Resonating with the current moment in UK domestic politics, throughout the season multiple artworks deal with the notion of “nation” from different perspectives and consider how political and economic decisions impact people’s personal lives and sense of self.

Jaha Koo brings Cuckoo to Brighton on 12 February. This bittersweet and humorous performance (featuring three modified Cuckoo-brand rice cookers that sing and talk) tells the story of the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis, and its aftermath in South Korea. Giving voice to the younger generation who suffered the consequences of this recession (and the structural reforms to the economy), Jaha Koo creates a touching, personal and smart analysis of the society in which he grew up.

Meanwhile, Ontroerend Goed, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Richard Jordan Productions and Vooruit Kunstcentrum present £¥€$(LIES)(13-15 March), in a casino-esque set and environment, this interactive theatrical experience which invites to you get under the skin of the super rich, the one per cent who pull the strings at the heart of the global economic system. Trading as a fictional country, audiences can gamble, in fictional trading markets.

Further performances from international theatre makers this season include China Plate & Staatstheatre Mainz’s - Status, written by Chris Thorpe and directed by Rachel Chavkin. This new show from a multi Fringe First winning team tells the story of a globe spanning journey (from London to a rooftop bar of a Shanghai hotel, via the Mojave desert) taken by a man who doesn’t want his nationality any more (9 April).

A further event - performingborders: LIVE (19 March) - also focuses on the exploration of personal, cultural and physical borders with UK-based artists and curators. The evening, programmed to coincide with One World Week at University of Sussex, will feature Nobel Peace Prize Photographer Sim Chi Yin in conversation with Annie Jael Kwan from Asia-Art-Activism.

An exciting new addition to ACCA’s programme for Spring 2019 will be a new strand of weekly events for film and visual culture fans: ACCA’s Cinema Club. Programmed by ACCA and Brighton based independent film curators, the first season of films will consider ideas around national identity and culture, land, borders, movement and migration. Films by names such as Ai Weiwei, M.I.A and Chantal Akerman will be nestled within a season of global cinematic gems. Cinema Club will also include wrap around talks, DJ sets, and a special afternoon Sunday brunch offer in ACCA’s café bar. (Sundays from 17 February – 14 April).

ACCA are pleased to have co-commissioned (along with Battersea Arts Centre and Arts Centre Melbourne) the first new solo work by Bryony Kimmings for over a decade – I’m a Phoenix, Bitch. TheBrighton dates (3-7 May) are the first dates for this award-winning show outside London, following huge critical acclaim and five-star reviews. Combining personal stories with epic film, soundscapes and ethereal music, Bryony creates a powerful, dark and joyful work about motherhood, heartbreak and finding inner strength. I’m a Phoenix, Bitchwill be a headline show in the opening weekend of Brighton Fringe 2019, and marks the first time that Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts has been a Brighton Fringe collaborator and host venue.

ACCA are also pleased to be working again this season in partnership with The Marlborough Theatre, bringing FK Alexander’s VIOLENCE(7 March) to Sussex for the first time. VIOLENCEis a new performance art piece and a meditation on the cruelty of love, the weight of loneliness, the gift of desperation, the freedom of anxiety, the chrysalis of hopelessness, and the power of dreams. This performance is part of The Marlborough’s mini-season called Radical Softness, exploring notions of care, healing and openness as forms of strength.

Two contemporary music gigs take place this Spring, organised by ACCA associate music programmer Laura Ducceschi. Brighton-based artist Poppy Ackroyd will perform an intimate show on her Resolve (released by One Little Indian) album tour on 22 February. She will perform using ACCA’s Steinway piano and the show will feature bespoke synchronised visuals by Tom Newell. Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts will host the inaugural date on Apparat’s first UK tour since 2013 in Brighton on 26 April.

Working with academics at the University of Sussex is always a key part of ACCA’s programme. Opening ACCA’s season is Viriditas: The Music and Life of Hildegard von Bingen, a festival curated by Dr Alice Eldridge (Music, Film & Media). The season of events explores contemporary resonances of the music and life of the 12^thcentury abbess, through sound installations, talks and concerts (6-10 February). Later in the season, Andrew Duff (Music, Film & Media), presents Brighton Modular Festival, three days of music, synths and a chance to mingle with like-minded modular synth enthusiasts (19-21 July).

ACCA will also host two further events created with University of Sussex this season. The Exchange (21 February) is a space to debate provocative questions. A panel of guest speakers will discuss Can Veganism save the planet?with contributions from the audience. Organised by the University of Sussex alumni team Six Degrees at Sussex: will be an annual occasion where alumni who share a link will be in conversation in front of an audience. The first event (10 April) will feature comedians Sara Pascoe and Cariad Lloyd.

In May, and for the fourth year, ACCA will collaborate with Brighton Festival, to co-present a series of performances. Further details will be revealed on 13 February 2019 when the festival programme is announced. The University of Sussex is a major sponsor of Brighton Festival.

Attenborough Centre for the Creative Art’s Creative Director, LauraMcDermott, said: “Our programme aims to create a space for critical reflection within a complex world. Especially in turbulent political times, we can learn by looking to the past, or by taking an international perspective. There are stories and experiences from all over the world represented in our programme of performances, films and talks.”

Brighton People’s Theatre have announced a year-long programme in partnership with Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival.

The year-long programme of workshops, masterclasses, theatre clubs and events aims to demonstrate an appetite for a permanent people’s theatre in the city, and will seek to work with at least 100 local residents who are not currently engaged with arts provision in the city. All activities are offered on a Pay-What-You-Can basis.

The programme will be open to all, but specifically aims to involve people who have never professionally, or otherwise, engaged in theatre. Artists including Selina Thompson, Alan Lane, Suhayla El Basra and Luke Barnes will lead workshops, develop new ideas, and work with participants to challenge how theatre is made and consumed in the UK.

Over the year, Brighton People’s Theatre will run monthly masterclasses, play-reading groups, theatre-making workshops, audience clubs and backstage theatre tours with the people of the city. Twice a year, Brighton People’s Theatre will hold People’s Inspiration Meetings where members will decide what stories they want to tell.

Naomi Alexander of Brighton People’s Theatre says:

“If all the world’s a stage, then theatre is for everyone. We are passionate about changing the way that theatre is made so that it is more reflective of society as a whole.

Brighton People’s Theatre is open to anyone who is curious about what theatre could mean in their lives. We’ve got a fantastic programme of activities over the year for people to try on a Pay What You Can basis. Take a look at our website for more details. Come and play.”

Laura McDermott, Creative Director, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, says:

‘Naomi Alexander has a talent for bringing people together. She makes space for people’s passions and ideas. I am confident that Brighton People’s Theatre will become a vibrant pulse in the city. We are proud to name them as an associate company of Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts. This relationship is part of University of Sussex’s wider commitment to engaging communities in Brighton & Hove and across Sussex.

Richard Attenborough said: “The arts are for everyone and failure to include everyone diminishes us all”. We look forward to working with Brighton People’s Theatre to connect people with our programme and to explore ideas for new projects together.’

Find out more about Brighton People’s Theatre here

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“Quote The box office (phone line and drop-in service) is open from 10am to 4pm, Mondays to Fridays. The box office is also open one hour before the advertised show start time.”

This February, we are hosting a music festival - Viriditas- exploring contemporary resonances of the music and life of 12th century abbess, composer, naturalist, healer and mystic, Hildegard von Bingen.

Who, you may ask?!

Hildegard, however, may be more familiar to you than you think and led an extraordinary and full life. She was also the first eco activist, one of the first female doctors and the earliest historical influence to ever appear on an Ibizan rave track.

Virditas festival curator, Dr Alice Eldridge (University of Sussex, Lecturer in Music and Music Technology) gives us her top ten ‘Hildegard facts’ to get you in the mood for Virditas (6-10 February).

1. Hildegard von Bingen was the first ever named composer. Although she had no musical training, she is considered the most prolific composer of the middle ages. Her hauntingly beautiful music is arguably the most enduring to come out of medieval Catholicism and Hildegard’s music was first played in the UK to mark her octocentenary in 1979. The first recorded album A Feather on the Breath of God won a Grammy in 1983 and went on to sell more than half a million copies. German composer Klaus Zundel shared disco remixes of her soaring monodies with Ibizan ravers in the late 1990s.

2. Hildegard von Bingen lived until the age of 80 at a time when average life expectancy was 41.

3. At the tender age of three Hildegard first saw a heavenly light: a life was defined by rapturous multisensory visions. Contemporary analysis suggest she was a migraine sufferer, however.

4. She is celebrated as the founder of German naturalism and considered (one of) the first woman doctors and the first woman scientist. She compiled two substantial systematic works Physica - a study of botany, zoology, stones, metals and elements and Causae et Curae - a study of the causes and consequences of disease, with plant-based remedies.

5. Hildegard ran surgeries, offering advice on health in general, and sexual relations. Considering her lifetime’s confinement in monastic institutions, she had an impressive grasp of the heterosexual sex life: “When a woman is making love with a man, a sense of heat in her brain, which brings forth with it sensual delight, communicates the taste of that delight during the act and summons forth the emission of the man’s seed.”

6. Metal fans love her compositions and many 21st century music journalists cite the ‘origins of metal’ as sitting within Hildegard’s work.

7. From a contemporary perspective, Hildegard was the original ecological activist too: “The earth which sustains humanity must not be injured. It must not be destroyed!” ~ “Glance at the sun. See the moon and stars. Gaze at the beauty of the green earth. Now think.”

8. Many of Hildegards’s visions were prophetic. It seems she also foresaw the perils of fake news and manipulated social media: “We cannot live in a world that is not our own, in a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.”

9. Hildegard saw music as the ultimate connection with the divine. She tells us: “There is the music of Heaven in all things.”

10. One of Hildegard’s more mundane divine revelations was the design of a plumbing and draining system for her monastery.And this is fun… so one more….

11. “Cerevisiam Bibat! (drink beer for health)” Hildegard of Bingen.

With thanks to Fiona Maddocks and her latest book where these facts, and many more, about the fascinating life of Hildegard Von Bingen can be found. Learn more about Fiona’s event at Viriditas in our venue here

APPARAT, aka Sascha Ring, has announced details of a new album, LP5, launching with the first taste of what to expect from the Berlin based artist. Watch the video for ‘DAWAN’, the first single from the album here.

LP5 is Apparat’s first release since 2013’s Krieg und Frieden (Music for Theatre), and follows two studio albums, II and III (Mute / Monkeytown) by Moderat, the trio he founded with Modeselektor’s Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary.

Sublime and delicate, the album finds greatness in small things and in unexpected twists; it joins musical fragments together and glows from the cracks in between. For Ring, it is also a document of artistic insight and autonomy. “I was only able to make the record this way because Moderat exists,” he says. “Having a huge stage with Moderat gave me a setting for grand gestures and meant I could unburden Apparat from these aspirations. I don’t have to write big pop hymns here; I can just immerse myself in the details and the structures.”

Still hymnic, LP5 doesn’t rely on dramatic gestures and theatrical amplification, instead it lives off delicately sculpted sounds crackling alongside filigree beeping and twitching.

Like previous Apparat albums, the new release sees Sascha Ring collaborate with cellist Philipp Thimm and on the album you can also hear trombone, trumpet and saxophone, a harp, a double bass and other strings. Tracks were developed over endless group improvisations and lavish orchestral sessions – some of these sessions are only apparent in the final mix as fluttering echoes, just barely noticeable. The album was recorded in Berlin at AP4, JRS, Vox-Ton & Hansa Studios, mixed by Gareth Jones and Sascha Ring.

Apparat will embark on a European tour in April where you can hear more from LP5, with two UK dates – the first is with us at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts on 26 April.

Back in Autumn 2018 as part of our Brighton Digital Festival programme we partnered with Brighton’s youth community radio station Platform B. They visited us to host a series of live discussions from our cafe bar, as part of a day of live broadcasts they organised across the city.

Our new season is now on sale! Join us for a multi-disciplinary programme of music, discussion & debate, film and theatre opening on 6 February and running through until July.

Two major theatre runs take place this Spring. ACCA are pleased to have co-commissioned the first solo work by Bryony Kimmings for over a decade – I’m a Phoenix, Bitch – and to be bringing it to Brighton (3-7 May) for the first dates outside London and as part of Brighton Fringe. Meanwhile, Ontroerend Goed, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Richard Jordan Productions and Vooruit Kunstcentrum present £¥€$(LIES)(13-15 March), an interactive theatrical experience that invites to you get under the skin of the well to do and call the shots, in a casino-esque set and environment.

Further performances from international theatre makers this season include China Plate & Staatstheatre Mainz’s - Status, written by Chris Thorpe and directed by Rachel Chavkin, a show about a globe spanning journey of escape (9 April). Jaha Koo brings Cuckoo (12 February) to Brighton, a bitter sweet and humorous dialogue combining personal experience with political events and reflections on happiness, economic crisis and death. FK Alexander’s VIOLENCE (7 March) comes to Sussex for the first time. VIOLENCE is a new performance art piece and a meditation on the cruelty of love, the weight of loneliness, the gift of desperation, the freedom of anxiety, the chrysalis of hopelessness, and the power of dreams.

An exciting new addition to ACCA’s programme for Spring 2019 will be a new strand of weekly events for film and visual culture fans: ACCA’s Cinema Club. Programmed by Brighton based arts curators, the first season of films - each Sunday across the season - will look at ideas on film around national identity and culture, land and country and movement and migration. Spend your Sunday in the cinema this Spring and see some classics or a rare screening.

Gig wise, ACCA hosts Apparat’s first UK tour date since 2013 on 26 April. Poppy Ackroyd (22 February) will perform an intimate show.

Opening ACCA’s season (6-10 February) is Virditas: The Music and Life of Hildegard Von Bingen, a festival curated by Dr Alice Eldridge (Music, Film & Media). The season of events explores contemporary resonances of the music and life of the 12^thcentury abbess, through sound installations, talks and concerts.

In 2019, and for the fourth year, ACCA will collaborate with Brighton Festival, as a co-producer. Further details will be revealed on 13 February 2019 when the festival programme is announced. The University of Sussex are a major funder of Brighton Festival. Stay tuned for more info on that coming soon!

As 2019 begins and we get everything ready for our Spring season take a moment to look back with as at a spectacular 2018!

Like what you see? Come join us and experience one of our upcoming events. The full programme can be found here

Are you the first on the dance floor or do you watch from the side? Is there a song you can’t resist moving to? What was your first dance? When did you last dance? Do you have a dance that only happens when no-one else is watching? Do you dance with your dog? Or in the kitchen while you’re waiting for the kettle to boil? Is there a movement or ritual you do every day that has become like a choreographed dance?

We all have dances that we carry with us, and Quarantine, an award-winning theatre company from Manchester, would like to hear about yours for a project at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts.

Why?

This autumn Quarantine are bringing their show Wallflower to Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Brighton on the 23 and 24 November 2018.

Wallflower is a show about dancing. The people on stage are trying to remember every dance they’ve ever danced. Some of them are professional dancers, some of them are not. Spanning a lifetime of music, fashion, politics, friendships, parties, love and loss, Wallflower is a show about how dancing can shape our lives.

Alongside this tour of Wallflower, Quarantine are inviting local people to share their own remembered dances. These will be exhibited in ACCA alongside the performances and uploaded at www.wallflowerdances.com to create an online map of remembered dances across the UK.

How to take part?

We now have updated dates for taking part as follows:

• Sign up for a slot to meet Quarantine on 13 - 17 November 2018 in Brighton. This meeting will take approximately one hour and you can register your interest this by emailing info@attenboroughcentre.com or calling 01273 678 822.

• Answer some questions about your remembered dance

• Show some of your chosen dance while a photographer documents this to create a portrait of you.

• Slots are limited so will be allocated accordingly!

In exchange for sharing a dance, Quarantine will arrange two free tickets for you to see Wallflower at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Brighton on the 23 - 24 November 2018. Bring a friend, your mum, your neighbour, or perhaps someone you love to dance with…