After arriving in Britain with my children due to the war in Ukraine, I focused on community support and cultural projects. In Ukraine, I worked in the media, writing about human rights, parenting, feminism, and culture, and gained expertise in gender monitoring and event organisation. In Dorset, I founded a Ukrainian community group TheWeyUa, leading…
Hi, my name is Poppy Hardwicke, and I’m the new production assistant at B-Side! I graduated from the University for the Creative Arts in 2022 with a first-class degree in Acting and Performance. Throughout my academic journey, I developed a deep appreciation for the arts and the way they can connect people. I have always…
Archie is an actor, director and producer based in Dorset, working across the country with various organisations. He runs the award-winning production company ‘OffPiste Theatre’ where they make narrative film, theatre and hybrids of the two. Collaboration is at the heart of how Archie works and he’s looking forward to continue working with b-side to…
Hi I’m Emma, the b-side FRINGE co-ordinator. I am a kiln-forming glass sculptor. I specialise in cast and fused glass sculptures and panels using hand built moulds. I grew up on and now live on Portland and am surrounded by sea and stone. My first degree is in Mathematics, hence my interests in the mathematics…
Having grown up in Dorset, I returned to Portland to write my master’s dissertation, ‘On keeping Portland (weird). Fiction, folklore and art; filling the holes of the Isle of Portland’, and felt this was only the beginning of what I hope to be a sustained relationship with the island – its people, places and cultural…
Helena returned to Portland in 2016 to live, having been captivated by the Island during a stay on a school trip some forty years earlier. Her subsequent experiences of the b-side Festival opened her eyes to the potential of art to encourage and empower Portlanders to value their unique environment. In addition to her passion…
Celia is a creative producer and facilitator interested in how collaborative artistic practice can imagine new possibilities for social justice, collective care, transformation and repair. She organises public programmes and social-engaged creative commissions in Bristol and beyond. Alongside her creative organising, Celia is a youth worker with young refugees and works as a conflict mediator.…
I am the very enthusiastic, and very pink, new Manager for BnB-side! I have worked in the Hospitality industry for over 10 years and am delighted to be bringing my knowledge and expertise across to b-side’s exciting new venture. I grew up in Weymouth and Portland, and after several years of recently living in Brighton,…
Rebecca de Pelet is an educator with over 25 years’ experience in both the state and independent sectors, a former department head, the founder and director of a festival of writing, a TEDx programme curator and a mentor. She is passionate about the importance of the Creative Arts and their power to impact young people’s…
Jennifer is relatively new to Portland arriving with her husband and dogs in 2020. She has worked as a solicitor for more than 20 years and currently leads legal services for Middle East operations of an international healthcare company. “Having moved to Portland mid-pandemic, I was immediately taken by the unique and like-minded community we…