It’s time to introduce Absolutely Cultured.

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It’s time to introduce Absolutely Cultured.

Absolutely Cultured has today been announced as the new name for the company that delivered Hull’s incredible year of arts and culture in 2017. Absolutely Cultured has also confirmed its renewed purpose as an arts organisation rooted in the city, and revealed details of some of the events to look forward to in the coming year.

Led by Creative Director Katy Fuller, who has been part of the Hull UK City of Culture journey since 2015, and with cultural specialist Lee Corner as Chair, Absolutely Cultured will commission a world-class arts programme of events for residents and visitors, working with partners inside the city and across the UK to cement Hull’s reputation as a centre for creativity.

Katy Fuller said: “In 2017, as Hull UK City of Culture, we invited the city of Hull to get absolutely cultured – and it did, but 2017 was only the beginning.

“We’re extremely proud of the roots of this company and its achievements during 2017. While we have a refocused purpose, at the very heart of that is the continuation of a programme of events which appeal to the huge audience we know we have in Hull, as well as being relevant and interesting to visitors and those watching from afar.”

The events, some of which have been announced today, will be ambitious, surprising and imaginative. Artworks will inhabit and animate Hull’s incredible outdoor spaces, bringing people and communities together, and building on the high levels of engagement achieved in 2017.

Their first major event will be happening this summer: Dominoes by Station House Opera is a large-scale, site-specific celebration for the whole city to enjoy. It will be free and unticketed, taking place on Saturday 11 August 2018.

Humber Street Gallery will continue, building its reputation through a high quality, engaging and thought-provoking future programme of exhibitions and events, which have also been announced today.

Absolutely Cultured will continue the award-winning City of Culture Volunteer Programme, working across arts and culture opportunities but also expanding to new sectors across the city with the support of two new partnerships with Nesta and Spirit of 2012.

In addition, The Hull Independent Producer Initiative (HIPI) will continue to nurture local artistic talent and artists from near and far will be supported to take risks and extend their practice through the commissions programme.

Katy Fuller added: “Any well-rounded arts organisation needs to ensure it is delivering on all fronts: jaw-dropping audience experiences; opportunities for learning and participation; and development opportunities for artists. Absolutely Cultured will be no exception.”

Want to know more? Visit www.absolutelycultured.co.uk or follow Absolutely Cultured on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using @abscultured

The secret life of The Deep

The piles of stones that appear in the Gentoo penguins exhibit each spring don’t look like much to the untrained eye. But believe it or not, they’re the perfect p-p-p-pick-up joint for penguins at The Deep, Hull’s award-winning aquarium.

“That’s Nessie,” says Helena Robinson, an aquarist and one of The Deep’s five-strong team of penguin keepers. She points at a Gentoo penguin who is meticulously searching for the perfect pebble to present to her potential partner, Shackleton. Discarding dozens of identical stones, she eventually finds the one. Shackleton seems to approve, and it’s added to the pile.

“When our penguin couples show signs of nesting, they bulk up for breeding season and begin to present each other with stones,” reveals Helena. “They then gather the stones to build nests where, hopefully, they will later lay eggs.”

Meanwhile, Attenborough and Lizzie – the 2016 chicks named after Sir David and HRH Queen Elizabeth who both turned 90 in the year they were born – come up to the exhibit glass to watch us, watching them.

“Attenborough and Lizzie are quite nosy,” says Helena. “They were born here at The Deep, so they’re very confident and inquisitive. They’re real characters.”

For penguin keepers like Helena and her colleagues, a typical day starts behind the scenes at 8.30am, 90 minutes before The Deep welcomes its first visitors through the doors.

Most of that time is spent cleaning up penguin poo.

“We start with a really big clean and a visual check of each animal and exhibit,” she says. “They poo a lot! It’s a never-ending job. The only thing that’s messier is when they’re moulting as well.”

Of course, there’s much more to aquarist duties at The Deep than looking after the animals in your specialist section. It is home to around 5,000 animals, 130 individual habitats and has 36 filtration systems to manage. Everyone has to muck in, and muck out.

Other duties include water analysis, food prep (every creature at The Deep gets human-grade food to eat, by the way), pump and filtration maintenance, record keeping, exhibit-building, research, breeding, vital conservation work and – everyone’s favourite – diving.

“The first time you dive in the Endless Oceans exhibit with the sharks and the rays is nerve-racking,” admits Helena, who first worked as a guide, then volunteered and eventually trained to become an aquarist. “I actually learned to dive as part of this job. I’d never dived before, so I did my open water qualification and loved it.

“The reality is not that glamorous though. Most of the time we’re under water, we’re cleaning – we do daily dives scrubbing algae off the inside of the main displays – as well as giving the animals a visual health check.

“We do a lot of jobs that people don’t expect – we’ve carved the rock walls in the lagoon, painted displays and put the corals in. We also look after any new animals coming into the quarantine area.

“It requires a huge amount of elbow grease, and you’re always on call,” say Helena, returning to the ever-growing penguin nests. “But you’re making a difference. It’s all worth it.”

Find out more about The Deep, including how to book your own behind-the-scenes experience.

Gipsy Moth takes flight as it finds new home in Hull

Crafted by prisoners of HMP Hull as part of Hull 2017’s Creative Communities Programme, the replica Gipsy Moth has won hearts and minds over the last year.

Having been spotted by around 30,000 people a day in Paragon Station, including the Queen, Sadiq Khan and Goldie, the plane is now to set to move next door to St Stephen’s shopping centre for a year.

The model celebrates the legacy of Hull-born hero Amy Johnson, the pioneering aviator who was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930, in a de Havilland Gipsy Moth bi-plane named Jason.

Next month the plane will be taken down from its display in Paragon Station, cleaned and touched up, then relocated in St Stephen’s. There are also plans to create an interactive interpretation board to enable visitors to find out about how the model was created.

Jim Harris, Centre Manager at St Stephen’s Hull, said: “The model of Amy Johnson’s Gipsy Moth celebrates the creativity and culture in every single corner of Hull, and the incredible legacy of Amy Johnson.

“We are delighted to help the plane on the next leg of its journey, and offer it a place at St Stephen’s Hull. With 12 million visits a year the model will continue to be enjoyed, and tell its fascinating story, to all our customers.”

The idea to create this full-scale model of the straight-winged, two-seater aircraft was former prison governor Steve Murray’s. Steve and artist Leonard Brown joined forces and were named as one of 60 new projects which received funding through the Hull 2017 Creative Communities Programme, delivered in partnership with the Big Lottery Fund, a principal partner of Hull 2017.

Geoffrey de Havilland’s original design was brought to life in the prison’s engineering workshop. The project took seven prisoners 3,600 hours to make and formed part of the prison’s Reducing Reoffending initiative, giving everyone involved the opportunity to improve key skills.

Gary Sword, Head of Reducing Reoffending at HMP Hull, said: “We are always looking for new ways to engage the prisoners and develop their skills so when we found out about the Hull 2017 funding, we thought it would be a great opportunity to get involved.

“Due to security restrictions, the prisoners didn’t have access to the kind of tools you would use to build such an ambitious model in the outside world so it has been a real blood, sweat and tears exercise. They’ve not only gained transferable skills such as team-building which will help them secure future employment when they get out but they’ve developed an enormous sense of pride.

“When Hull was announced as City of Culture, I don’t think the prisoners could have dreamt of being part of it, so to have created something that has been so well received and is set to become part of the Hull 2017 legacy is just incredible.”

Martin Green, CEO of Hull UK City of Culture 2017, said: “The Gipsy Moth is a great example of how Hull 2017’s Creative Communities has involved people who might not otherwise think arts and culture is for them, to be part of Hull’s special year.

“We are delighted that the model plane has found a new home in the city. It is not only an opportunity for residents and visitors to learn more about one of the city’s revolutionaries Amy Johnson but also a chance to reflect on another milestone in Hull’s history – its tenure as UK City of Culture.”