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The Chimera Plantarium Project Are Working with Primary School Kids to Create Art

Lenton locals may have spotted the remnants of The Chimera Plantarium Project on Church Drive. Two vividly coloured and curiously shaped murals command a presence that hints towards their leafy beginnings and leaves passers-by turning their heads. They are just some of the work delivered by artist Chiara Dellerba and the children from Years 5 and 6 at Edna G. Olds Academy, as part of Primary’s Making Place project. Working together, they explored and created artwork based on the idea of spontaneous plants – wild, urban flora. Spontaneous plants are resilient creatures and their perseverance to thrive almost anywhere, even in abandoned, overlooked, or routinely neglected areas, is something us humans could learn from. We spoke to Chiara, to find out more about the project…

Artist Mitch Proctor, a.k.a Bon Idle, on his new comic: Henshin

Nine years ago, a mysterious explosion plunged a city into a seemingly endless blackout. That is, until a Mark Zuckerburg-like tech billionaire rebuilt it into a futuristic metropolis – but to Journalism student Alex, this shady figure’s motivations don’t quite ring true. Alex’s hunch soon thrusts him into a world of superheroes and monsters in Henshin, a new series from Notts-based artist Mitch Proctor, a.k.a. Bon Idle...

Film Review: Love, Guaranteed

A hapless single man takes an online dating website to court in Netflix’s latest rom-com...

Leading From the Back: The Backlit Artists Creating Exciting Projects

From its three-story base in the heart of Sneinton, BACKLIT is home to more than eighty studio artists, spanning a diverse range of practices, including fine art, contemporary craft and creative businesses. The independent, artist-led gallery has provided affordable studio spaces for artists, graduates and emerging local talent for almost twelve years. With the studio currently still closed to the public, we took a look around to find out more about some of their exciting artists, including what they’ve been up to during lockdown...

Under Cover Artist: Stuart Jones

We’re back in print with a bang, and Stuart Jones’ cover – a love-letter to all things print – is the cherry on top of this 48-page cake. We chat with this month’s cover artist to find out more about his work...

Nottingham Arts Mela Returns to the New Art Exchange for Its 32nd Year

As Nottingham Mela Network, in partnership with New Art Exchange, gets ready to celebrate the 32nd year of Nottingham Arts Mela in the UK, Alex Stubbs previews the exciting, eclectic online programme of cooking, films featuring South Asian diaspora worldwide, music, dance, debates, poetry and spoken word, family art workshops, murals, archives activated, morning raags and yoga…

Southwell Jewellery Store Last Night I Dreamt on Setting Up Shop, Significant Trinkets, and Sending Love During Lockdown

The bright lights of Nottingham’s city centre might not be quite as bright – or as busy – as they were six months ago. Yet, for one shop in Southwell, lockdown has been a little different. Nestled in North Nottinghamshire, Last Night I Dreamt is not only a curated collection of the best treasure that British brands have to offer, but is also a hive for jewellery lovers up and down the country. Our Fashion Editor, Anna Murphy, spoke to its owner, Rebecca Gibbions to find out more...

Art Works: Naa Ahinee Mensah

Artist Naa Ahinee Mensah tells us about her George Floyd triptych...

The Art of Beer's Seth Smith Has Drawn 41 of Our City's Best Boozers

Meet Seth Smith, aka the Art of Beer. He’s spent the last half-decade creating illustrations inspired by the nation’s favourite alcoholic beverage. This year he’s drawn 41 of the city's best boozers in conjunction with Nottingham Craft Beer Week and soon they’ll be available as free postcards at a pub near you…

Art Works: Kai-Yan Lai

After bagging success at the Young Creative Awards, Kai-Yan Lai has earned himself a successful career behind the camera... 

Honey Williams on her July 2020 Cover, Representation and Her Career

Our cover artist, Honey Williams, talks to our Art co-Editor, LJ Vaughan, about making art, her role as a choir director, and what it’s like to be a big black woman living in Nottingham...

Stop Wars to Stop Racism: The History Behind Belward Street's Iconic Street Art

For years, Richie 'Pops' Baker's 'Stop Wars' design stood as one of Nottingham's most recognisable and iconic street art pieces. Having recently been reimagined as the new 'Stop Racism' piece, the artist, who now calls New Zealand home, explains the history behind his design...

Notts DJs Invited to Join ‘Set For Love’ Fundraiser This Weekend

Carl Cox, Eats Everything and Nightmares on Wax are headlining the second charity DJ stream from LNADJ, and they’re looking for local DJs to join them.

Isolation Art Mail Allows You to Work Creatively with Others Through the Post

In a bid to inspire creative communication through traditional, tangible methods, Tracey Meek is combating loneliness and isolation the old-fashioned way. We caught up with the artist to discuss Isolation Art Mail, her community art intervention project that encourages people to share a collaborative chain letter of unfinished artwork...

5 Nottinghamshire Artists You Can Support from Home

Back in mid-March, before our lives took an unexpected turn, Nottingham Contemporary hosted a fair celebrating all things print. It was my last cultural day out, and with a variety of workshops and some thirty stalls to browse, it did not disappoint. The fair introduced me to many talented makers based here in Nottingham, and now, without galleries to visit, it’s a great time to bring art into the home, while supporting Nottingham’s creative community.

Here are a few of the featured artists, whose works are available for purchase…

Letters of Constraint: How the National Justice Museum are Documenting Life in the Coronavirus Era

With the aim of encouraging people to reflect on their lockdown experiences to create a written legacy of the COVID crisis, the National Justice Museum’s new Letters of Constraint virtual exhibition is looking for your participation. We talked to Dr Martin Glynn, the museum’s writer in residence, about how you can put pen to paper and be part of Nottingham’s lockdown story... 

“All my life I’ve been taught that the police won’t help me” – Artist and activist Kay on George Floyd, police brutality and the ongoing protests in Britain…

For many, the death of George Floyd was quickly contextualised as an American problem. Stories of racial profiling and police brutality have grown to become expected from a country that seems more divided than it has been in a generation, leaving many in Britain feeling disgusted at how things are done on that side of the Atlantic. But, as the events of the last week have shown, the illusion that issues raised from Floyd’s killing are consigned to the US has been roundly smashed, with thousands taking to the streets in eighteen countries around the world (as well as all fifty US States) to support the Black Lives Matter campaign, which is now considered the largest Civil Rights campaign in history. Growing up in the projects of Alameda, California to Eritrea-born parents, artist and activist Kay – who works under the name The Rainbow Prince – has seen the way police brutality and racism takes form on both sides of the pond, having moved to Nottingham six months ago. And as Notts gets ready to play its part in the movement with a protest on Sunday 6 June, we talk to Kay about why activism is important in the UK…

Documentary Filmmaker Jay Martin on Redt'Blue: The Film that Examines Why Mansfield Turned Tory

After decades as a Labour stronghold, Mansfield decided to elect a Conservative MP in the 2017 General Election. The result, which came as a shock to many, led local filmmaker Jay Martin to make Red’tBlue, his upcoming documentary which explores why the ex-mining town turned Tory…

Under Cover Artist: Andreas Schlechtriemen

Sieburg-based artist and regular Notts visitor Andreas Schlechtriemen fills us in on what inspired his robin-themed cover artwork…

No. Twelve's Caramel Artichoke and Truffle Risotto Recipe

To help you beat the isolation boredom, No. Twelves' Ritchie Stainsby shares his caramel artichoke and truffle risotto recipe...

Film Review: The Lovebirds

The Lovebirds was supposed to release in cinemas on April 3, but Paramount sold the distribution rights to Netflix after the outbreak of Coronavirus. Was it a worthy investment for the streaming site? George White finds out...

Midlands' Mix: Documentary Series Showcases Nottingham's Upcoming Bands

Ella Farnsworth's new documentary series Midlands' Mix aims to bring light to the best upcoming bands Nottingham has to offer...

Nottingham Documentary Soul Boy to Feature on BBC One

Renowned Nottingham documentary makers Luke Radford and Toby Curson are looking to lift the spirits of the nation with their upbeat story of 18-year-old Athony Flavin, who finds joy from a surprising source - Northern Soul. 

Interview: Corrina Rothwell on Life as an Artist and the End of Blather

After almost two years of unleashing the manic brilliance of writer Adrian Reynolds in an illustrative fashion, our regular feature, Blather, sadly came to an end last month. Instead of getting all melancholy about things, we chose to celebrate its time between the pages by catching up (over email, of course) with the local lady behind the brushes: Corrina Rothwell. Under the spotlight we get chatting about Blather’s beginnings, the pleasures and perils of being an artist and the inspirations behind her brand of explosive abstract workings.

Nusic New Music Podcast #226 with Bru-C, Eliza Rae, Sian Clarke, JJ Lovegrove and More