The Old Market, Hove

WE'RE AWARD-NOMINATED! TOM's In The Box Festival has been longlisted for the 2025 #DigitalCultureAwards in the category of Digital Content. The awards celebrate the use of technology in creativity and culture, showcasing the best in digital transformation, engagement, and accessibility. We're proud to be included in this list of outstanding non-profit organisations and practitioners, and want to say a huge thank you to the Digital Culture Network and Arts Council England for their recognition and support of the project. We want to give a special thanks to our wonderful team, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that this brand-new format is the best it can be from all perspectives. Everyone from Front of House and Box Office through to the flat-out work by our technicians - they've gone above and beyond. Team TOM is nothing without this team. And of course a huge thanks to the artists who have embraced the creative potential of the space, and to the audiences who have ventured with us into this new world so far. There is so much more to come, and we hope you'll continue to journey with us in the months and years ahead. Long live the Box. - Team TOM

THE BOX HAS ARRIVED... Last week, we kicked off our 2024 In The Box Festival with two outstanding events! On Thursday, we launched proceedings with a blistering set by Ah! Kosmos, with support from the wonderful Johanna Bramli. Then on Friday, it was the turn of Forest Swords, along with another amazing support in Banxi. And in between all of this, we launched our brand new TOM Partners initiative, welcoming local businesses to join the TOM family. More on this in the weeks ahead... We just want to say thank you to these amazing artists for creating magic in this exciting new format, and to our audiences for joining us on this journey. We have another exciting week ahead with even more performances In The Box from the likes of Nick Pynn, Kate Daisy Grant, Xanthe Gresham-Knight, Third Bloom, Wes Banderson and more. The Box awaits... - Team TOM 📸 - Steve McNicholas

As we continue to setup for #InTheBox, Team TOM are joining thousands across the country to say #ThanksToYou We've been fortunate enough to have had 7 years of TOMtech funded by Grants for the Arts funding from ACE. TOMtech is our catalyst programme that accelerates the knowledge transfer between artists and technologists and champions innovation in live performance. Thanks to funding, the programme has... - Commissioned 8 new shows for immersive mediums - Put more than 550 artists through skills development 'Labs' to introduce 360 visuals, spatial sound and sensory environment creation to live performance - Sold over 18,000 tickets for cultural Extended Reality (XR), one of the UK's largest programmes - Supported leading names in this embryonic field to make new work, develop skills, access funding and build networks We're proud to be a melting pot of creativity, so we say thank you to Arts Council England and The National Lottery for not only supporting TOM, but the hundreds of artists and thousands of audiences who have benefitted from the TOMtech programme over the years. #NationalLottery30

We're thrilled to announce that we (The Old Market, Hove) are teaming up with our friends 1927 Theatre and Brighton-based charity Together Co as part of our upcoming run of PLEASE RIGHT BACK this December at TOM! In this collaboration, we'll be turning a part of our Bar into 'The Connection by Letter Writing Project' room, and asking audiences to connect with lonely or isolated people by writing letters, fostering a sense of togetherness and support. The project is made possible by the collaboration between Together Co and Best of British Events(who supported the charity by raising more than £2,000 at various events earlier this year). This is such a meaningful initiative and provides a wonderful opportunity for our audiences to engage with the local community and make a real difference in people's lives. Theatre has always been about connection, and this partnership beautifully extends that ethos beyond the stage via the power of the pen. 1927's PLEASE RIGHT BACK takes places at TOM from Fri 6 to Thu 19 December. Tickets are available via the TOM website - we hope you'll join us for this magical event. https://ow.ly/omXk50U5YJh Production pic by Andrew Perry

Last week, we welcomed students from Goldsmiths, University of London to TOM. Our Helen and Mark spoke to the Arts Admin and Cultural Policy MA students, talking about all things arts, culture, venue history and the state of the scene in 2024. It was a lovely day filled with great questions - a huge thank you to Faith Dodkins and Nuria Cortes for making it happen! We love these kinds of events - schools, colleges, universities: if you want to talk, we're here. #TheOldMarket #ArtsEducation #ArtsAndCulture #ArtsAdmin #CulturalPolicy

AI and archives? Somerset House curator Kinnari Saraiya will share insights from her work with the India-based artist collective Elsewhere in India and arebyte Gallery at the Dreamy Place closing event. She’ll explore how colonial-era archives are being reimagined through artificial intelligence and delve into post-humanist ideas from the Global South. Talks on Asian Futurism at The Old Market, Brighton, on Sunday, 27th October 2024, from 1 pm – 4:30 pm. Price: £7, grab your tickets here: https://lnkd.in/eafnF6yC Kinnari Saraiya, born in Bombay, India, is an artist, curator, researcher, writer, and folk dancer based in London. Her work aligns with trans-altern, post-humanist thinking, focusing on creating intersectional structures and ecologies of interdependence. Through digital worldbuilding, film, and installation, she explores indigenous epistemology, animism, and performance as praxis, creating biomechanical and transmedia storytelling. Her work often involves motion-captured performances, choreographed with classically trained dancers and embodied by virtual characters in worlds built using Unreal Engine. Talks on Asian Futurism, co-host with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Sydney. Supported by Art Fund, Arts Council England, Creative Australia, Diversity Art Forum, The Chalk Cliff Trust and People’s Postcode Trust. Special thanks to arebyte Gallery and Chinabot. Dreamy Place arebyte 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art videoclub Arts Council England The Old Market, Hove Image credit: Murthovic & Thiruda, Fragments of a Panorama, 2024. Installation view, arebyte Gallery, London. Devika Bilimoria. Kinnari Saraiya. #AsianFuturism #AI #DigitalArt #PostHumanism #Brightonevent #ArtCurator #GlobalSouth #SuddenBeams #PlatformAsiaturns5

Tea, talking and a tour... Yesterday, we welcomed some of the wonderful members of Connected Brighton to TOM for a networking morning. As part of this, Mark dusted off his presentation skills and talked about the history of the building and our journey thus far. We finished things off with a tour around the venue, backstage and on stage, with lots of great discussions taking place and new connections being made. Special thank you to Lyndsey from Connected Brighton for bringing everyone together! Check out their other events and activities coming up. Would love to know if backstage tours would be of interest to folks here - leave a comment below to let us know? #TheOldMarket #BackstageTour #Hove #Brighton

Want to join Team TOM? Then look no further, but be quick about it! The application window for our Venue & Programme Coordinator role closes at 10am on 4 October - visit https://lnkd.in/dt6sCun to find out more and download an application pack.

*WE ARE RECRUITING!* Could you be our Venue and Programme Coordinator? This new role is a fantastic opportunity to join our small, close-knit and friendly team, making a real impact on the delivery of administrative support across all areas of TOM. The application window closes at 10am on Fri 4 October. Visit our website and download an application form today - https://ow.ly/te0a50TlXyi

Huge huge thanks to Richard Freeman for inviting our Creative Director Helen Jewell to talk as part of The Brighton Paradox - if you've not listened, give it a go today!