Worthing Marks Ice Prince Sinking
Events ranging from a short film to fruit-flinging, and public art to a performance of a newly composed piece of music, will help Worthing Arts Council mark the first anniversary of 5000 tons of timber being washed along the Sussex coast before�hitting Worthing Beach.
On 14th January 08, the Greek-registered ship Ice Prince sank about 35 miles off the Start Point, Devon and�shed most of its load of timber into the sea. And on the morning of Wednesday 19th January, Worthing awoke to find the beach up to 10 metres deep in thousands of tons of timber.
A year on, a dozen arts events will make up the Ice Prince Arts Festival which marks the event. To launch the week, artist Chris Brown will unveil a stained glass window depicting the impact of the�timber on�Worthing beach.
The stained glass panel will be housed in the glass partition on the pier - to remind viewers of the scene. Chris is well known in Worthing, after opening her house and studio during the Artists and Makers Festival in recent years. Her work will be unveiled at 12 noon on Monday 19th January.
Revolutionary Music, a sister organisation to the Revolutionary Arts Group, will team up with the national charity Contemporary Music-making for Amateurs, known as CoMA. In a free workshop, amateur musicians will work with experienced composers and professional players and explore the word of 'new music'. In seven hours, they will compose a piece of contemporary classical music which will be performed at the end of the day. The workshop takes place at St Matthew's, Tarring Road on Saturday 24th, with the free performance starting at 5pm.
And 4Below Productions will create an Ice Prince myth, a filmed theatrical performance which will see fairytale and myth mixed with the day Worthing was awash with wood. The environmental fable will use the imagery of the wood on the beach as its starting point. It will be shown in local cinemas and schools.
Other events include exhibitions of photography in an empty shop in the Guildbourne Centre, at flash BANG in Warwick Street, and at Hair Affair in West Buildings. There will be a light literary lunch at The Ardington on Tuesday 20th, and a free poetry event at Worthing Library from 12 noon on Friday 23rd.
And on Sunday 25th, a driftwood sculpture competition at Coast cafe and the traditional orange and lemon throwing which marks Worthing's other famous shipwreck the SS Indiana will provide a dramatic and family-friendly finale.
�This programme goes from cutting-edge music to community events, and from one-day workshops to permanent public art� says Worthing Arts Council spokesman Dan Thompson, �celebrating not just the unusual events of a year ago, but also Worthing's vibrant creative community.�
Worthing Arts Council members represent everything from community groups to costume hire companies , sculptors to singers, and professional artists to amateur painters.��
The Ice Prince commissions are supported by Worthing Borough Council through the Worthing Regeneration scheme.
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