This will be the final post for Summer of 2020 on The Orange Peel Art Collective!
Our New Logo
Just wanted to say a massive thank you to all the creatives, activists and amazing people who have been involved in The OP this summer! This Collective is a big passion project for myself (Elsie) and co creator (Daisy), since first starting in 2018 we have loved working with and promoting creatives in Norfolk- and have expanded to other parts of the U.K and beyond!
This year has been difficult for us and probably everyone… but we wanted to keep the collective going for our own creative drive and to give others something interesting and fun to look forward to reading/ viewing! And help everyone remember that you can stay creative at anytime in your lives no matter the obstacles you face!
I wanted to share some STATS that The OP has created this summer before I finish!
-We have made 28 new posts
-Written over 13,000 words
-524 People have viewed our blog, from 23 different countries!
This is a Map of the countries from where people have viewed the OP.
-Featured 19 New Creatives
-Tracey Emin has been the most popular Artist mentioned on our blog!
-Gained over 150 Followers on Instagram
-And received 1 Hate Message!! (WOOHOO OUR FIRST ONE)
Thankyou so much for all the Love and Support GANG
This post will be the last for our week dedicated too the Black Lives Matter movement. It is an article/ in depth Interview with a few of the group who organised the BLM Protest in Kings Lynn Norfolk. 3 or the organisers kindly answered 5 questions about the protest to give some insight and tips too hosting your own Protests!
Q1: What is your name, age, and where are you based?
A1: Jasmai Gostling, 22, Kings. Lynn.
Q2: What made you want to Organise a BLM Protest in your community?
A2: we wanted to host the protest as a way of spreading awareness of a problem that I think is overshadowed a lot in Norfolk, we wanted to educate the people of Kings Lynn on the racism and police brutality that is happening across the uk and in other countries. Also how it effects those people and how they can help fight the cause!
Q3. What was the most difficult+ rewarding aspect about the protest?
A3: The most rewarding part of the protest was that more people are now aware of racism issues happening around the world and the issue is being spoken about more often and ways of helping the cause are more openly available through social media The difficulties were having such a short time to organise the protest as we could have had more people involved and more resources on hand so people were better educated on what they can do to fight for balck lives matter
Q4.Has anything come from the protest/ had a lasting effect on your community?
A4:What’s come from the protests is that the issue is being spoken about more aswell as people have had more involvement in spreading things like links to petitions and telling their friends how to help the cause as it felt more accepted to talk about that before in kings lynn
Q5. Do you have any tips for others wanting to organise their own protest?
A5: Tips for people holding their own protest is to make sure permission is given to use an area to host the protest and that you get the correct authorities involved to prevent anything getting out of hand so you can focus on the cause you’re fighting for! Good Luck!
Jasmai at the BLM Protest in Kings Lynn.
Q1. What is your name, age and where are you from?
A2:Ben, 29, Kings Lynn.
Q2. What made you want to organise a BLM protest in your community?
A2:Desire for change.
Q3. What was the most difficult+ rewarding aspect about the protest?
A3:Organising it and getting bombarded by journos on the phone was difficult. The turnout was the most rewarding.
Q4.Has anything come from the protest/ had a lasting effect on your community?
A4: Local BLM groups have popped up on Facebook and people seem to talk about it a lot more!
Q5. Do you have any tips for others wanting to organise their own protest?
A5:Get the local liason officer on board, it helps massively.
Q1: What is your name, age, and where are you based?
A1: Marcin Cyprian Trenka, 24, Poland.
Q2: What made you want to Organise a BLM Protest in your community?
A2: When the ball started rolling in America, and that momentum carried over to here, it felt like the perfect time to get together with other people to make a difference together. It only felt right to attend and do what I could to fight against prejudice. I also wanted to take the opportunity to bring up topics not often talked about, for example the discrimination against eastern Europeans in the UK.
Q3: What was the most difficult+ rewarding aspect about the protest?
A3: The most difficult part I thought was going to be getting up there and speaking, but the crowd and everyone involved gave me a very heart warming welcome and made speaking at the event easy and natural for me. The most difficult part was writing my speech. I have stayed up long into the night making sure it was as good as I could make it. It was nerve-racking at times as I knew I would be speaking on behalf of other people and didn’t want to misrepresent them. The most rewarding part was seeing the difference I’ve made within people that day.
Q4.Has anything come from the protest/ had a lasting effect on your community?
A4: After the speaches, I’ve had people come up to me and thank me for what I’ve done and talked about. That was of course very nice, but it didn’t matter to me so much as just knowing that people were able to hear the speech and knowing it made a difference for them.
Q5: Do you have any tips for others wanting to organise their own protest?
5: If you can’t do a lot, do what you can. If you are given the opportunity to get involved in a larger way, do the most that you can. When it comes to speaking, just be brave, be yourself, and speak from the heart. You don’t have to be perfect, and no one expects you to be. People are just happy to be there to learn about people’s lived experiences, and know people are making a difference and they are there to support them.
‘Killing in the name of what? Rage against the hatred’-‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’The BLM Protest March in The Walks at Kings Lynn.‘White Silence is Violence’
We are Dedicating this week on The Orange Peel Blog to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Although the global media may not be covering the Real Life protesting and violence which is still occurring around the world, RACISM is still a Global issue that needs to be tackled. So this week we are sharing content from U.K based Artists and Activists who have produced work around the BLM movement or helped promote the message and tackle Racism in their own way.
Daisy ( OP Co-Creator) has created a series of ‘Black Lives Matter’ Badges+ Patches which are available to anyone who has donated to the BLM cause/ anyone who would like to purchase them!
Just message her at her Instagram- @_daisynell_
Patches by Daisy Nell.
And if you would still like to support the Movement/ Donate to a good cause visit https://blacklivesmatter.com for all the resources you would need!
‘A surge of power (Jen Reid)’ 2020- Bristol. by Marc Quinn.A Good Boi
-Stay tuned this week for more BLM content+ Remember to check your Privilege-
Although many Pride events, marches+ meetings have been canceled this summer due to the current climate, Pride Month is still in full swing!
Here at the OP we fully support the LGBTQIA+ Community, so wanted to share some of our images from Norfolk Pride month in 2019, including KLWN Pride and Norwich Pride!
28th July 2018! Today me and my best friend made the hour-long journey to Norwich for Norfolks largest PRIDE Parade of 2018! Probably the most highly anticipated event of the year for Norfolks LGBTQ+ community, because everyone has the chance to meet up, join the parade and celebrate the 10th Aniversary of the Norwich Pride with thousands of other like-minded people!
As someone who has only been attending PRIDE for the past couple of years I feel very blessed to live in a County where the LGBTQ+ Community is celebrated on such a big scale, you can really tell that the people who organise the event put in so much effort to make it a fun and inclusive event for everyone.
Image from Norwich PRIDE, on TWITTER.
I highly recommend Norwich PRIDE, if it’s your first time attending, it isn’t super overwhelming or commercialized like some other parades and is very inclusive of people under 18, and families who bring younger children! And you can visit all the different group stalls and talk to people inside the Forum before the parade for lots of information!
Hope to see you there next year! (maybe we will have a stall to sell merch by then)
6th July 2018- We visited the ‘OUTLET’ Exhibition held at KES Highschool in Kings Lynn Norfolk, which was Curated and Organised by Meghan Martin-Lewis. Walking into the main hall, we are greeted by a semi-circle of worn easels holding a range of artwork all centred around the theme of ‘Mental Health’.
We loved that all the Artists involved in this exhibition are from Norfolk, but ranged in age, gender and technical ability. The range of artists helped to give multiple views on ‘Mental Health’ and varied the topics which were looked at, including personal expression, manifestations of different mental health issues, and what it feels like to overcome barriers. Our personal favourite were the portraits by artist Emilia D’Aloia , the almost bare portraits screamed Body Positivity and Self Eceptance which was verry refreshing to see in an exhibition on ‘Mental Health’ which can often be negative, (support her Artwork over on her instagram).
Meg was also raising money for the Charity Mind (West Norfolk) who ‘Provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem’, along with having amazing charity shops. This is one way that this exhibition helped the community along with providing a creative space where artist involved could express their own experiences which ‘Mental Health’ which is such a great way to help overcome issues and express your feelings.
Overall, this Exhibition was a great success in out eyes, as an Art Collective based in Norfolk it was great seeing someone elese open up a space where artists could express themsleves and present their work, but also after talking to people viewing the exhibit as well as some of the artists involved everyone was verry happy and super proud.
So, if you want to see more of Meghan’s work or talk to her about her amazing curating skills, you can find her @me3gg on Instagram- Or to help support Minds amazing work you can donate on their website!
The Orange Peel 