SPILL Festival + Think Tank

17/12/2024

🎙 Exciting news: The SPILL Podcast is here!

Join our Artistic Director, Robin Deacon, as he chats with incredible artists and makers that SPILL has proudly presented, collaborated with, or admired from afar.

The first series features London-based performance artists Louise Orwin and Amy Kingsmill, and Creative Producer & DJ Marcus Harris-Noble.

Topics include:
💡 The attention economy and navigating fame on TikTok
🎵Music discovery in the algorithmic age
​ 🕯 The history of witch trials in East Anglia and beyond

Stream now on Spotify, Soundcloud or our website:
Spotify: bit.ly/spill-festival-spotify
Soundcloud: bit.ly/spill-festival-soundcloud
Website: spillfestival.com/notebook

16/12/2024

⬇ A really exciting opportunity from First Light Lowestoft!

CALLING ALL ARTISTS! 🎨 COMMISSIONS & CREATIVE BURSARIES NOW OPEN! ✨

The Battery of Ideas project, supported by Arts Council England, East Suffolk Council, and Suffolk County Council, is offering two new Visual Arts Commissions and Creative Bursaries, with over £70,000 available to support 34 artists at all career stages, focusing on those in Lowestoft.

Applications are open now and close at 23:45 on Monday, 13th January 2025.

Don’t miss out! Check the criteria and apply today at firstlightfestivalcic.com/creative-opportunities

09/12/2024

Behind the scenes of MONSTERS 🎬

This apocalypse will be unlike any you have seen before...

With filming taking place around Ipswich and at SPILL Think Tank, MONSTERS was created with/by 40 children from across East Anglia, describing the aftermath of a dramatic monster attack

You can catch the finished film at our 2025 Festival 👹

Commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival

Partners |
First Light Lowestoft , Nene Park Trust, Sheringham Little Theatre
⁠
Artists | ⁠
Andy Field and Beckie Darlington
DOP: Laura Seward

Thanks to | ⁠
Arts Council England

05/12/2024

Throwback to past SPILL residencies - this was Lawrence Becko-Vasiliadis' week with us earlier this year 🎧

Working across music technology, digital art, film-making and live performance, Lawrence sees music in colour. He used his residency and our tech to explore and research new forms of live installation, inviting others to share this experience with him

The deadline for applying for a February/March 2025 residency with us is Monday 9 December - apply below!
https://www.spillfestival.com/residencies

04/12/2024

We're so grateful for everyone's feedback on our recent ICA Memories exhibition (and yes, we will be writing back ✍)

'You don't know what you've got till it's gone' - it's been a joy and a privilege to hear about the Ipswich Caribbean Association from those who took the time to visit, message, sit for portraits and interviews, and show us the photos and flyers they have kept for many years.

Thank you to everyone who joined us as part of this special project (we hope you also enjoyed the music and the snacks)

02/12/2024

🎤 Fancy some live music this month? Brighten The Corners have an incredible lineup across their 3 Ipswich venues, featuring everything from folk to electronica, punk to hip-hop, festive vibes to indie + more!

For full listings, info and tickets: www.brightenthecorners.co.uk/whats-on

29/11/2024

We love being based in Ipswich, with a rich variety of independent shops, cafes and restaurants. From fashion and homewares to games, books and beer, you will be spoilt for choice with the diverse range of shops to suit every taste and budget 🛍

And whilst you are shopping, you’ll find plenty of places to stop for coffee and a sweet treat, and lots of great places to eat – from the sophistication of the Waterfront to the street food at Microshops

This December, shop local and support small business 💸

All About Ipswich Ipswich Borough Council

26/11/2024

The deadline to apply for an artist residency at SPILL is coming up - get your application to us by Monday 9 December! ✍

➡ https://www.spillfestival.com/residencies

📢 SPILL Artist Residencies are back!

We are excited to announce that we are opening up our lovely Think Tank space in Ipswich for another series of artist residencies from 10th February - 7th March 2025

If you’d like to spend a week in our White Room, researching and developing a new idea, then we’d love to hear from you!

We can offer:

💡 Mentoring and advice from SPILL staff
💻 Access to tech and equipment
💸 An honorarium of £150 and an access fund
👏 The option to informally share ideas to an invited audience

🎨Find out more and apply here: https://www.spillfestival.com/residencies

25/11/2024

Festive Sparkling Wine Tasting | Anna Harris-Noble
Friday 13 December | 7 - 9pm

Our next Guest Event is a wine tasting! 🥂

This December you can join certified wine educator Anna Harris-Noble for a fun and informative festive wine tasting at SPILL Think Tank.

Tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/tasteexchange/1475725

24/11/2024

It's the final day of The ICA Project exhibition! 🎧

Visit the SPILL Think Tank until 4pm today for the last chance to take a look at specially commissioned photography, newly collected oral histories, personal stories told from across generations, and archival materials made public for the first time

📸 David E. Loney

20/11/2024

📣 Last few tickets remaining!

Documenting the Caribbean Club: Then and Now
In conversation with John Ferguson + Tony Powlett

Tomorrow evening, join renowned photographer John Ferguson and Tony Powlett, an avid documenter of the Caribbean Club, in conversation with SPILL Artistic Director Robin Deacon.

They will share their knowledge and recollections of the ICA’s activities and communities, and their respective experiences documenting its vibrant history at different points in time 📸

Tickets: https://www.spillfestival.com/documenting-the-caribbean-club

19/11/2024

We loved seeing everyone at our launch for The ICA Project Exhibition last Friday! 🥂

It's open for five more days - take a look here: https://www.spillfestival.com/ica-memories-exhibition

📸 David E. Loney

18/11/2024

📢 SPILL Artist Residencies are back!

We are excited to announce that we are opening up our lovely Think Tank space in Ipswich for another series of artist residencies from 10th February - 7th March 2025

If you’d like to spend a week in our White Room, researching and developing a new idea, then we’d love to hear from you!

We can offer:

💡 Mentoring and advice from SPILL staff
💻 Access to tech and equipment
💸 An honorarium of £150 and an access fund
👏 The option to informally share ideas to an invited audience

🎨Find out more and apply here: https://www.spillfestival.com/residencies

17/11/2024

If you live locally, did you catch us on BBC Look East last night? 📺

You can also read about the project and exhibition here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80l3zr748po

The ICA Memories exhibition is open at the SPILL Think Tank next to Ipswich Museum until 4pm today - come take a look!

Along with new portraits, there is a collection of photos and stories.

15/11/2024

The ICA Project's online archive is now live! 💻

Check it out here ➡ www.icamemories.co.uk

It is not a definitive or final account of the Ipswich Caribbean Association or the communities that used it, but we hope that in gathering and preserving memories of the past, we can recognise the ongoing impact of its absence.

The website will continue to be updated with oral histories about people’s experiences and memories of the ICA, and archival materials, including videos, flyers and photos.

The ICA Project is being funded by the Annie Tranmer Charitable Trust and Historic England's Everyday Heritage grant programme, celebrating working class histories.

📸 Image credit: Pam + Everett Davis by John Ferguson (2024), commissioned by SPILL as part of The ICA Project

12/11/2024

This Saturday at SPILL Think Tank, you can drop in on a free family-friendly zine-making session, inspired by the images in the ICA Memories exhibition 🖍

Picture This... | A workshop with Margaret Holder
Sat 16 Nov 12:00 - 16:00
FREE, Suitable for ages 5+

How can we use the memories and images on display to imagine what a Caribbean Club of the future would look like? You will be supplied with everything you need to get creative, but you can bring your own images to work with too.

More info here ➡ https://www.spillfestival.com/picture-this-workshop

📸 Still from video courtesy of Elijah Turay.

The ICA Project is being funded by the Annie Tranmer Charitable Trust and Historic England's Everyday Heritage grant programme, celebrating working class histories.

07/11/2024

05/11/2024

We’re celebrating a world class festive lineup of entertainment this Christmas and putting Ipswich on the map as the Cultural Capital of Suffolk ❄

Choose from 8 venues, 237 performances, 77 exhibition days and 2 iconic Christmas films!

‘Ipswich Entertains for Christmas’ is brought to you by the ‘We Are Ipswich’ collaborative of cultural organisations, who create premier league, high quality entertainment for all ages, all year round.

25 October - 5 January | The Snowman™ and The Snowdog exhibition at The Hold, Suffolk Archives

22 November – 18 January | Sleeping Beauty, Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantomime at the New Wolsey Theatre

28 November – 5 January | A Christmas Carol presented by Eastern Angles Theatre Company at the Eastern Angles Centre and Seckford Theatre

4 - 21 December | Five Little Ducks, presented by Spinning Wheel at the Ipswich Library

13 December – 5 January | Pinocchio presented by Red Rose Chain at The Avenue Theatre

13 – 15 December | The Little Prince at DanceEast

17 - 31 December | Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime at the Ipswich Regent Theatre

21 – 22 December | Gremlins and The Muppet Christmas Carol at King Street Cinema

‘We Are Ipswich’ are working with All About Ipswich who will host and facilitate the Ipswich Entertains campaign as part of its wider 'Your Very Suffolk Christmas' promotion.

All About Ipswich