2018 was a milestone year for us; we celebrated Rosetta’s 25th birthday with a party in the Gherkin showcasing the vibrant artwork of our artists, unveiled our fabulous new branding and website and gave visitors the chance to take part in a Mindful Arts session.
It began 25 years ago in a school called Rosetta in Canning Town, a woman who had an extraordinary vision for art education – Yvonne Humble – who opened up the arts to people in Newham. She’s also the one who took a young, local boy called Lee under her wing, tutored and mentored him to develop his skills and portfolio and wrote the reference for his application to Central St Martins; Lee went on to become known worldwide as the renown designer Alexander McQueen.
We are very proud that today those very same values of nurturing and teaching are still rooted in Rosetta, underpinning the development of a talent pipeline that has nothing to do with class, gender or ethnicity, but everything to do with local talent. In 2018 we exhibited the work of Newham based artists Aisha Naim, Hajia Dahiru, Kikis Leventis and Steve Marriott at our onsite space, The Humble Gallery, to local and international communities, and our new mayor Rokhsana Fiaz opened our major public art commission by Helena Roden, which transformed the Wharfside underpass to what is now known as the Wharfside Art Tunnel in Canning Town.
The work we do at Rosetta happens down to the endless dedication and commitment from everyone involved at Rosetta, from the tutors to the participants, from the artists to the support staff. You can imagine our delight to receive two very special birthday presents in 2018; the first was being selected to become a the Arts Council National Portfolio Organisations. This has been an honour and we recognise the responsibility it entails, at a time when we are ready to spread our wings, claiming our space as an important contributor to the cultural wealth of Newham and beyond.
Our 2nd birthday present was to be selected from hundreds of applications across Europe, for TANDEM Europe as 1 of 12 social innovation projects. We are now part of the #TandemFamily and since 2017 have partnered with the National Museums of World Cultures in Sweden to elevate voices from minority groups in Gothenburg and London where both organisations are located. Together we have shown how the arts can enhance well-being and facilitate integration through a project we developed called #MindtheGap. Since then 15 digital stories we produced have toured festivals in Athens, London, Gothenburg and Milan. We have been taking the learning, passion and boundless creativity we discover and nurture in Newham and offering it across the world – and that will continue to be our ambition in 2019.
In 2019 we will continue to build on Rosetta’s acclaimed Mindful Arts programme, further develop work with our partners Aspers, Community Links, The Renewals Programme, and facilitate another vibrant range of specialised art programmes to attendees at Al Minhuj mosque. We are also part of Newham’s Word Festival – and there are many more exciting developments to be revealed soon!
And if you’re stuck for new year’s resolution ideas, why not try something new or revisit a hobby with one of our exciting short art courses starting in January?
I hope you will join us to be a part of what continues to be an amazing journey for Rosetta Arts in 2019. All the support we received in 2018 is appreciated and we could not have achieved so much without each of you.
All the very best to you all in 2019, Sanaz
Ps We rely on donations, grants and sponsorship to help fund our charitable activities and to support the vision of our programme. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over the last twenty five years. Find out how you can help us continue by donating.
