Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Gunwharf Quays wins Arts Council Award
News release issued: 8th August 2008The final stages of a year-long journey “Voyage East” linking the Chinese and Bangladeshi communities of Portsmouth with local families and youth groups can now be completed thanks to funding from the Arts Council England.
Over £12,000 has been awarded to a partnership comprising the visitor attraction Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and retail and leisure destination Gunwharf Quays to run workshops and activities from 25th October in preparation for the grand finale on Friday 31st October, which will reach out to the black and minority ethnic (BME) communities in the city.
The idea behind ‘Voyage East’ is to encourage new audiences to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Gunwharf Quays by bringing local and Asian communities together through a range of stimulating and exciting events.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Gunwharf Quays will be working closely with ‘Walk the Plank’ who are experienced at delivering large scale, multi-cultural celebratory events. ‘Walk the Plank’ will engage local artists to assist and run the free workshops. People will be able to use their creative skills to create Chinese paper cut lanterns and Diwali lights using a fusion of Asian materials and show them off in the Grand Finale parade.
The lantern procession will depart from HMS Victory and will end on the waterfront at Gunwharf Quays where it is expected around 10,000 spectators will enjoy a superb firework display. A giant Bengali Emperor will lead the final procession which will be illuminated by up to 250 paper lanterns and artists’ projections onto key buildings along the route.
“The interest already generated from events which took place earlier in the year has been phenomenal and I hope ‘Voyage East’ will set the scene for bigger and more creative projects over the coming years.” Robert Bruce, Managing Director at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
The first part of the ‘Voyage East’ engaged the local Chinese community and the second event embraced Boishakhi, a celebration of Bengali New Year. A processional tale inspired by the traditional Syhelti Folktale of ‘The Tiger and The Emperor’ marked the third event which took place in June.
