The film Gifts, originated from eight objects that were traditionally given in England, to welcome a new child into the world: Egg, Coal, Evergreen, Salt, Candle, Bread, Coin and Silver. Each symbolic gift has been the theme of a public event, created by Artist Clare Whistler, in collaboration with leading artists, musicians, poets and documented from 2005-2015 by established filmmakers. Gifts is an interpretation of the eight events, directed by Nichola Bruce.
The film brings together English traditions of ritual and landscape. Financed by Gift Economy movement and Arts Council England.
GIFTS
Egg for life
Coal for heat
Salt for health
Candle for light
Bread for food
Coin for wealth
A silver ring for love throughout life
These are traditionally the gifts given to a newborn child
A film interpreting eight events filmed from 2005 to 2015.
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ARTIST Clare Whistler
FILM MAKER Nichola Bruce
EDITOR Sam Sharples
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Egg for Life
Performers: Clare Whistler, Jen Mitas
Keats House, London
Writer: Alasdair Middleton
Sculptor: Margaret Higginson
Costumes: Liz May
Filmed by: Rebecca E Marshall
Thanks to:
Keats House
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Coal for Heat
Bunce’s Barn, Beech Estate, Sussex
Performers: Clare Whistler, Sophia Campeau-Ferman
Victoria Rance, Alex MacInnis
Writers: Alex MacInnis, Jane Buckler
Sculptor: Victoria Rance
Filmed by: Kate Adams, Alex MacInnis
Thanks to:
Bunces Barn, Beech Estate, Keith Datchler,
Miner Jim Davies, with Lynda Davies, CHIK Project at Dover Museum,
the volunteers at the Cape Breton Miner’s Museum, Glace Bay
(Notebook sources include Coal: A Human History Barbara Freese)
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Evergreen for Eternity
Church Yard, Battle, Sussex
Performer: Clare Whistler
Poet: John Agard
Sculptor: Wycliffe Stutchbury
Filmed by: Rebecca E Marshall, Kate Adams
Thanks to:
Richard Davies, Jane Buckler, Philip Carr-Gomm,
Alan Judd, Lucy Bell, St Mary’s Parish Church Battle,
Ralfe Whistler
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Salt for Health
Seafront, St Leonards-on- Sea, Sussex
Performer: Clare Whistler
Artist: Kjell Torriset
Singer: Alba Allan-Torriset
Poem White Page White Page Poem
Muriel Rukeyser,
from A Muriel Rukeyser Reader
edited by Jan Heller Levi. W.W.Norton & Co 1995.
Filmed by Tim Corrigan, Kjell Torriset
Thanks to:
Electro Studios, Hastings Borough Council, Alex MacInnis
Project Art Works, Rose Sharp
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Candle for Light
Canal, Pett Level, Sussex
Performers: Clare Whistler, Joanna Haigood,
Hattie Stutchbury
Artist: Tamsin Currey
Filmed by: Sam Sharples
Thanks to:
St Nicholas Fisherman’s Church, Pett Level, Pett Level Historical Society,
Anne Crosby, Andy Dunlop, Olivia Fuchs, Jane Metcalfe, Wycliffe Stutchbury,
Joanna Haigood, Peter Cole
In memory of Robert Whittle 1942-2010
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Bread for Food
Old Barming Asylum and Blackthorn Trust Bakery, Kent
Performers: Clare Whistler, Jane Trowell, Marina Tsartsara
Hattie Stutchbury as ‘Gretel’
Singer: Lea Cornthwaite
Filmed by: Nichola Bruce, Sam Sharples
Thanks to:
Blackthorn Trust, Sandie Rose, Miche Fabre Lewin, Marina Tsartsara,
Kay Syrad , CAConrad, Seb Doubinsky, Ali Aitchinson, John Forrester
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Coin for Wealth
Cuckmere Haven, Seven Sisters, England
Performer: Clare Whistler
Artists : Chris Drury, Christine Kettaneh
Filmed by: Alex MacInnis, Charlotte Still
Thanks to:
Robb Cunningham, Lucy Corkhill, Cuckmere Cottage,
Rod Barker, Peter Harrison, Jenny Haken, Alex MacInnis,
Charlotte Still, Susanne Wolf
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A Silver Ring for Love throughout Life
South Downs, England
Performers: Clare Whistler, Laura Gwynne
Singers: Katie Tearle, Jonathan Dove
Original Song: Jonathan Dove
Filmed by: Nichola Bruce, Sam Sharples
Thanks to:
The Ram Inn Firle, Firle Church, South Downs National Park,
Charlotte Still, Judith Allan, Mercy Sidbury,
Peter Owen-Jones, Flo Cruttenden.
Installation Film: Aristotelis Maragkos, Rebecca E Marshall
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Artist Collaborators
Alasdair Middleton, Jen Mitas, Alex MacInnis, Victoria Rance, Sophia CampeauFerman, Jane Buckler, Joanna Haigood, Kjell Torriset, Chris Drury, Kay Syrad,Tamsin Currey, Wycliffe Stutchbury, Sam Sharples, Christine Kettaneh, Richard Davies, John Agard, Kate Adams, Jane Trowell, Marina Tsartsara, John Forrester, Susanne Wolf, Rebecca E Marshall, Jonathan Dove, Charlotte Still, Judith Allan, Mercy Sidbury
Special Thanks to all the participants
Kate Adams, John Agard, Judith Alder, Judith Allan, Alba Allan Torriset, Meredith Andrew, Russel Beck, Lucy Bell, Nichola Bruce, Jane Buckler, Ali Campbell, Santiago Cabrero, Sophia Nick Campeau, Stephanie CarrGomm , LiE Chen, Kevin Costello, Lea Cornthwaite,Tim Corrigan, Tamsin Currey, Robb Cunningham, Lucy Corkhill, Chris Drury, Jonathan Dove, Leonore Easton, Lindsay Edmundson, Julie Ford, John Forrester,Olivia Fuchs, Dimitra Giakourmi, Laura Gwynne, Jack Joanna Haigood, Jo Hughes, Adrienne Hunter, Laura Jordan, Christine Kettaneh, Mim King, Alex MacInnis, Aristotelis Maragkos, Hannah Marshall, Rebecca E Marshall, Susan Marshall, James Marriott, Jane Metcalfe, Alasdair Middleton, Jenny Miller, Jen Mitas, Sam Naidu, Dody Nash, Grace Nichols,Sarah Norris, Nico Olivera, Nici Oxley, Peter OwenJones, Mark Pappenheim, Jethro Pemberton, Anthony Powell, Alan Privett, Victoria Rance, Kate Raven, Emma Roberts, Mike Scott, Rose Sharp, Jack Sharples, Sam Sharples, Jenny Shepherd, Nick Snelling, Avi Soudack, Charlotte Still, Kay Syrad, Hattie Stutchbury, Martha Stutchbury, Wycliffe Stutchbury, Katie Tearle, Kjell Torriset, Adam Trexler, Jane Trowell, Marina Tsartsara, Niki Turner, Anita Walker, Tom Walker, Dan Whistler, Jane Whistler, John Whistler, Iris Whistler, Kirsty Baring, Matilda Bathurst,Korina Biggs,Robert Bathurst,Victoria Bathurst, CampeauFerman, Haigood, Ralfe Whistler, Raphael Whittle, Robert Whittle, Susanne Wolf.
Coin Interviewees:
Adam Croft, Karen Clarke-Whistler, David Kowitz, Charlie Bean,
James Marriott, Bill Drummond, Laura Gwynne, Arthur Brown,
Christine Kettaneh, Paradise
with special thanks to Raphael Whittle
GIFTS
Executive Producers: Clare Whistler, Nichola Bruce
Producers: Nichola Bruce, Kasia Skibinska
Written by Clare Whistler, Nichola Bruce
Production Manager: Sally Lampitt
Camera: Sam Sharples
Assistant Camera: Jack Pyke-Bruce
Sound Design: Sam Sharples
Assistant Editor: Jack Pyke-Bruce
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The Gift Events were made with gift economy
Hastings Borough Council
Arts Council England
Inbetween Space – Nichola Bruce Archive + Production
© 2016