Painting, drawing. photography & objects created by workshop participants Boris Atanasov, Victoria Cristal, Lyudmila Georgieva, Nadja Ilieva, Ivan Ivanov, Michelle McCauley, Rosiza Petrova, Aditi Singh, Paloma Sourtchev. Since October 2018, Tempo Arts has been delivering creative workshops for local residents who are part of ‘Bulgarians in Hastings & St Leonards.

The workshops began in The SPACE as they were a part of ‘Identity: a collaboration between artists from Hastings & Dordrecht – twin towns since 1982′. Saturday drawing workshops followed, led by artist Christine Gist, which were held at Cafe Grand Rue de Pera, Queens Road, Hastings. These workshops provided participants with an opportunity to share stories about their Bulgarian culture and discuss their lives in Hastings. During December & January, a series of workshops led by Gist & Hastings artist Jilliene Sellner were held  at See Spray Gallery, Queens Road, Hastings.

These sessions focused on painting & the construction of traditional Bulgarian objects linked to the participants’ personal stories. The series of workshops culminated in a two week exhibition at See Spray Gallery 19-31 January 2019. The launch event on Saturday 19 January was well attended by local residents, the Mayor of Hastings  Cllr Nigel Sinden & Deputy Mayor Cllr james Bacon who all enjoyed an evening of Bulgarian food & music.

The Identity workshops were realised using public funding from The National Lottery through Arts Council England, East Sussex County Council through Building Stronger Communities, Hastings Borough Council, and The Lions Club of Hastings with the support of See Spray Gallery.