and produced a creative response the same day in improvised…Read More

Hidden Project (2015)

Hidden Project (2015)

January 11, 2016

One day photoshoot at Whitestone, October 2015, for Red Saunders’ new tableau depicting the Peterloo Massacre of 1820. This initial photography of the militia charging the crowd will be composited into the final image. Whitestone Arts provided overnight accommodation, catering, make-up and costume facilities for the crew and cast. and also looked after the horses….Read More

Frost from Fire

Frost from Fire

February 11, 2016

  Poetry / music / video presentation based on the lives and poems of the Brontës, devised and performed by Adam Strickson, David Wilson and Simon Warner. Originally created for the University of Leeds conference Revisioning the Brontës in 2013, the first full performance was at Bradford Cathedral 2013 and the second at the Brontë…Read More

Verd de Gris

December 5, 2011

In March 2012 creative arts company verd de gris brought their project Changing Landscapes to Whitestone Arts: an initiative for older people exploring ideas about memory, landscape and sense of place … In this third project working with Elders from Calderdale’s Asian community they took women attending the Women’s Resource Centre in Halifax on day-visits…Read More

Snowgoose

February 12, 2016

In recent years Whitestone has hosted playwright development workshops run by Snowgoose (director Jonathan Hall). The groups self-cater for these residential weekends, sleeping in the Studio Flat, Stable and Garden Rooms, and in tents.

Blood Moon Dark House

Blood Moon Dark House

January 11, 2015

5 day residential development workshop with Opera North Projects, 2014 exploring Japanese ghost stories. With writer Judith Adams, musician Clive Bell, actors Stacey Johnstone and Stephen Anderson, and video artist/photographer Simon Warner

Baladi Plus

February 12, 2016

Since 2011 Kay Taylor has been bringing groups to Whitestone for residential weekends of Egyptian dancing.

Crossing the Line

Crossing the Line

January 31, 2013

  Multimedia performance about walking by Whitestone Arts, commissioned for the Watershed Landscape symposium Unbounded Moor in Haworth, October 2012 and repeated for the Pennine Prospects/Natural England conference National Character Areas Profiles in Practice at Hebden Bridge, January 2013 The 10-minute work features a poem by Judith Adams recorded by Alexandra Mathie, video by Simon Warner…Read More

Watershed Landscape Project

Watershed Landscape Project

March 21, 2012

Whitestone Arts conducted a visitor survey on Haworth Moor over the Easter holidays 2012, as part of Simon Warner’s artist residency with the Watershed Landscape Project (Pennine Prospects). With the help of  Jasmine Taylor and Rebecca Stott, travel and tourism students from Leeds City College, Keighley Campus, we asked walkers what brings them to this…Read More

Hidden Project (2011)

Hidden Project (2011)

July 20, 2011

Celebrated photographer Red Saunders was commissioned by Impressions Gallery and The Culture Company to create 3 new photographic tableaux, inspired by historical events in Yorkshire, for the Ways of Looking photography festival in Bradford, October 2011 (www.waysoflooking.org). Using Whitestone Arts facilities, a cast of civil war soldiers, agricultural labourers, horses and a saint were photographed…Read More

Workshop: Walking, Looking, Drawing

Workshop: Walking, Looking, Drawing

May 13, 2013

Whitestone weekend workshop with Carry Akroyd Participants on this course explore many different approaches to the practise of drawing, and experiment with different techniques. The venue, with its old buildings and the immediate farmland, gives out onto open moorland, all of which provide subjects and challenges to observation and recording. The large barn studio at…Read More

Workshop: Walking and Dancing

Workshop: Walking and Dancing

April 6, 2011

Whitestone weekend workshop with Ruth Jones Suitable for all levels of skill, this workshop can be seen as part of personal development or be more directly applied to the world of theatre and dance. Two walks taking an hour each day, on moorland terrain requiring good shoes and waterproofs, will be led by one of our…Read More

Workshop: The Write Place – Location, Inspiration

Workshop: The Write Place – Location, Inspiration

July 20, 2011

  Whitestone weekend workshop with Ola Animashawun and Nadine Khadr Renton for Euphoric Ink This workshop is suitable for beginner playwrights or more experienced writers looking for inspiration and alternative ways to get started. It can be seen as part of personal or professional development. Introduction We all have a novel or a play or…Read More

Workshop: To Walk is to Gather Treasure

Workshop: To Walk is to Gather Treasure

April 30, 2013

Leader: Eilon Morris Suitable for performers, students and creative practitioners including actors, dancers, musicians, writers, directors and choreographers. Also for walkers with an interest in rhythm and movement  This residential workshop takes walking as a starting point for the exploration and embodiment of rhythm. Each participant will have the opportunity to encounter rhythm as a lived experience,…Read More

The Collecting Place

The Collecting Place

April 12, 2011

Research and construction of a frame-tent camera obscura for Simon Warner’s  educational residency at Brontë Parsonage Museum, taking large format landscape photographs with a group of sight-impaired children, 2007

Lady Purple project

Lady Purple project

April 6, 2011

Workshops exploring the world of Angela Carter’s The Loves of Lady Purple, with Judith Adams, University of Huddersfield, 59 Productions, Faulty Optic, Margie Gillis, Holly Bright, John Barber and others, 2008

Clickwind

April 12, 2011

Produced by Slung Low Theatre with the support of Whitestone Arts, this headphone show by Judith Adams took place in the Atrium of Bradford University and in the surrounding streets, 2007

Sweet Fanny Adams in Hyperspace Eden

Sweet Fanny Adams in Hyperspace Eden

April 11, 2011

Filmed at Whitestone by 59 Productions in 2006 with funding from ACE and SAC, this web-based version of Judith Adams’ play also incorporated Community workshops in Scotland and England

Lavater - The Shadow of History

Lavater – The Shadow of History

April 11, 2011

Development and rehearsal facilities for this performed lecture by Simon Warner incorporating magic lantern projection, music, audience involvement and live photochemical demonstration.  Devised for the ACE touring exhibition Alchemy 2006-7, the show has also been seen at several universities, the Humber Mouth Festival,  Light Night Leeds and at the Magic Lantern Society series Professor Pepper’s Ghost.