An artist's view of Brighton

I had a week off work last week and so today has mostly been a battle against the emails, however there was one that really made me smile.

My last post was about the Artists Open Houses awards and the fact that we sponsored the Visitors' Choice Award. Afterwards I asked our winner - Cristobal Ochoa - if he would be interested in writing a few words about his experiemce of Brighton and the festival and today I received his reply.

While we may have our own little moans about this city, I think Cristobal's post puts things into perspective and will (hopefully) remind all of us why it is we love Brighton & Hove...

On February 12th, 2014 protests emerged in Venezuela (my home country) due to the economic and security crisis we are going through. These pacific protests were growing more and more and so was the repression of the Government to them, violating our right to protest and human rights. Those were weeks were we felt asphyxiated and feared the fact that we were stuck in a country in war. Venezuela´s situation turned more tense and dark while days passed, and the Government wasn't paying attention to the complaints of a tired country, but was looking for confrontation among the two sides (the ones that supported the government versus the opposition), in order to have a civil war. 

Amid all this chaos, I was lucky to find a ticket out of Venezuela (extremely expensive and difficult to get one) and arrived to Brighton on March 29th, 2014, filled with hope and illusion of being part of the Brighton's Art Festival. The contrast was very much gratifying. I was able to walk through the streets of Brighton without feeling fear of being mugged or even killed (in Caracas it's unthinkable to walk through the streets at night). I was shocked by how clean and maintained was the city, the public transport service which lets you know when the bus is coming (this doesn't happen in Caracas), the parks, the deck, walking in the beach, the Palace. I started to get to know people from Brighton and was completely delighted of how sensitive and relaxed they were, with an open mind and extremely kind and patient with foreigners. It was people who enjoyed art in all its expressions, and demonstrate it attending each event or artistic show that happens in town.

Cristobal Ochoa's performance art in Brighton. Photo credit: Julien Zuinghedau

I left Brighton on June 3rd, 2014 recharged, full of good energy and new experiences, for which I am nothing more than thankful for the hospitality you had with me. I am thankful for the award, and I take Brighton in my heart and in my memory. I hope I can come back next year with a new proposal.

A big hug for all the VisitBrighton team, the festival staff, and every person that participates in it. And of course, to the Brighton citizens.

A big hug to you too Cristobal :)

Charlotte

The Artists Open Houses Awards

Last night it was the Artists Open Houses Awards at myhotel. I have to confess when I was first leaving the office, I was feeling quite tired and part of me did just want to scurry off home, but as we were sponsoring one of  the awards this was not an option. Of course dragging a friend along always help but even so I'm very glad I did go as it was actually a very sweet and lovely event.

A lot of hard work goes into the festival, not just by the fabulous artists who exhibit their work but also behind-the-scenes by the organisers and the promoters. Last night was a great opportunity to celebrate the festival and to recognise the work that goes into it.

We were there to present the Visitor's Choice Award:

As the name implies this award was voted for by visitors to The Open House Open Exhibition at the Regency Town House, and the winner was Cristobal Ochoa. Cristobal is only 27 but he has already exhibited all over the world and in his native Venezuela he is known not only for his ceramic sculptures and paintings but also for his artistic interventions and street performances. It was a pleasure to present the award to Cristobal as he seemed to be genuinely touched to have his work recognised in this way and he commented that Brighton as a city was very welcoming to artists.

The other winners were:

• AOH May 2015 Brochure Cover Artist - Bernard Lodge
• AOH Artist of the Year - Tony Bowen and Joachim Lambrecht
• The Latest's Best Open House Award - Peanut Butter Tree Arts

Judy Stevens - Artists Open Houses, Charlotte Barrow - presenter of the VisitBrighton Visitors' Choice Award (me!) and Sarah Jackson of Bullet PR

 

Hong Dam of Childhood Memories, Cristobal Ochoa winner of the Visitors Choice Award and Miladys Parejo of Encounters Open House

 

Congratulations to all the winners and to all who took part and made this year's festival such a fantastic event. And a special congratulations to our winner - Cristobal Ochoa :) Also we would like to thank Able and Willing for making the lovely award for us.

While the Artists Open Houses may be over (until Christmas at least!) we were delighted to hear that the HOUSE exhibition by Yinka Shonibare at Brighton Museum has been extended until 22 June so if you haven't been yet or fancy a second look then now's your chance!

Charlotte

We do love to be beside the seaside... and we're not the only ones!

We recently had some good news. The Office of National Statistics relesed a report about travel trends in 2013 and there were 2 pieces of good news for Brighton & Hove. Firstly we were one of only a few cities to have seen a significant increase in the number of overseas visitors, becoming the 8th most visited city outside of London. Even more excitingly Brighton was the only seaside destinaiton on the list making us the most popular seaside holiday spot in the UK, hooray!

This good news coupled with the improved weather made us think we ought to make the most of it and so last week we popped down to OHSO Social to enjoy lunch with a seaview. The bar has arguably one of the best locations in the city, as it is right on the beachfront moments away from Brighton Pier and the 'doughnut' sculpture (officially it's called 'Afloat'). So with the sun shining it's not hard to see why everyone loves to be beside the sea.

 

Clearly OHSO are on to a winner with the view but what about the food? The venue has recently been awarded 5 stars in the Scores on the Doors food hygeine rating system so nothing to worry about there. The menu features local Sussex ingredients and while there were lots of tempting options
including charcuterie boards, big salads and burgers, in the end we opted for the classic fish 'n' chips, perhaps all that sea ait had gone to our heads!

It is a classic dish but it is one that can easily go wrong - the fish can be greasy or the chips uninspiring, thankfully this was not the case here. Just look at that!

I'm not a food critic so I'm not going to start trying to describe the texture or whatever it is that critics are meant to discuss. All I will say is that all the ingredients were clearly fresh and everything tasted scrumptious. And we had an amazing view, whta more could you want on your lunch break?

Charlotte

National Vegetarian Week: 19-25 May

Brighton was one of the first destinations to embrace vegetarianism so it will be no surprise to hear that we will be celebrating National Vegetarian Week next week.

The city is lucky enough to have two fantastic vegetarian restaurants both of which have offers on next week to tempt you to go veggie.

Terre a Terre has been wowing diners for 21 years now and so they would like Vegetarian Week to be a bit of a reunion. Anyone who has worked at the restaurant is invited to come back with their family & friends and receive a 15% discount plus a complimentary glass of fizz. Don't worry if you haven't worked there though as you can still take advantage of their Terre a Verre offer where two people can enjoy a Terre a Tapas with Chunky Chips and a carafe of wine for just £39.25. To find out more and to book your table call 01273 729051 or check www.terreaterre.co.uk

I am not a vegetarian and even though I grew up here it did take me a little while to actually venture into a purely vegetarian restaurant. While I do sometimes pick the meat-free option I was worried I wouldn't find anything I liked, I think I was probably picturing lentil soup and nut roast. Of course now I know this is complete nonsense and our veggie restaurants serve amazing dishes. But I'm sure you still have friends who need convincing. So book a table at Food for Friends next week and your non-vegetarian friend gets to eat for free! To claim the offer book a table and bring a printed voucher with you, call 01273 202310 to book and the voucher can be printed from this page: www.foodforfriends.com/special-offers-3/

And that's not all as there is still time to enter our competition to win afternoon tea for two at Food for Friends: www.visitbrighton.com/competitions

To find out more about National Vegetarian Week see: www.nationalvegetarianweek.org

Charlotte

Get to know Brighton with a Greet

Today we hand over to a guest blogger - Sophie Whelpton works for Mulberry Cottages and recently went on a walk around Brighton with one of the VisitBrighton Greeters...

I really was not expecting so much from a walk around Brighton. Having lived in East Sussex for 14 years, and having used Brighton as a shopping and cultural centre for some time (have been to the theatre quite a bit and have watched bands at the Brighton Centre) I sort of felt quietly confident that I would know where we were going and what was what in Brighton. I was totally wrong!!

We met at the wonderful Brighton Museum

Chris our Greeter, met me and one other greetee (is that a word?) at The Brighton Museum on a sunny afternoon last week (so lucky with the weather!).

Walked through the Pavilion Gardens

We had a little introductory talk, Chris apologised in advance, saying that he was prone to talk about the history rather a lot but it was his passion, so we must tell him if he is going on a bit too much!

I was fascinated, I think it was lucky that I really did not know the history of Brighton as I learned such a lot about Dr Russell and how he had influenced the wealthy and well connected in the 18th Century to come to Brighton to have the Sea Water Cure. We walked through the Lanes (I learned the difference between Lanes and the North Laine too!) and admired the quirky individual shops and specialists.

The Brighton Pavilion

We walked along The Twitten (you will only find these in Sussex – a very narrow lane) and Chris also showed us amazing graffiti.

So much amazing graffiti

He also told us about a guy called the Cassette Lord, who has decorated junction boxes all over Brighton, so I started looking out for these.

The Cassette Lord has been busy in Brighton

Round every corner there is something to look at...

So many quirky shops to explore

Bright Brighton!

The area is full of individual shops and stalls

We passed the Komedia in Gardner Street

I did not want our little tour to stop, but we ran out of time and I am definitely coming back to Brighton to learn more! I thanked Chris – the Greeters do an amazing unpaid job – I would recommend a Greeter trip to anybody, especially to those who think they know the city like I did!

If you would like a Greeter Tour, just get in touch with VisitBrighton and they will organise it.  If the idea of spending some time in Brighton appeals to you.

We have some lovely holiday cottages in the Brighton and Hove area, the perfect place to stay so you can explore all that Brighton has to offer, just call our bookings team on 01227 464958 or email: info@mulberrycottages.com.  You will not be disappointed!

Festivals in Brighton

Spring has officially arrived in Brighton & Hove and not because of the weather (although the sun is starting to come out!)... 

May is the month for Festivals in Brighton and for me the first sign that Spring is here is when the festivals start launching their brochures and announcing programme details as this means we are officially on our way to May madness!

Earlier this week we attended the launch of the Brighton Festival and this year the Guest Artistic Director is the acclaimed choreographer Hofesh Schecter. Naturally this year's programme has a strong dance element including Hofesh Shecter's new piece Sun. I'll also be intrigued to see Nowhere and Everywhere at the Same Time No. 2 which is an installation by William Forsythe. It seems the piece features hundreds of pendulums in a timed sequence, therefore as you move through - without touching them - the visitor becomes a dancer. The programme is not all about dance though and other highlights include a new production of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore at the Theatre Royal Brighton; Bring the Happy at Onca Gallery and The Old Market; and of course the ever-popular Children's Parade.

And in case you're wondering about the sheep, he is this years cover star...

May would be busy enough if it was just the Brighton Festival but there's so much more! Brighton Fringe will be back with a bang, and following on from the success of last year The Fringe will again be running for four weeks with over 700 events. The programme is now available online and I'm delighted to see that the Spiegeltent will be back again as well Fringe City, I'll need to take some time to really get to grips with all the craziness on offer but one show has already caught my eye - Lynn Ruth Miller at the Marlborough proving you are never too old for comedy!

HOUSE, the sister festival of Artists Open Houses, is the visual arts festival for the city and this year's lead artist has been confirmed as Yinka Shonibare whose new installation will explore the impacts of immigration on British culture. And finally the Great Escape has this week confirmed a second wave of artists taking part in the festival, including 2013 Mercury Prize nominee Jon Hopkins and Strokes’ guitarist gone solo Albert Hammond, Jr.

Oh and just before I go I have one last thing to share with you. During the launch for the Brighton Festival there was a Q&A with Hofesh Schcter and someone asked him why he likes Brighton & Hove. And I rather liked his reply, unfortunately I cannot remember it verbatim but to paraphrase...
Brighton is a really vibrant city but it is also a place where you can find peace, a quiet spot away from everyone else whether that's by the sea or somewhere else.

See you there, Charlotte

Meze Lunch at Food for Friends

Even for those of us who enjoy our jobs Monday's can be an effort, but not today! This lunchtime we popped over to Food for Friends to try their new Meze lunch.

Richard and I did have a quick look at the menu before the dish arrived but either because we were talking or we were just too lazy to read it properly we didn't really take it in. This meant that when the food arrived neither of us really knew what was what but when it all looks this good, who needs to know?

Choosing what to order can sometimes take a while as you um and ah over several options, but the meze lunch was ideal as we got to try bits of lots of different things. The other bonus was the amount as usually if I go to a restaurant for lunch I end up eating too much and feeling sleepy when I get back to the office. However, instead of one heavy meal we got to sample lots of little ones and it was lighter on the stomach. Ideal for a lunchtime treat.

This also meant that I had time for a pudding, before heading back to the office, hooray! As anyone who knows me will know I will always be drawn to the chocolate option on any dessert menu. There were a couple to choose from today, but the one that won me over was the rich chocolate truffle torte.

I discovered afterwards that the pudding is actually vegan! I've no idea how they managed that as it was very chocolatey, although surely if it's vegan it's good for you, isn't it? ;)

For more details on the Meze lunch go to: www.foodforfriends.com/meze-lunch. I should point out that as we were returning to work this afternoon we did not have the carafe of wine so if you have any non-drinkers in your party then we can heartily recommend the Ginger Zinger.

Charlotte