CITYIST

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My BRISTOL

Meet creative producer, curator, artist and maker Josephine Gyasi

Bristol will host 10 of the best shanty crews this month

Songs of the sea

Not since the 19th century have sea shanties been so popular. The incredible success of Wellerman on TikTok brought the genre to a new audience and became a life-changing track for Bristol’s best-known shanty crew The Longest Johns (see interview, p24) who signed a record deal after filming videos aboard the SS Great Britain during lockdown.

Now, in conjunction with the Docks Heritage Weekend, Bristol is to play host to 10 of the best shanty crews around as part of the city’s inaugural sea shanty festival. On 10 October, visitors can expect rousing performances on outdoor stages at The Underfall Yard and on Brunel Square, with plenty of audience participation around the harbourside.

“There are major festivals to celebrate these great songs of the sea across the UK –Falmouth, Harwich and Mevagissey to name but a few,” said Phil Gibson, coorganiser of the festival and singer with High & Dry. “Arguably though, there is no city in the UK with a stronger maritime heritage than Bristol and yet we don’t have our own festival. This year is the first step towards putting that right, with 10 or more crews performing across four great open-air venues, from lunchtime to early evening.

“Our crew meet up every week to practice our songs and enjoy a beer together. The fun, social side of shanty singing is the reason we do it but it has to be said that we live for the next performance –there is a bit of a showman in all of us!”

Co-organiser Thomasina Gibson hopes the event will become a regular addition to Bristol’s renowned festival calendar: “We have a wealth of shanty talent here in the South West with at least 60 crews between Bristol and Cornwall and down to the south coast. This event heralds the start of what we hope will become a regular celebration. Bristol deserves to host a major international music festival featuring the songs of the sea and attracting thousands of visitors to our amazing city.”

As a creative producer I work from home or in the Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC)

building. Renting a desk at Unit 8 Studios was a blessing during lockdown, but I have now moved to a new CARGO space. I have options!

My day begins with... lemon water! Then I exercise –African dance on YouTube, skipping in the garden, a yoga sequence or 10-minute meditation. I’m not too hard on myself if I don’t get this all in –some days I roll out of bed, stretch and that’s it –but I do my best to get at least one of these in before facing the world. After work I usually have an activity or freelance work to do, and always finish a day with a nice meal. I love cooking. One constant in my day is the voice note –it’s my favourite way of communicating and working.

Abena is my middle name –the Ghanaian name for a child born on a Tuesday –and the name

of the skincare brand I’m working on. I developed it at university, inspired by DIY natural skincare. The aim is not all about selling products, but skill-sharing within a community, providing the kit to support easy, safe skincare at home. I have started to make bespoke batches of shea body butter, as an opportunity for customers to feed back on recipes and learn along the way.

Commissioned by Play Disrupt, I’m leading on engaging the local community on Colston Road

to create a visual response to the name of the road through public art. I also recently started lecturing first-year product design students at UWE. It’s a dream to be able to support students, learning from my own experiences.

I co-run a record label and event Club DJembe,

celebrating UK funky, funky house, Afrobeats, gqom, tribal, dub and everything in between. We have a monthly show on SWU FM and have worked with some amazing artists to create top-tier music releases and guest mixes. Come and party with us on 16 October –it’ll be our first stand-up party since the pandemic so it’s going to be special.

If you’d like to support my work you can buy a print of my recently exhibited piece What Are Your Plans? –a poem in response to the killing

of George Floyd. You can sponsor me to continue developing ABENA, or simply get in touch. I love meeting new people and finding out where we can support each other.

My favourite part of the city is East Bristol –it’s ethnically diverse which is so important,

and has a real safe community feel. There are beautiful green spots which I can’t get enough of. My top city venue right now, though, is Cafe Cuba: unmatched vibes, authentic food.

KWMC arts programme manager Martha King deserves a shout-out –a passionate individual full of creative ideas and inspiring work ethic.

Roseanna Dias too; she’s a powerhouse of a woman: artist, writer, curator, creative producer and all-round superstar, moving so powerfully in great spaces including Rising Arts Agency, advocating for real change, with grace. I’ve watched Rema Mukena –BBC journalist/assistant producer/radio host –grow so much in the short time I’ve known her. Her talents are unlimited. Check out her BBC podcasts. Will Taylor is the most charming creative producer, artist, filmmaker... the list goes on. I have been in awe of his tenacity. He has wowed me ever since we first met and has such a big heart, with the brain to match.

I’m listening to Fiyah Dred FKA BAMZ –a producer/DJ/artist with the most insane talent.

Just listen; let the music do the talking. I also discovered Yung Singh this year. I love how he brings his heritage and culture into his music.

I’m a proud first-generation graduate, born in North London and, mainly, bred in Hertfordshire. Besides trying to better the world, my big dream is to be a potter. In the next year I also want to reach Ghana, continue to reconnect with my roots, grow an ABENA community and make more space for creativity.

• Follow Josephine @josephine.gyasi (Instagram); @josie.gyasi (Twitter) @JosieGyasi; or visit linktr.ee/josephine.gyasi

Prisoners from HMP Bristol are supporting the work of an important charity while learning new upcycling skills in order to restore tatty and broken furniture, to be resold in the Gloucester Road Marie Curie shop.

Small pieces of furniture donated to the charity are taken to the HMP Bristol to be upcycled in the prison’s workshop as part of a new furniture restoration course. Proceeds from sales fund vital end-of-life care and support for dying people and their families in Bristol and beyond. All the furniture is donated, and more is needed to keep the project going and display fully stocked.

“We’ve absolutely loved being involved in this project,” said Riona Houghton, Marie Curie community fundraiser for Bristol. “It feels like a win-win – it’s a great chance for prisoners to develop their creative and practical skills, it brings in much needed income to our shop, saves some beautiful pieces of furniture from going to waste and also gives customers the opportunity to buy one of a kind, unique pieces of furniture at a reasonable price. We are going to need lots more furniture donated as this project picks up speed, so anyone who has any small pieces of furniture that they could drop into our Gloucester Road shop – we’d be really grateful. Regrettably we can’t accept large pieces of furniture or anything with glass in at this time.”

The Second Chance Furniture project is the first of its kind for Marie Curie, but retail manager Neil Lias sees potential in similar projects launching elsewhere in the country. “Yet again, our Gloucester Road shop and community hub is leading the way with another innovative community-led project,” said Neil. “I hope we can replicate this type of project in other stores around the UK.”

• For more information on the Second Chance Furniture project, pop into the Marie Curie shop and Community Hub on Gloucester Road or call Riona on 07876748717

From India to Bristol: shaping global grassroots rugby

Bristol Bears has gone into partnership with Kolkata Jungle Crows –a club founded in 2004 by a small group of rugby fans living in Kolkata, India. The agreement will bring two clubs from different ends of the rugby spectrum together, offering them opportunities, through shared learning and connection, to broaden their horizons and enrich their communities.

Kolkata Jungle Crows has grown over the years and now has men’s and women’s teams competing at every level across India. Playing on Crow Field in the heart of Maidan, the club has won Kolkata’s top league competition, the Calcutta Cup, four times, plus the Centenary Cup. Its Under 17s team are are national champions and many of the men’s and women’s teams play international rugby for India. The team’s Khelo Rugby scheme was a World Rugby Spirit of Rugby project for four years and received several awards in India for its work in the community. Kolkata Jungle Crows and Bristol Bears will look to help the development of the game in India, and the Bears’ local community. “This will be a genuine partnership with opportunities for people involved in both clubs,” said Paul Walsh MBE, Jungle Crows founder. “I see this as two rugby clubs with one shared vision: to inspire their communities.”

“There is a historic link between Bristol Bears and India, as Bears’ Junior Academy manager Gary Townsend went to India with a charitable trust in 2006, 2007 and 2008,” said Bears chief executive Mark Tainton. “During that time, he worked with Kolkata Jungle Crows. In 2018 Gary went back out to India and again worked with Paul and the Crows.”

With a long-term aim of shaping global grassroots rugby, the partnership came as a result of the enthusiasm of Bristol actor and Bears’ season ticket holder Stewart Wright. He filmed in India in 2018 while playing Paul Walsh in the film Jungle Cry. Inspired by Paul’s story of coaching 12 underprivileged orphan Crows players at Ashton Gate! children from Kalinga Institute in Odisha –and their triumphant journey to the International Junior Rugby Tournament held in the UK in 2007 –Stewart arranged to bring Crows players to Bristol from another filming location in Wales, to watch a Bears game. This turned out to be an important stepping stone in forming the partnership. “I’m very honoured to have played a small part in the history of these two inspiring clubs,” he said.

LONG WALK TO EDUCATION

A woman who walked barefoot, eight hours a day, through dangerous lands to go to school is now studying for a prestigious PhD in Bristol.

Bongai Munguni –whose father died young, and whose maize farming family was displaced by the Mozambique civil war –would set off at 5am each day to get to Mafumise Primary School across the border in Zimbabwe. Dangers that beset the route included rogue soldiers, wild animals and muti killers – murderers who kill people and sell their body parts for ritual medicine.

“When I was 12 years old a family friend was murdered in our village and my mother decided it was too dangerous for me to walk to school,” she says. “I wasn’t happy because I loved school, but I had to comply. It was also very expensive for the uniform and books. Instead I helped in the fields. One day I walked to my old school to sell bananas and my teacher, Mr Chipongo, spotted me. I explained that I had no choice but to stop studying and he offered to pay for my Grade 7 exams.”

This selfless act changed Bongai’s life. Although she was too busy in the fields to go to school, she was able to study at home, devouring the teacher’s notes late into the night by the light of grass fires. She aced the exams and, aged 15, moved to a Zimbabwean tea plantation where she could earn and learn.

With top grades under her belt, Bongai was able to get a place at the University of Zimbabwe. Her family spent days calling friends and neighbours to pull together the necessary funds. They were successful, but in the end Bongai was offered a Government of Zimbabwe Cadet Scholarship and she moved to the capital Harare to study economics.

Today, aged 31 and funded by a Cotutelle Scholarship, she is studying for a joint PhD at Cape Town University and the University of Bristol, via the inaugural UCT–Bristol University Researchers without Borders programme –which sees her split her time between the two cities.

She will return to the city in 2022. “I’ll always treasure my time at Bristol,” she says. “I loved the lectures and the people and I can’t wait to come again.” ■