October 21, 2015, by Sunita Tailor

D.H. Lawrence Heritage Centre Placement Diaries: Week Two

In a series of three diary entries, second year undergraduate student, Amy Wilcockson describes her placement with the D.H. Lawrence Heritage Centre.

The brand-new D.H. Lawrence Festival of Culture, organised by D.H. Lawrence Heritage, features over 40 diverse events and attractions and runs throughout August until the 19^th September. I’ve been lucky enough to be working at D.H. Lawrence Heritage as their placement student this summer, in the role of the Festival of Culture Assistant.

This week has been an exciting one, as everyone can feel the buzz in the air surrounding the official opening of the Festival – the pace is definitely picking up! Last week for example, I was responsible for organising promotional days in Eastwood Town Centre, advertising and promoting the Festival to the locals. It turned out to be a huge success! Dressed up as Victorians, myself and fellow volunteers gave out Festival programmes, interacted with the public, answering any questions they might have, and encouraged them to attend – with a programme this diverse, there simply is something for everyone! We also had our pictures taken for the local newspaper and hopefully raised the profile of the Festival of Culture!

I’ve also been overseeing the Facebook and Twitter pages for D.H. Lawrence Heritage, making sure that the correct information, images and posts are successfully informing and advertising events to the public. This has included exclusive photographs behind the scenes at the first Festival of Culture event, “The Beeston Proms” and the installation of the Festival of Culture’s new exhibition ‘No Right To Exist? The Rainbow and Other Books That Shocked.’

‘The Beeston Proms’, attended by approximately 500 members of the public was certainly an immense start to the Festival. Jeanie Barton’s jazz quartet provided a vintage feel to the evening, as she opened the Proms to riotous applause. Similarly, the talents of the Enderby Band were thoroughly enjoyed by the crowd – many of whom were impressed by the brass rendition of Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ – it had to be heard to be believed! spent the evening handing out Festival programmes, conducting customer experience surveys, and generally observing and helping out with the running of a large public event.

I have also been assisting with the installation of D.H. Lawrence Heritage’s new exhibition focusing on banned, censored and suppressed books. The exhibition questions whether the content of these novels is as controversial in today’s social climate as it was when these works were initially published. For me, this is an invaluable experience to truly see and appreciate the work and effort that goes into any exhibition, and for someone who wants to work in a museum, it was amazing to see behind the scenes in this environment, and be allowed the unique opportunity of assisting with the exhibition’s creation.

Overall, this week at D.H. Lawrence Heritage has been fabulous, and provided a real mix of events and opportunities, for both the public, and for me. I cannot wait for the Festival to begin officially and to see the reactions to the exhibition – is it just too shocking?

For more information on the events listings or the D.H. Lawrence Festival of Culture in general, please visit www.dhlawrenceheritage.org, or visit our Facebook or Twitter page @DHLHeritage and use the hashtags #FestivalofCulture #NoRightToExist.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn