East Kent Bids For City Of Culture 2017

by Isle of Thanet Gazunder Arts Correspondent Jenny Tals

Culture vultures across the isle are celebrating the news that East Kent has thrown its hat into the ring to become UK City of Culture 2017!

The bid will see East Kent competing against the likes of Aberdeen, Chester, Hastings and Bexhill, Hull, Leicester, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Southampton, Swansea Bay, Sarfend, London, Paris and New York! (Er, those last two aren't in the UK - Ed.)

East Kent Head of Arts and Culture Mary Hinge, who's heading up the pitch for the area, told the Gazunder it was a great opportunity to showcase Thanet's burgeoning arts scene. 'What with the Turner Contemporary, links with Tracey Emin, and the Turner Contemporary, Margate is fast becoming the centre of the arts universe,' said Hinge. 'There's so much going on, it's like an explosion in a custard factory!!!'

She added that 'Explosion in a Custard Factory', by 23 year old Lithuanian artist Biggas Lottadudu-Ueverseenas, which is currently showing at the Turner, would be one of the keystones of the bid. Rejecting claims that East Kent is not technically a city, Hinge added: 'If there's taxpayers' money up for grabs, it could be a banana for all I care.'

Highlights of Thanet's culture bid will include:

•  Exhibition of 3D pavement art by the Thanet Pit Bull Owners Club
•  'Stella Mountain', a new site-specific installation designed by the Premier Convenience Store Customers' Collective
•  'Concrete Sticks in a Row', a permanent installation on Ramsgate seafront by reclusive Swiss artists' commune SFP
•  Thanet Tories have pledged to hand out free planning permission, should they get back into power by 2017, to any artist with an idea for an installation who turns up with a back pocket full of 50s and plane tickets to 'somewhere nice'.

 That's enough culture - Ed.

One of the high points of Margate's cultural year - the annual

Sticking Your Head in a Box and Bad Anagrams Show

UPDATE 19 June 2013: It didn't even make it into the final four. Click here for more.

Harbour Armageddon?

After that last post about Ramsgate being a non-event this year powerboatwise (which I've since had confirmed by sources in the know), it cheers me up no end to report that some of the cultural gloss could be rubbing off mARgaTe™ too!

The rumour that Gallery IOTA is leaving the new, super-duperised harbour arm only a few short months after they moved in has been doing the rounds for some weeks. Now I hear that the there's been quite a contretemps over who is liable for maintaining the building. Clearly the bills could be quite substantial, given that the flippin' thing is sticking right out in the middle of the North Sea. IOTA have now, apparently, got the right royal hump and are about to leg it toute de suite. Which they presumably will have every right to do, given that there's reportedly no ink on any contract yet. Let's hope they return to the Millionaires' Playground where they belong!

If they do exit, it would leave the project looking rather under-subscribed with just a shop, an empty gallery, and a putative restaurant on the end that's yet to come to fruitation (©2000 Kevin Keegan). And, um, just how much taxpayers' money has been thrown at it? I think we should be told! [Cue FOI request]

Ramsgate Culture Goes West Via The North

Off island reader Veronica writes:

So sad to read that the museums are due to be closed. Is the UK's history no longer of interest? What is wrong with the local government there, have they no idea how to raise funds to keep important places open?

I think the key words there, Veronica, are 'no' and 'idea'. Let's take the Millionaires' Playground as an example. Wikipedia can only manage two lines on Ramsgate under the heading 'Arts and Media':

The Gallery IOTA (Isle Of Thanet Arts) is based on the towns west cliff. Ramsgate Maritime Museum near the harbour quayside has exhibits showing the evolution of Ramsgate Harbour and East Kent maritime history. Ramsgate's sole cinema and theatre is the Granville Cinema, situated on Victoria Parade, in the town's Eastcliff area.

Hmmm. Now, can anyone spot the deliberate errors? Yes, that's right, IOTA skedaddled almost two years ago and are now based on Margate Pier/Harbour Arm/Jetty whatever it's called these days (where they're currently exhibiting the wondrous works of Baldwin and Bushell). Ramsgate Maritime Museum is about to close so that it can be flogged off to developers by the nuff-nuffs at the council. That leaves the Granville Theatre and Cinem who try their hardest, poor loves, but, really, I think most people would struggle to describe a rolling programme of 'psychic nights' and amdram productions as 'culture'. I guess our library, oops, sorry, 'gateway', which got toasted in 2004 is currently being rebuilt, but there's no sign yet of when it's going to re-open.

Still, there's no point feigning surprise that Ramsgate's culture has disappeared or gone 'oop north'. It's all in the Politburo's 5 year plan, which they published last year, and which can be summarised thus:

Margate - Turner Centre, arts and culture
Ramsgate - Port and flight path
Broadstairs - Don't for gawd sake touch this as most of us live there and we like it the way it is
The Rest - Concrete.

A Walk On The North Side

As you know, I've been feeling a bit down in the dumps fiscally, so what better way to cheer myself up than a wander through Margate? It always makes me feel like a millionaire!

First off, the Rendezvous car park, site of the putative Anthea Turner Centre. Shame the council are booting the yachties and divers out of their yard, but that's progress!

Next up, the bottom of the high street, where they're widening the pavements so the cafe owners can get more tables and chairs out. Apparently this is going to take 14 weeks. Not surprising if they loll around like that, chatting all day! They'd better get a move on before the last few remaining businesses on the blocked off lower high street turn out the lights for good.

Ah, the visitor centre! Except it's being converted into a cafe according to the planning notice I clocked out the front. All the staff were sacked not so long ago for not having the appropriate skills (cooking, waiting, beer pouring).

Yep, I felt thoroughly cheered up. And who should I bump into at the end of it? None other than my old showbiz chum Michael Aspel and a couple of lovely friends. The perfect end to a perfect day!

Bog Rolls

Our glorious council leader Sandy Beach wants us to become a 'cafe culture' here on Kent's Ramsgate Peninsula, which is presumably why the public dunnies opposite the Waitrose car park have been converted into a sandwich bar.

I popped in earlier and had a nice chat with the new Italian owner, who's relocated from Canterbury to the Millionaires' Playground. He seemed rather tired of people commenting that his establishment used to be a khazi, and making all those awful jokes about 'bog standard food', 'cottage cheese', 'floaters', 'pain au chocolate' and serving sandwiches 'at your convenience'. I, of course, would never sink to such depths.

I had a jolly good Fairtrade latte for £1.40. The place is called, er, Fillers. Not far from Pooland, the former snooker hall. Oh gawd luvvaduck.