On Thursday we celebrated our thirtieth birthday in the Great Hall of UEL’s Stratford campus, surrounded by friends old and new. It was an emotional night, celebrating the successes of the last thirty years and raising a glass to the next thirty, saying farewell to our former CEO Sanaz Amidi FRSA, and welcoming in our new CEO Jan De Schynkel.
The heat didn’t put off our guests, with faces old and new travelling a long way to help us toast the occasion. Thank you to everyone who came, trustees, speakers, funders, volunteers, artists and most importantly our community: without them we wouldn’t be where we are today!
Our guests were greeted through the doors of the Great Hall to the magical tones of local sitar player Jonathan Mayer, where they were invited to add to our commemorative 30th mosaic, and to look at our 30 Years, 30 Portraits exhibition: Rosetta Arts VIPs captured by Isabelle Povey.
Rosetta Arts Chairman David Forrester kicked off proceedings with a warm welcome, acknowledging our founder Yvonne Humble, thanking Sanaz and wishing Jan every success.
Jan then welcomed Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE to the stage, who talked about Rosetta’s contribution to the Newham community, celebrating, enhancing and encouraging the diversity we are so proud of. She talked about the power that can be leveraged through these connections, and by making art accessible to all.
The Mayor introduced Arts Council England Chief Executive Dr Darren Henley CBE, who talked passionately about Rosetta’s ability to find talent and promote opportunites for it to flourish. He nodded to Yvonne’s vision to nurture, encourage and coach local talent, which has remained a key part of Rosetta’s manifesto. He discussed ACE’s investment into Newham, and their drive to help support residents make careers as artists and practitioners. He closed with a heartfelt thank you:
“Why do we invest in organisations like Rosetta Arts? Because you make people’s lives better, and you do a brilliant job of it. Thank you for doing it for the last thirty
years, and for the next thirty as well. We are full of admiration of everything you have achieved. You are a beacon of creative excellence. You are changing lives for the better, and we look forward to supporting you over the coming years. Happy birthday!”
Next up was our Young Trustee Amber Perrier, who talked about her Rosetta Arts journey, which started at fifteen on the Young Newham artist programme, where she worked on her art practice and learnt about the business side of art. She bought us up to the present day and her community engagement work, where skills she learnt at Rosetta are embedded in her day to day. She closed with a note for the future: “To the Emerging artists, Creatives and Partners in the next 30 years: not only will you be a part of this legacy, but you will also be standing on this podium to speak to a future audience of your story with Rosetta.”
The next section of the evening was called Pass the Baton – seven different people with seven different connections to Rosetta Arts came up and spoke about what Rosetta has done and meant to them. Sami Rhymes who kicked it off with a spoken word piece about Newham:
“Welcome to the Queen’s market
Here you will find
a variety of vendors
Surrounded by boisterous bargain hunters
and the odd few big spenders
Mostly Eastenders
This is the Queen’s Vic
A market that’s a big hit
with the locals
‘Pound a bowl’ yeah my fruit and veg guys are really vocal
This market has everything you need and don’t
at your disposal
From the food that we eat to the shoes on our feet
To the clothes that we wear and the beds where we sleep
Fresh fruit and veg
Fresh fish and meat
Toys for the kids and things to keep them sweet
Make up for the girls and salons for upkeep
Dresses and jewellery to make you stand out on the street
It even features its very own haberdashery!
A beautiful business run by a beautiful family.
This market is family, it’s the heart of this street!
And the community here is it’s heartbeat
Situated on Green Street Elite
GSE. Local to West Ham
Former home ground for the ballers
Now it’s the stomping ground for shoppers and hoarders
Some iconic places nearby have been knocked down and bordered
Following council orders
But we are still here despite it all
and we still got bubbles on the walls
Many people have come and gone over the years but the community here
stands tall
The old signposts on the walls
and graffiti tags say it all
Come hardship, come ease,
We stick together through it all
Together, we rise and we fall.”
Our other Pass the Baton participants were:
- Kev(in) Audience, from last years’ cultural producers programme talked about the impact Rosetta has had on him and his artistic practice. Kev(in)’s work pays homage to the black community’s resilience, a sense of belonging and unity.
- Trisha McCauley, our beloved, outgoing Programmes Manager talked about supporting artists and the Artist Accelerator initiative. Since 2015 Trisha has managed and curated exhibition programmes in The Humble Gallery, and more recently has developed an interest in archival images and local history. She is an advocate for black Caribbean artists, the Windrush generation and actively promotes and raises awareness to the wider community about the contribution this generation has made to modern British history.
- Jaspal Dhaliwal praised the success of collaboration. Jaspal is the Head of Service of Our Newham Learning & Skills. Jaspal is responsible for providing an excellent adult and community learning service that is focussed on the highest standards, employment outcomes and the health and wellbeing of residents.
- Sylvia Morgado talked about all the various people she has worked with through Rosetta and the importance of connections: she closed with “…together, we blossom”. Sylvia is an artist and poet working in the intersections of community arts and wellbeing. Her works are minimal but multilayered, an invitation to slow down and self-reflect. Currently a PhD researcher with the thesis “Diversifying Audiences in UK Arts institutions” at Oxford Brookes University.
- Tina Dugard, our Course Registrar, talked about the legacy of our outgoing CEO Sanaz and her legacy. Finding words to sum up what Sanaz has managed to do with Rosetta Arts difficult, but Tina seemed to get it spot on, describing her as a “powerhouse”. Tina has been working in local voluntary sector in various capacities for the last 27 years, mostly in the fields of vocational training, advice and advocacy. Passionate about the local community, she holds a London Borough of Newham Community Builders Award.
- Sanaz Amidi spoke about our founder Yvonne Humble, with some words from her nephew Nick Humble. Sanaz praised her satisfaction in helping others, and never judging anyone who came through the Rosetta doors. Sanaz mentioned the help from Steve Cameron at Newham Council who helped Yvonne acquire premises and equipment. Before emotionally passing on the baton to incoming CEO Jan, she said “The values Yvonne held are exactly the same values that I upheld and continued to fight for during my time at Rosetta. Art and creative practice must truly be open to all.”
The closing words came from our new CEO, thanking those who made the event and the last thirty years possible, starting of course with Sanaz. He thanked Dr Rosemary Stott, Dr Hassan Abdalla and the UEL team, and Act IV who helped us orchestrate the event. He thanked the core Rosetta Arts team, Amy-Rose Holland, Kodhai Murali, Phi Tan, Tina Dugard, Trisha McCauley and Venetia Cheetham, deputy CEO. He thanked board members, past and present. He thanked our supporters, partners and funders, with special shout outs to Arts Council England, Get Living, Foundation for Future London, Royal Docks, and Greater London Authority.
Jan then looked to the future with big ambition, looking to champion our strengths as a team and charity to become a “national and international centre of excellence with creative wellbeing as a common umbrella”. As well as continuing to work with the arts, health and wellbeing, he set out some focus point for Rosetta going forward, including: environmental responsibility, digital technologies and inclusive projects for children in and out of school. He highlighted the things Rosetta did well such as supporting ladders of progression for our artists, connecting people and communities especially those who are underrepresented and how we actas a bridge between the grassroots and the art world. He spoke directly to attendees, community and funders and partners alike, in the role they can play in helping us achieve our aspirations for the future.
He wished Rosetta a very happy birthday, and everyone rose a glass.
The rest of the evening was filled with networking, mingling and catching up – with some people noting that the last time they had seen each other was Rosetta’s 25th birthday! The 30th commemorative mosaic was added to by everyone and, despite the heat, everyone stayed late and had to be kicked out at curfew!
Thank you to everyone who came to the event, and everyone who has played a role in shaping what Rosetta has become and will be. We say a final farewell to Sanaz, and warmly welcome Jan.
To the next thirty!
