FOURTEEN artists from the UK, Finland, Portugal and France descended on Great Yarmouth last week for an intensive five days of workshops and planning sessions.

FOURTEEN artists from the UK, Finland, Portugal and France descended on Great Yarmouth last week for an intensive five days of workshops and planning sessions. The RAPID project, led and managed by local charity, SeaChange Arts, is a two year EU-funded programme to help the four partner countries to bring together professional and emerging artists of different kinds to create innovative new work involving their own communities.

Communications officer Penny Wright said: “Artists ranging from sculptors to film-makers, the participants spent their days in the beautiful surroundings of the Noble Hall at the Priory Centre, with visits out into the town's Market Place and beach, where passersby on one day got involved as one group made a short film. Startled customers in the Tudor Tavern pub on St Nicholas Road were even treated to an impromptu art exhibition.”

The group also had afternoon tea with the mayor. Later this year, the group will meet up again in Avis, Portugal to spend three weeks with young artists from each country, working together to produce new work and performances, some of which will be showcased at the OutThere international arts festival in Great Yarmouth in October.

Six young UK artists have been selected by SeaChange for the Portugal residency and they had their first chance to meet the group of international artists last week. After a morning of creative workshops and activity with the international group, one of the participants, Matthew Harris, 18, from Caister commented: “Art is a language in itself - it doesn't need translating!”

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