Never mind the Bunting

The Jubilee weekend has brought some interesting things to the forefront for us.

As a community, there are some of us who are diving right into the spirit of the holiday - and with street parties and lots of community based fun afoot, it's hard to ignore the positive aspects of this national event.  Celebrating all things British is unusual and, dare we say it, jolly good, old bean.  As a cultural organisation, we are enjoying the many manifestations of culture and heritage which the Jubilee is bringing to the forefront.

But, on the other hand, we aren't a place to run with the herd.  What we ARE is a place that thinks, hard, about the implications of our actions.  It's not just about pleasing people, or kowtowing to those who will state their opinions vociferously if they don't like what we're doing.  It's about thinking below the surface of things.  We do that a lot, here.

As one of our Directors pointed out today - it's frikkin' HARD sometimes!

Some of our crew and supporters aren't quite so upbeat about this weekends goings-on.  From military connotations to sometimes just a little *too* much 'Rule Britannia', not to mention Her Majesty's fondness for blood sports, it's not all plain sailing in ethical terms.

So, what's our position?

As a community, we respect that we're a diverse little bunch here.  We respect that, on some matters, feelings may run high and they run deep.  We also realise that most people don't give a monkeys, they just want to enjoy themselves on a summer weekend.  So, in true Art House fashion, we're being a little tacky and a little tongue in cheek about the whole thing.

The Jubilee is happening and we're not about to come out all 'off with their heads' about it.  At the same time, we're not ones to jump on bandwagons (we prefer to be driving those).

So, this weekend we're saying 'Never Mind the Bunting'.  We're having a good, summery weekend.  We will eat scones and strawberries.  We will christen our new sundae the 'Knickerb****cks Glory' in honour of the great Sex Pistols.  The kitchen crew will, in an unrelated gesture, dress as Pirates (any excuse).  There are gnomes in the window, and our Tools for Self Reliance ladies have knitted flag of the Union bags and teacosies, and made little crown pincushions.

In short, we're doing what a successful community does - we're respecting each other, we're taking it all with a pinch of salt and most of all, we're going to enjoy the weekend.

So.  Never mind the bunting.  Come and have some fun with us!