Feb - Oct 2023
Scan the above for a digital copy
Introduction By Hitomi Hsu Welcome to the special edition of the New Bloomsbury Set Newspaper, where our 2023 Festival Trainees take you on an exclusive cruise in Bloomsbury. Curated with passion and creativity, this newspaper is a 21st-century version of Virginia and Vanessa Stephen’s handwritten newspaper, ‘Hyde Park Gate News’ (1891-95). Updating the 1890s version of the urban landscape, this newspaper is your passport to explore the fascinating intersections of art, history, and culture in modern Bloomsbury. Join us as Hitomi introduces the enchanting Bloomsbury Group, while Georgie unveils an intriguing history of the Holy Cross Church's occupation by the English Collective of Prostitutes. Sit in our book club, where Angelina, Hitomi and Labiba read captivating stories of Writers of Colour. Hear out the backstories of Bloomsbury Festival — Angelina chats with curator Emily Momoh about the art of exhibition making, while Gabriel takes you on an audible journey with local creatives and hidden treasures. Our project curator Sandra also contributes with Bloomsbury’s contemporary culture. From the secrets of Charleston's garden to trainees’ literary insights, we have a brushstroke of creativity all wrapped up. With poems, monologues, book reviews, and even a crossword, this newspaper invites you to revel in Bloomsbury's rich tapestry.
△ ‘What Are We Grown From’: Objects that represent the New Bloomsbury Set trainees / Illustration by Hitomi Hsu Our ways of being are embodied by everyday objects such as backpack, sketch book, childhood toys and tea bag. Notepad, ceramics or scarfs demostrate various social lives. Objects such as hijab, necklace or bunnet (a kind of hat) suggest fragments of identity.
If you are finding a spot to sit and read, don't miss out on the top picks for cafes, bookshops and picnic spots, handpicked by our passionate trainees. So grab your copy and sit still. Let's dive into the blooming neighborhood where art and culture grow!
Who ‘Lived in Squares, Painted in Circles and Loved in Triangles’?
What is Bloomsbury’s Contemporary Culture?
By Hitomi Hsu
By Sandra Lam
Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, John Keynes, E.M. Forster — these are just a few of the big names you might have seen on the blue plaques around the neighbourhood. Do you know they all belong to the Bloomsbury Group? The Bloomsbury Group was a radical collective consisting of English writers, philosophers, dancers and artists. An exclusive cool kids club hosted by the rebellious Stephen sisters — later known as Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf — in the early 20th century. Long story short. Let’s break their tales down with shapes: as a wise saying by Dorothy Parker goes, this lot ‘lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles.’ ‘Squares’ refers to the Bloomsbury home of the Stephen sisters, the group’s meeting place. Back in the days when these brilliant thinkers were still at university, the Stephen sisters lived in Gordon Square. Interested in art, drama, and current affairs, the girls formed a secret society, inviting the top brains to their Thursday salons. Each member of the group held their own creative interests. Whether feminism, impressionism or Keynesian, the members’ establishment in their fields might not be the most representative, but definitely pioneering. Take Vanessa Bell’s ‘circles’ as an example — so colourful and so boldly abstract. She adores the shape to the extent that circles not only became
‘A fine spring day. I walked along Oxford St. The buses are strung on a chain. People fight & struggle. Knocking each other off the pavement. Old bareheaded men; a motor car accident, &c. To walk alone in London is the greatest rest.’ — Virginia Woolf, Street Haunting (1930)
△ The NBS trainees got together around Vanessa Bell’s dining table in Charleston House in April 2023.
a trademark of her works but her whole house (including the fireplace and the dining tables) which are covered with dots! Lock the artsy youths in some rooms, you’ll get a buffet of gossip. Love Island S11? Gordon Square was full of love ‘triangles’. In addition to their pioneering literary and artistic ideas, the Bloomsbury Group is a community open to polygamy relationships and gay rights. Try searching for the love story between Vanessa Bell, Clive Bell and Duncan Grant, where you’ll find a thrilling ten-year love story in their new hub at Charleston. Although there are way more stories in the neighbourhood worth exploring in addition to the notorious group, at least for now you have started to know the messy but fascinating lives of these Bloomsbury people.
Walking in Bloomsbury has become my daily routine since I joined the Festival in autumn 2022. Bloomsbury is extraordinarily beautiful to me in spring, when cherry blossoms start to bloom alongside Marchmont Street, and the breeze gently cuts through the trees in Brunswick Square Gardens, whispering on the leaves. I enjoy sitting outside of the cafés at Store Street and talking with our partners about the New Bloomsbury Set project, when the sun shines through the clouds, glistening on the windows of the Georgian houses around Bedford Square. Since the beginning of the project, twelve months have passed, but to me it’s as fresh in my mind as if it took place yesterday. In February 2023, our 10 young trainees aged 18-23 were onboard. We went on a Bloomsbury’s Music Trail featuring emerging artists including Karen Wong Ka Wing, Nina Hudson and art duo Mario and Rama. We walked along the streets and squares with Camden Tour Guides and discovered Bangladeshi street artist Mohammed Ali’s mural about young people on Argyle Street. We interviewed Rosie Peppin Vaughan and Fiona Khalastchy, local history researchers, in our oral
△ Artist Mohammed Ali’s mural at King’s Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association’s Youth Centre on Argyle Street.
history training. We discussed global literature in our Writers of Colour Book Club. We created beautiful silk banners with local community groups of Bangladeshi, Chinese and Somali heritage. We talked about football, cycling and silk painting with local youth groups. We shared stories of growing up, studying or working in Bloomsbury. All these constitute the contemporary culture of Bloomsbury. Through researching, drawing, painting and storytelling, we felt more connected to Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury is more than Virginia Woolf or the Bloomsbury Group, but also a home to many people. Bloomsbury is about the people, communities, artists and thinkers of different origins that make it a thriving area. What does Bloomsbury mean to you?
The New Bloomsbury Set Newspaper is made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Presented in partnership with Bloomsbury Radio, Camden Archives, Camden Tour Guides Association, City Lit, Conway Hall, Holborn Community Association, KCBNA, Runnymede Trust and UCL. The Writers of Colour Book Club is sponsored by Bishop and Sewell.