A Trip into Nita's Archive

If Nita Harvey was alive today, I reckon we’d have got on well.

The warmth Ellen Nolan (her great niece) talks of her with is infectious, portraying her as a strong, confident woman. However, Ellen’s compiling of her great aunt’s archive shows how Hollywood changed a young Miss Harvey’s perception of herself, documenting the change from her happy-go-lucky photos in her back garden to the professional and somewhat scared ones of Hollywood. (To see these for yourself, check out Ellen's instagram.

The first photos Ellen shows are of a smiling, child Nita, playing in the back garden with friends. She is performing for her ‘constant companion’, with smiles and laughs in all the photos her mother took. This sense of fun is lost when the pictures from Hollywood appear and the main theme of the photographs switches to submission.

However, we learn that Nita refused to go on the ‘casting couch’ and left her job at Paramount Pictures when she wasn’t getting paid enough. This surprises and inspires me, knowing that even then, young women were standing up for themselves and beginning to shatter the glass ceiling.

I arrived expecting to enjoy looking at photos from the past, and left feeling touched by one women’s story of how others made her view herself. It was a timely reminder of why the #MeToo movement of today is so important.

Niamh Spiers

Gender-fluid Bollywood

As a non-binary, lead instructor and dancer at London’s School of Bollywood, Shiva Raichandani goes out of their way to step over unnecessary boundaries. 

 

At 3pm this Friday (1st March) Shiva will be joined by Pooja Radhakrishnan to discuss the needless heteronormative views of dance and how the performing arts industry should be more LGBTQ+ inclusive. You can book here. And there's also a chance to join a 90-minute Bollywood dance workshop with Shiva at 4.30 on the same day.

 

Shiva has accomplished brilliant things by using their gender fluidity and Bollywood dance background, combining the two (supposedly opposite) ideals to create a very unique dance style.

Jasmine Saadat

Tips for aspiring musicians

As an aspiring musician (and I use that term very loosely) I'm intrigued to learn more about the 'ins and outs' of the music industry. I'm therefore looking forward to Friday's Music Industry Panel, led by Jacqui Norton who has more than 20 years of experience working in the UK's music industry. Her c.v. includes work for ZPM (Zomba Production Music) where, as Production Manager she oversaw post-production of hundreds of albums. 

https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/academic-staff/art-design-humanities/jacqui-norton/jacqui-norton.aspx

The panel is also supported by PPL and PRS, who together help musicians and artists with licences to perform and play in public. 

Connor Davison

70 days to cross an ocean

As a rower at De Montfort University, I'm inspired by the thought of about Robin Buttery’s quad journey of 3,600 miles across the Indian Ocean. Robin decided to make the 70-day voyage for charity after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. 

I'm eager to learn about the self-discipline and the mental strength he had to build. I also want to hear what led him to choose such an intense challenge and how the experiences of the journey have affected his life since then.

He will be speaking at part of the Cultural Exchanges Festival on Thursday 28^th February, in Clephan 0.01, 4pm. You can book tickets here.

Millie Steptoe

Talent behind bars

Does music even exist behind bars? Off course it does!

Here, at De Montfort Cultural Exchanges Festival 2019, you'll get a chance to have a talk with Chris Heighton, who is currently involved with an ongoing music programme-helping and developing other's musical talents, outside and inside the HM Prison Leicester. It's an excellent opportunity to see that, even in the most extreme or worst case scenarios, people have the chance to gain a positive experience.

Having the support from other organisations such as The Philharmonia Orchestra and The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, really shows how determined Chris is in order to engage with others who share the same passions as him.

© Global 2019

So why don't you come along and enjoy the ride too? He'll be in Clephan 3.03 on Thursday 28th February from 3-4 pm. See how Chris can be an inspiration to the people behind prison bars (and outside), giving them the opportunity to create what they love best: music.

And in the same room, just an hour earlier, you can hear about Talent Unlocked, the arts festival run every year in Leicester and Stafford Prisons. DMU lecturers Jacqui Norton and Victoria Knight will be on hand to tell you how that works. Book here for their session.


E J Manso Henriques

Munroe Bergdorf: activist and inspitayion

DMU is very lucky to have activist and model Munroe Bergdorf as a guest during Cultural Exchanges 2019. 

 Her appearance may just be my highly anticipated event of the week. She is highly known for her work within the LGBTQ+ community and for her insight on diversity. In this modern age, such topics are more relevant than evert. 

In past articles from the likes of Teen Vogue and Grazia, Bergdorf has discussed topics ranging from mental health to feminism. I'm very much looking forward to hearing what she has to say and applying her knowledge to not only my every day life, but my writing as well.

https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/news/2019/february/cultural-exchanges-2019.aspx

Munroe will be at Cultural Exchanges on Wednesday 27th February. 

Book here today, and read more on her website in the mean time!


Belinda Campbell

The writing is on the cake

I'm having a quick look through the Cultural Exchanges brochure when I see a picture a big pink cake. Written on it in icing is the word "PINGGG...K!" This instantly intrigues me. I get the feeling this is that one event  I'm going to be really excited about.
 
Reading on, I discover it's going to be an open mic poetry evening. I've never been to an open mic event which makes me want to go even more. It seems like a good opportunity to meet new people and have a nice time listening to live poetry performances. When I listen to a poem being performed, most of the time I'm almost instantly immersed. The direct communication between poet and listeners takes the experience of poetry to an entirely new level.

The event is especially supportive of poetry discussing matters of gender and sexuality - another point in its favour. I am definitely looking forward to the evening. It's a chance to have a good time with interesting people while exploring relevant, important topics through poetry.

Book tickets for the event here. 


Adriana Aleksandrova