Review of the year 2019

Thanks to all our members for supporting your WI this year!

It's December again, and as we have no formal meetings this year it's time to review what we've been up to in 2019.

At our monthly meetings we've had a wide variety of topics, including dancing, quizzing, craft sessions, tea tasting and talks on the arts and science.

Meanwhile at our craft club we've tried sewing, knitting and papercrafts in a variety of techniques.

Outside of the regular meetings we've been to previews of exhibitions at the British Museum including Edvard Munch, Manga, Inspired by the East and Troy,  and had our first attempt at a (very soggy) summer picnic. 

We've also sold cakes at Queens Square and Phoenix Gardens fairs, so thanks to all who baked, sold and bought goodies!

And not forgetting, our 2018 committee became the face of the NFWI's latest membership drive!

Our last event of the year is Thursday 19th December at St George's for carols and mince pies. For those we don't see there, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

lots of love,
London West End WI 

LWEWI crafting and Royalty!

On 11th December the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) were honoured and delighted to welcome ACWW member Her Majesty Queen Azizah of Malaysia as part of her first official state visit to the UK. 

Her Majesty has been involved with the ACWW over a long period, and is a keen crafter. A number of WI Federations attended and showed off crafts made by their members, as she had expressed an interest to see WI crafts. Thank you to our former LWEWI member and ACWW Chief Executive Officer Tish Collins, who invited LWEWI's Craft Club to provide crafts for the Middlesex Federation display.

Craft Club organiser Jane represented LWEWI, and took along some of the Craft Club makes.

LWEWI crafts on the Middlesex table

Lorraine Reed from Middlesex Federation, Queen Azizah, and Her Majesty's sister in law

LWEWI crafts on the Middlesex table

November Review of the Month

The nights are starting to draw in, and in November our craft club turned their sights to Christmas, with some papercrafting of Christmas decorations, led by Nicky. There's no December craft club, but we'll be back in January with quilling on the 7th at Atlantis books.

Our main meeting in Novemer was a fascinating talk on singing cultures and 200 years of African classical music by Bilkis Malik of TransculturalVisions.

Bilkis sent through some links to the choir singing the pieces. We tried to play them in the hall but the sound wasn't great - so here are some videos of two of the songs created from the poems she wrote following talks in the sessions.

 

Also in November, some of our members attended the community preview of Troy at the British Museum, which was fantastic - there's an evening view on 11 January if you haven't seen it yet.

November Monthly Meeting: African Classical Music

Can Classical Music Speak to a 'Common Humanity'? A look at African Classical Music

Our next monthly meeting is on Wednesday 20th November from 6.30 to 8.30pm, in the Upper Vestry Hall of St George's Bloomsbury. This month's speaker is Bilkis Malik, director of Transcultural Visions.

Classical Music is regarded by many as an exclusive genre associated with Western practitioners, cultures and audiences. 

This talk looks at the rich, and somewhat hidden, 200+ year heritage of African Classical Music. Focussed on selective composers, the talk will highlight inspiring interethnic connections with many African composers (Fela Sowande, Ayo Bankole, Akin Auba, TKE Phillips) graduates of London Conservatoires enjoying international success and collaborating with the likes of Sir Malcolm Sergeant, Dame Vera Lynn, Sir Charles Groves, the BBC, and the New York Philharmonic. 

Akin Auba, Fela Sowande, Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko and Ayo Bankole
 

Notably the music of African composers has evolved to expose classical music as responsive to the heritage and values of distinct cultures and this will be clearly demonstrated using extracts from selective composers’ music and original BBC lectures.

The talk will also present the work of the Singing Cultures Choir formed in London in 2016 to breathe new life into the hidden heritage of African Classical Music and its ability to provide fresh insights into building positive interethnic relations. Here’s a quick taster of their work:

All welcome, with £5 charge for non-members. Bring some refreshments to share if you can, and do email us at londonwestendwi@gmail.com if it's your first visit so we know to look out for you!

October Review of the Month

The nights are starting to draw in, and in October our craft club turned their sights to Christmas, with a spot of festive cross stitching. We didn't quite get finished, but our plans are to carry on with these at home and use them in cards or gift tags. In November we're going to carry on the festive spirit with some paper crafting of Christmas decorations.

Our main meeting in October was a peek behind the scenes at a national museum, as Pam gave us an insight into what goes into putting on a blockbuster exhibition such as Christian Dior. In November we'll be having a talk on singing cultures and 200 years of African classical music.

Also in October, some of our members attended the community preview of  Inspired by the East at the British Museum. All our members are invited to these previews, and ticket allocations are announced in the newsletter. Next up will be Troy on 17 November - email us if you'd like a ticket.

October Monthly Meeting

Our next monthly meeting is on Wednesday 16th October from 6.30 to 8.30pm, in the Upper Vestry Hall of St George's Bloomsbury.

Behind the scenes at the Museum

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at the museum, and how major exhibitions such as Hollywood Costume or Christian Dior are put together? Pam (who is Collections Documentation & Procedures Manager at the V&A) will be talking about the work that goes into putting together public exhibitions, from deciding on an exhibition schedule to choosing the objects, mounting them and getting the exhibition open on time. In particular, we'll take an in-depth look at how the Christion Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition was put together.

Bring some refreshments to share, and do email us at londonwestendwi@gmail.com if it's your first visit so we know to look out for you!

September review of the month

September is over, and we're definitely into autumn now. It was an active month for us, with crafting, self defence and a cake stall all in the line-up!

Craft Club

At Craft Club on the 1st Tuesday of the month we turned our hand to macrame, and made these simple but rather lovely keyrings. We've promised ourselves we'll keep practicing and try string bags another time!

October's Craft Club is Christmas cross-stitching - more details on our dedicated Craft Club blog: https://lwewicraftclub.blogspot.com/

Monthly Meeting

At our regular monthly meeting on 18th September we had a lesson in beginner's self defence from the lovely Kim of Common Sense Defence (https://commonsensedefence.com/), who taught us tips and tricks to keep us safe, although we hope we'll never need them of course.

Next month, on 16th October, we'll be having a talk about what goes on behind the scenes to put on a blockbuster exhibition at a national museum.

Phoenix Gardens

On 7th September we had our regular cake stall at the Phoenix Gardens summer fayre. Thanks to all who baked, sold or indeed bought cakes, we had a lovely day and raised some much needed funds for our WI.

September Monthly Meeting

Our next monthly meeting is on Wednesday 18 September from 6.30 to 8.30pm, in the Upper Vestry Hall of St George's Bloomsbury.

This month we'll have a session on self defence with Kim, a skill we should all know, but hope we'll never need. As you can see from these Victorian and Edwardian images, self defence for women is nothing new!

She's been in touch with a few questions in advance, so if you can have a think and be ready to answer at the session that would be great:

• Do you have any injuries or mobility issues she needs to be aware of?
• Do you have any thoughts on the types of scenario you'd like her to cover? 
• Any situations you'd like to get out of that she could talk us through/show us?

Wear comfortable clothes you can move in, please.  Bring some refreshments to share, and do email us at londonwestendwi@gmail.com if it's your first visit so we know to look out for you!

August Review of the Month

August, and pretty much summer is over. Thansk to all those who came along to our various meetings, which were noticeably quieter due to the summer holidays! Nonetheless we still got crafty, then got our dancing shoes on for our 

Craft Club:

At craft club, Nicky led us in turning old paperback books into hedgehogs full of personality, with some simple folds and some buttons and ribbon. Don't worry, all the books were old and had been read until they were falling apart!

Monthly meeting:

At our August monthly meeting Elaine, an experienced teacher, led us in a beginners belly dancing session complete with hip scarves to give that Eastern feel, and a great time was had by all. 

Next month we're going to be having an introduction to self-defence, a skill it's great to have but we hope you never have to use.

Craft Club, September

Our next Craft Club is Tuesday 3rd September at Atlantis Books from 5.30 to 7.30pm.

This month we'll be getting knotted! Yes, that's right - we're going retro, back to the 1970s and trying our hand at macramé! We're going to make these macramé keychains - don't worry, they're suitable for beginners. If you can tie your shoelaces you can make these!



And to get you in the mood, here's a simple guide to getting knotted! (or getting started with the basics of macrame!) 


Please email lwewicraftclub@gmail.com if you plan to come, so we know to expect you; we can only fit 10 in, so need to know numbers in advance. Also email us for more information if you haven't come before and want to know more! 
As ever tea, coffee and delicious biscuits will be served.
More about Craft Club at https://lwewicraftclub.blogspot.com/

Phoenix Gardens Agricultural Show & St Giles Fayre

The Phoenix Garden annual event is drawing closer! 

Every year we have a cake stall here, and let's not make this one an exception (especially as we're on the poster!). If you can help out by baking, whether sweet or savory, or can spend some time on the stall on Saturday 7th September, please email us ASAP so we know we've got enough people to make it work!

August Monthly Meeting - Belly Dancing!

Our August monthly meeting is on Wednesday 21 July from 6.30 to 8.30pm in the Upper Vestry Hall of St George's Bloomsbury.

Elaine has been teaching belly dance for over 15 years both independently and for the local education authority and will be running a belly dancing taster session at our August meeting if you would like to try your hand (or to be precise your hips). Wear something comfortable that you can move in easily and dance in bare feet or shoes with flat non-slip soles eg plimsoles, ballet pumps, trainers – for safety reasons please do not wear socks (on their own), high heels, flip flops, mules or any shoe with a slippery sole during the session.

In the Arab world belly dance is primarily a dance by women for women, handed down from mother to daughter and danced for their own pleasure. Whenever there is a gathering of women (perhaps to celebrate a coming of age, birth of a new baby or just a coffee morning) dance is usually on the menu. The women and girls will dance informally together, maybe taking their solo turn in the centre of the circle, and the emphasis will not be on the technical skill of the dancer but on her enjoyment of the dance and a celebration of her sensuality.

Belly Dancing can be practised by students of any size or shape, it celebrates sensuality, strength and power, and encourages people to have a positive body image and to gain self confidence in a supportive environment. The dance is low impact and involves stretching, strengthening and developing the muscles, especially those in the abdomen and thorax and developing good posture. It can be as vigorous or gentle as you want to make it, so it is suitable for all age groups and physical abilities.

As ever, please bring some refreshments to share, and do email us at londonwestendwi@gmail.com if it's your first time so we know to look out for you!

July Review of the Month

July is over, and we're half way through the summer! It was a crafty month for us, with hands-on makes at both craft club and our monthly meeting. We also had our first bake sale of the season at Queen Square, and our first attempt at a summer picnic on the last Saturday of the month, although the British weather let us down after all the hot weather and gave us only rain for the picnic.

Craft Club:

At craft club, Elaine led us in making these very professional looking sinimay flowers, for use as brooches, hat decorations or fascinators - they look amazing! Next month we're going to be turning old paperback books into hedgehogs, as you do!

Monthly meeting:

At our July monthly meeting Helena led us in a session based on the geometric tiles of the Alhambra in Spain. After a short talk on the history and tiles of the Alhambra, we all had a go at creating tile patterns ourselves, based around folding, cutting and sticking squares of paper in different ways to create 3 different interlocking patterns, and amazed ourselfs with what we came up with! 

Next month we're getting active, and having a beginners belly dancing session!

Queen Square Fair:

Thank you to everyone who baked, sold or bought delicious goodies from us at the Queen Square fair in early July. We had a wonderful array of baked goods, and a very enjoyable day was had by all. Look out for us at Phoenix Garden in September next (tbc)