21st December - Hut 341

It was very calm and pretty warm on the seafront tonight given the time of year.  There was an air of peace and calm as it was a very low tide so the waves were quite quiet and there wasn't very much traffic noise from the road.






Hut 341 exuded that same sense of peace and calm as it was dressed all in blue providing a simple backdrop to a large star of wonder.  The star was made from hundreds of torn up pieces of coloured tissue paper, pasted to make a thin multi-coloured film.





The star was then lit from behind so that the colours shone out into the darkness.  The overall effect was like an abstract stained glass shape that hovered in mid-hut.

The hut was framed with garlands of ivy and other evergreen leaves which were intertwined with some fairy lights.





Somehow, even though we were outside, the evening felt cosy and this was helped by a fire pit and the chance to sit close to the flickering flames if you did feel cold at all.







This also connected us with another event in Brighton tonight - The Burning of the Clocks.  This involves a procession of homemade lanterns which are taken to the beach and thrown onto a bonfire.  This happens today as this is the winter solstice and the moment in the calendar when the days start getting longer again.


Tomorrow we're at hut 296.

20th December - Hut 189

Hut 189 became a gallery tonight with an artwork, presented in the the same way that so many pieces of art are shown - on an artist's easel.  Simply mounted in the centre of the hut, the picture of the Madonna and child shone out in the darkness bringing light and colour to the Hove seafront.



From a distance the picture looked like a finely painted image but close up it became clear that this was a collage, skilfully created by artist Sarah Watson using torn up magazines as her medium.

The overall image was created by carefully choosing and applying fragments of coloured paper from different magazine photographs.  






In some cases bits of the original imagery could be seen and these helped to add detail  and texture to the final artwork.

Mary carefully cradled the infant Jesus onlooking intently into his face looking as though she was making a soothing sound to help him sleep or maybe singing a lullaby.



Jesus was clearly asleep, oblivious to his surroundings and at peace in his mother's arms.





Around the base of the installation were small twinkling stars, glowing brightly against the blue base swathed across the floor of the hut.  These reminded us of the halo of stars that often accompany images of the Madonna.

The installation included a celebratory soundtrack courtesy of hut owners Michelle and Eddie.

Our next hut is number 341

19th December - Brick Hut 1a

Tonight was the only time this year that we get to use one of the more luxurious brick built huts.  These have electricity and running water and are slightly more spacious than the simple wooden hut constructions that make up the vast majority of the beach huts along Hove seafront.




The facilities available allowed the Kidz Klub to go all out on the installation of technology and not only had Christmas lights but lasers as part of the installation.  




These lit up a pile of enormous gifts which surrounded and almost dwarfed the baby Jesus lying centre stage.


Ironically all these beautifully wrapped gift boxes were empty as a symbol of the emptiness of a purely commercial view of Christmas.





The true gift at Christmas is that of God himself in the form of the baby Jesus, a gift that transcends the glitter and glitz that makes up so much of this season of the year.







As if to emphasise this crass commercialisation of Christmas, a giant blow up/light up Santa lurked just around the corner from the hut, reminding us of the usual imagery associated with Christmas which so many seek to escape when they come to the Beach Hut Advent Calendar.





We were also blessed this evening by a choir of folk who had offered to come along and sing Christmas carols for the event.  They sang beautifully, as you would expect of a group who were used to singing in a church on a regular basis and really helped to add to the occasion.





In the midst of it all lay baby Jesus, serene and peaceful, untroubled by the gaudy, flashing lights and the false jollity of the blow up Santa, reminding us to think about the truth behind gift giving at this season of the year.

In this final week of advent beach huts we head to number 189 for our next installation.

18th December - Hut 362

One person from the nativity story has been missing up to now - the innkeeper.  Hut 362 redressed that balance by asking us to identify with the innkeeper who let the Holy Family stay in his stable where Jesus was born.








The innkeeper looked out from the door of his hostelry with a welcoming smile on his face.

Just to prove that this was a place of welcome and friendship there was a glittering heart above the door.





In the background, overlooking the whole scene, was a reminder of the end of the story of Jesus in the form of a colourful cross which was made of woven raffia.



Hanging beside this cross and in various other places around the hut, were small keys as a symbol of opening up to God and people who came to the hut were given a small key with a label on it saying "Each of us is an Innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus".








This same message was beautifully inscribed on a lightbox which was also part of the installation.







A big crowd turned up tonight as Bishop Hannington church was supporting this hut opening and they brought some musicians to help the evening with some carol singing.

Our next hut is one of the brick huts close to The View and is number 1a.

17th December - Hut 437

Hut 437 is the furthest West of all the huts in the Beach Hut Advent Calendar and has been the location for some beautiful contemporary dance as part of the calendar over the past few years.  







The scene was set by an amazingly realistic painted backdrop of a train stop in a style reminiscent of the artist Edward Hopper.  It made the hut look as though it was a window into another world.





This imaginary world was inhabited by three modern day wise people (not just men!) who were dressed for travelling in a 1950's style.









They carried small suitcases with them and one of the Magi removed a bright shining ball from one of these and it became the focus of a weaving, haunting dance about travelling and the journey that was undertaken by these sages to find the baby Jesus.



All of us are on a journey of one kind or another.  We each travel from birth to death; we make journeys of understanding during our lives and many of us are on a spiritual journey.  The Beach Hut Advent Calendar is a journey itself as visitors travel to see each hut each night.





The dancers tonight reminded us of the Magi who travelled from the East as well as inviting us to think about our own journey.

The next hut is number 362 in the middle of the Hove seafront.

16th December - Hut 424

Tonight was all about dressing up.  We had not one, but two huts open, one which was the main venue (hut 424) and another hut 10 metres away (422) that was the dressing room.



The artist for tonight had created a whole wardrobe of Magi costumes for a variety of sizes and shapes and anyone who came along was invited to dress up as a king and pose in hut424 for a photograph. 

 



The experience was enhanced by Humphrey the camel who was mostly  resident in the hut and very happy to pose for a selfie with anyone who came long.






Lots of people took part and were happy to put on a costume because they were so beautifully made.




Various tableaux appeared throughout the evening, each giving a unique perspective on the concept of incarnation - God becoming  human being and living the same sort of life that we all live.







When we put ourselves into the eternal stories we are able to discover more about  our own connection with the divine.





Being in the stable also helps us to empathise with those who have very little and may be giving birth in stable themselves this very night.
The next hut features contemporary dancers and is number 437.

15th December - Hut 264 (Not 324)

The hut tonight was a little more challenging to find than normal as we discovered yesterday that the number we'd been advertising was wrong.  Luckily most people seem to be using the guiding star to find the right location once we hoist it up every night and we were only 100m to the East of the advertised hut anyway.





The Advent pilgrims who made their way to hut 264 were presented with another take on the Knitivity idea first seen on 3rd December courtesy of the Brighton District Mother's Union.



This was quite different as the figures were bigger and the focus was on the stable scene rather than the host of heavenly angels as in the previous hut.





Also all these figures were made by the artist herself, Helen Rawlings of the Church of the Good Shepherd on Dyke road.

Each character in the scene had their own personality, including the angel that hung above everything.  




The characters included the wise men and their camel, the shepherds and their sheep and the Holy Family themselves who stood by an empty manger as Jesus is not born until Christmas Day.  



Tomorrow we're back to the hut numbers as advertised and will be at number 424 beside Hove Lagoon.