The ageless art of Wace is evident in the most unexpected places. The very 21st Century Somerset designer Duncan Linklater chose the most endearing personal revelation from the (12th Century) Roman de Rou to 'engrave' on this turned wooden dish. The illustration is based on a drawing by Picasso (early 20th) and, as Duncan points out, the style is subconsciously evocative of Greek pottery of the 5th-6th Century B.C. and acknowledged the very English 17th Century work of Thomas and Henry Toft. The characteristic aside by Wace - always at heart the jongleur - is immediately before his section on the Norman invasion of England, the legend which is, of course, strongly reminiscent of a long ago seige immortalised by a 5th-6th Century Greek bard...... For reasons we can only imagine, Wace diverted from the great historical tale he was obliged to tell for a memory of a journey to the region of Brocéliande, about which the Bretons often tell stories, a very long, broad forest, a favourite of hunters. There was a famous fountain at Barenton, where, it was said, fairies danced. ' I went there in search of marvels; I saw the forest and the land and looked for marvels, but found none.  I came back as a fool and went as a fool. I went as a fool and came back as a fool.  I sought foolishness and considered myself a fool.' (Part III, lines 6329-98)
   May there always be artists, jongleurs, potters and bards to lighten our readings of the mechanical horrors of war by reminding us that nothing can corrupt the innocence of the poetic imagination

W.A.C.E. Week From the 12th century to the 21st   26 - 29 September 2000

Writers' Alliance for Cultural Education developed from a working party set up in July 1997 by arts and media researchers, academic authors and historians in South East London and Sussex to review Creative Industries policies and identify legal and artistic solutions to cultural, as well as individual, 'dumbing down'. The present venture is to promote historical precedents for progressive cultural strategies.

A priority is to increase awareness of the multi-ethnic origins of the English Literature heritage. The W.A.C.E. Forum is self-funded and is an endorsement of our founding principle: that writers are included in cross-disciplinary think tanks to which they can make informed and imaginative social contributions.

The network is dedicated to Wace, master historian of '1066 country' and creator of the Round Table legend. The oldest-known manuscript of his influential Roman de Rou (yet to be translated in full) was written in Battle Abbey, the divided nation's premier heritage site and storehouse of Conquest literature - and inspiration for the unique Chronicle which lists the names and addresses of the Saxon artisans who were the enterprise town's first residents.

The Forum

The heart of East Sussex, now successfully promoted as 'the birthplace of England', is the ideal location for debates on a cultural re-vision of the region characterized by its historic and contemporary European identity.

W.A.C.E. invited policy makers, arts funders, members of the media and heritage promoters to exchange ideas and initiatives, from a creative and cultural perspective, with writers, events managers, performers, teachers, historians and local entrepreneurs.

We are encouraged by the support and quality of contributions from speakers and Consortium members. Most participants will recognize the synchronicity of the dates - the week in which the fate of the British peoples hung, literally, on the right kind of wind.

The creative heritage

The 'Normans v. Saxons' Battle of Hastings is fixed in the international consciousness. Its remembrance (and impending re-enactment) attracts thousands of visitors, history hikers, students, scholars, geneologists and veterans to the epicentre of '1066 Country'. To our good fortune, it is England's last experience of foreign occupation. In this context, the 12th Century Renaissance is a model of post- conflict endeavour for cross-cultural harmony through popular arts. Similarly, the impetus for the 20th Century's progressive society came from our post-War bards: playwrights, performers and songwriters who also styled the modern concept of popular culture

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Battle Abbey in the 12th Century (from a Victorian painting)

Anglo-Norman 'performance poetry' and drama was written in an era of rebellion, religious conflict, discriminatory patronage - and 'dumbing down'. The writers re-invented history in a paradoxical arts, learning and justice conscious society. Ironically (200 years before Chaucer) their work generated the revival of English social narrative poetry and the birth of a virtually-global language.

W.A.C.E.  P.O. Box 335 Hastings, E. Sussex  TN34 3ZL

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