We’re excited to announce that we’ll be celebrating our 30th birthday with a year-long programme of events. The celebrations will take place throughout 2023 to record the cultural and creative impact our charity has had on the diverse communities of Newham over the past three decades.
There are more workhops coming soon! If you’d like to stay updated, take part or help out with our year of anniversary programming, please fill out this expression of interest form and we’ll be in touch.
From our founding in 1993 by radical educator and artist, Yvonne Humble, Rosetta Arts has delivered creative learning to thousands of people in East London to help them express their cultural identity. To celebrate this milestone, we’re running a year-long programme to showcase eclectic, diverse and creative events, activities, research and workshops anchored in their history within the borough of Newham. The celebration has been made possible thanks to a £77,334 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, who also support Newham Heritage Month alongside other projects in the borough.
The programme will reflect on the past 30 years and will honour the ways Rosetta Arts has brought creative outlets to the communities of Newham and wider East London; supporting personal wellbeing, creating economic prosperity and making the community a better place to live through celebrations of heritage.
Our anniversary celebrations will explore its heritage through research, workshops and exhibitions.
The research will be led by the Director of The Humble Gallery, Newham, a local archivist and curator trained in oral history. Working with dedicated volunteers, they’ll research Rosetta’s impact across the borough, drawing from local resources. This will be accompanied by interviews and photography portraits of 30 key collaborators from the past 30 years. The Rosetta Arts Photography Collective will capture photographic portraits and work with local volunteers from our network to capture, transcribe and translate the oral histories. This research will form the foundation of a public Rosetta Arts archive, a digital portal held online as a permanent, community-built, accessible resource to be used and developed for years to come.
We’ll also be running a series of workshops to engage the East London community with the heritage of Rosetta Arts. Workshops will occur across the year that focus on, encouraging social connections, environmental preservation, staying active, the development of creative skills and the beauty of Newham. The workshops will provide creative exploration of the heritage of Rosetta Arts using the archival material and research developed as a starting point for learning.
Finally, through public exhibitions at Rosetta Arts venues and online, we’ll share our story through oral histories and portraits. This will include a commissioned piece made collaboratively with a local artist, using the archival material, live creation elements, oral histories and art from the workshops to create an artwork that responds to Rosetta’s legacy.
Sanaz Amidi, CEO – Rosetta Arts said: “As a hyper-local charity with an ambitious remit, to reach the 30-year milestone is a real testament to the much-loved and valued work of Rosetta Arts and its achievements. This anniversary is a fantastic opportunity for myself and our team, artists and supporters to take stock and really celebrate the impact we have made over the past three decades. We’re honoured that The National Lottery Heritage Fund believes this is a project worth supporting. Our anniversary plans aim to encapsulate everything Rosetta Arts has strived for and valued over the past 30 years, we can’t wait to begin the celebrations.”
Stuart McLeod, Director England – London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support Rosetta Arts with their 30th anniversary celebration programme, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players. Over the last 30 years they have supported their community to explore their heritage through the arts and it has positively engaged with thousands from the borough. This year-long celebration will mean that even more people are able to get involved with the exciting heritage right on their doorstep.
“At the Heritage Fund, Newham is an area of focus for us as it’s somewhere we see real potential for heritage. We’re proud to already work within the community through projects like Newham Heritage Month and we are looking forward to continuing to unlock wider local ambitions, particularly around community engagement, wellbeing, regeneration, economy and local pride and identity.”
Rosetta Arts supports over a thousand residents annually to create art that enables them to express identity, explore local neighbourhoods, upskill creative practises and forge new connections. Through engaging residents in programming that commemorates the past and directs future they aim to remind community members of the importance of their lived experience and contribution to the cultural fabric of the borough.
#RosettaArtsTurns30
