Arts

SEMA promotes the arts in Shropshire. We believe in the beauty of art to bring us together. We believe in the importance of art for human flourishing. We believe in art as a way in to all kinds of learning. And we believe in art for arts sake, for the simple pleasure of expression.

The IC Bailey Liberation Library, or part of it, is represented here. There is a photo of Ian who the collection of books and their availability to the public is dedicated to. I can't tell you about all the books on the shelf here. There are about 40 or 50 and for this event the selection was books of various genres (mostly novels, poetry, history and biography) from African, Latin American, Asian, Indigenous, and diaspora writers.
The flyer for the International Film Selection hosted at The Hive. The poster features three stills from the three films: 1. Sound of Metal (2019) 2. Minding the Gap (2018) 3. Minari (2020) Below those images and their accompanying titles and descriptions to their right (images are on left), we have four logos (going left to right): 1. Shropshire Supports Refugees 2. SEMA 3. Arts Alive/Flicks in the Sticks 4. L'Apero French Bistro The top of the poster, which is otherwise on a white background, is the sky blue banner which has white text saying "International Film Selection" in a large font, with small font text describing the event. At the bottom of the page is the link to book: hiveonline.org.uk The photos are specifically of: 1. Riz Ahmed at a drumset, the main character of 'Sound of Metal'. He is topless and in sharp contrast from a stage light to his top right (he faces us). 2. Three youth, of different ethnic backgrounds, with their skateboards held by the kicks, showing us the underside designs rather than the griptape of their boards -- they aren't looking at us but each other. The film is Minding the Gap. 3. A Korean family -- dad, mum, grandmother, and two children -- these are the main cast of Minari. The parents stand with their arms on the shoulders of their children. In between them is the grandmother. They seem to be looking at something off-screen. It is the house in rural Arkansas where they have moved, the plot of the film being their adapting and acclimatising to their new home.
Brightly coloured LoopFest poster featuring a picture of a crowd sat on the ground, on the grass, watching a concert, under a blue sky in the Castle grounds, Shrewsbury. A church spire is in the background. Loopfest flags line the pavement. They are the same bright yellow, blue and pink as the rest of the flyer. The text says: "Sign Up for Early Access Ticket News." Then "Fri 3rd-Sun 5th May 2024." Then "Free Entry Music Festival in Shrewsbury Town Centre." All of these in CAPITAL letters, the font colour yellow, then white, then yellow against a pink background. These details and the photo that they sit under are set diagonally upon a blue and yellow background. The diagonal placement of the feature makes it something like a polaroid photograph. The blue against the yellow behind that harks to the River Severn bending, looping around the town centre: hence LoopFest.

Literature. Our collaboration with the Diverse Shelves Project and Black Lives Matter Shrewsbury has helped to bring books into Shropshire schools, identify authors and materials for our library services in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin councils, and host the I.C. Bailey Liberation Library at The Hive during Black History Month.

Film. Our friends at The Hive, Shrewsbury, together with SEMA, hosted three films exploring topics of migration, disability, domestic violence, adolescence, and mental health. It was a chance to talk about the themes in the films and their presence in our own lives. The Hive regularly shows independent, award-winning films from around the world in their wheelchair accessible theatre room. For the latest on at The Hive follow this link.

Music. In 2024 we will be working with LoopFest, the Shrewsbury-wide free-entry festival which in 2023 broke a record for footfall in the town and had every involved venue packed to capacity. Our role: we are on the lookout and identifying artists from diverse backgrounds creating music infused with homelands and migrations and beautiful blends of traditions, instruments, cultures, and styles. We are looking to raise money specifically to fund artists locally and further afield to come to Shrewsbury and bring their magic to LoopFest 24. Please contact us for information on this and be sure to follow LoopFest here and on social media (Facebook / Instagram).