What do you love about Hastings? A call for contributors

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery and artist Naomi Joseph are calling for submissions of pictures and stories to create an Epic Poem of Hastings.

The poem will help celebrate the town, so submissions should tell the story about what living in Hastings is like - helping to welcome visitors to the town and giving them an expert guide to enjoying Hastings. This could be through pictures or stories about the best places to relax, meet a friend or go on an adventure.

Anyone who wants to get involved should send images and words via email to museum@hastings.gov.uk by Tuesday 31 August 2021. The museum team and Naomi will then put these together into a collaborative visual poem celebrating the town.

Naomi Joseph said: "I wanted to create an audio-visual piece which invited a community to celebrate local life. An epic poem seems like a natural fit, not just because epic poems are all about adventures, but because the epic scope means that I can bring together the creative contributions of different members of the community! I am really looking forward to seeing people flex their creativity as they celebrate and reflect on the place they call home."

Councillor Paul Barnett, lead councillor for Regeneration, said: "This is a fantastic collaborative project that will really celebrate what a beautiful town Hastings is, allowing those who may not know too much about Hastings to see the fantastic hidden gems we get to enjoy right on our doorstep.

"I hope everyone gets involved and submits their stories, photographs and pictures, so this project can really showcase the community's recommendations and favourite places."

Visit the museum's Facebook page www.facebook.com/hastingsmuseum to see Naomi's video introducing the project and the museum's website for more information www.hmag.org.uk/epic/.

This activity is part of Hastings Digital Museum which has been running since March 2020. Each month the museum publishes a range of online activities for the whole community to get involved with on their social media accounts. Hastings Digital Museum has been made possible with the support of the Art Fund and uses public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.