Clare Qualmann

I tried to groan, Help! Help! But the tone that came out was that of polite conversation. ― Samuel Beckett, The End

Wow the restructure hitting the arts at UEL is intense. Will there be anything left of the UK HE sector?... About to join the 30,000+ academics who've walked away/been pushed in the last few years 😔

Shouldn’t the disciplinary investigation focus on those dismantling departments and entire research fields, rather than those bringing this destructive work to public attention? A naïve thought, I know.

So, Banksy bought a used yacht, repaired it and retrofitted it to serve as a rescue boat to save migrants in the central Mediterranean. The whole project cost the artist $860,000. Since 2020, the boat has saved more than 3,800 people. londondaily.com/banksy-funds...

Slowly processing the brilliance of 'walking: thinking in motion' symposium in Basel last weekend. Funded by the Lucius & Annemarie Burckhardt stiftung it brought together a fantastic group of artists/architects/urban planners/public space folks. As one participant noted, the best kind of nerds! 🚶‍♀️🏙️

Desperately sad news of the untimely death of the brilliant artist & theatre maker Jadzé Maravala www.instagram.com/p/DdJrhj5DpC... I worked with Jadzé, she was my friend, & I was privileged to experience many of the works she made with ZUUK. We always think there's more time, but the time is now 😔

I’m quite worried the government has accidentally cancelled its newspaper subscriptions because they should really know about this

Oh wow, nobody saw that coming. If you let yourself be entranced by the same three snake oil salesmen who have captured the entire sector and who only understand "staff cost" as an entry in a spreadsheet, not all the contributions we make that don't fit that silly excel box, this is what you get.

"Have You Always Been Here? emerged through walking with another person. My partner's way of seeing birds, insects and overlooked details changed how I paid attention, and ultimately changed the poems themselves."  Have You Always Been Here? Matthew Clegg Out now longbarrowpress.com/current-publ...

something to snack on (I) they think the planet is a decoy plane (II) The Caringorms the loving mountains (III) edible insect damsonfly (IV) the tree never falls far from its apples (V) the sea passes on its energy to the storm 4.IX.26

Dear University Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award? For CU’s VC? The university with the huge deficit, collapsing student numbers, hundreds of redundancies and 2,788 staff transferred to subsidiaries over 3 years? That Coventry? Right. Interesting award criteria you have there. Best, The staff

Brilliant day at Whitechapel Gallery yesterday, final event in our 'Walking! Power! Inclusion!' programme. With the wonderful Demolition project (Debbie Kent & Alisa Oleva), Manal Massalha, Saira Niazi, @thelrm.bsky.social & Lorna Powell. Discussions on public space, the right to the city, access 🚶‍♀️🏙️

4. Food: everything Paris has to offer at your fingertips 5/5 5. Cleanliness: toilets a bit whiffy, showers ok 3/5 Total score 17.5/25 but would like to give a bonus because making swimming possible right in the centre of a massive city is totally impressive. #SwimmableCities #paris #swimreviews

Curveball in the swim Europe extravaganza: all the pools in Tours, France, required swim hats 🧐😱🤬. Sadly that's a hard no from our highly sensory-sensitive crew, so we sadly passed on the pretty fun looking piscine du lac + others

The answer, it turns out, is not just "motivation". It's also having parents that sold a company for $800m and being in a relationship with the curator of the biennial he got his artists into...

4. Food - basic menu, chips currywurst, ice creams, slushies, cold drinks. Low prices but mediocre. 2.5/5 5. Cleanliness. Nice toilets, very clean. Foot baths between the grass and pools keeps bits out of the water. 5/5 Total score 21.5/25 for the Hilden Waldbad, great holiday start 🌿🏊

Here are our scores: 1. Setting - totally beautiful 5/5 2. Value for money - under EUR 25 for a family of 5: 5/5 3. Fun factor - 2 slides, wizzy enough for big kids & adults. Diving boards + playground. kids thought there could have been inflatables or waves 4/5....

there are extensive grassy areas shaded by tall oak and pine trees, a playground, table tennis, table football, picnic benches and a cafe. It's EUR 6.70 for adults 3.50 for kids (under 4 free) and you can stay all day for that, 11am -6pm (!)

Today's swim was at the Waldbad, near Hilden, Germany. It's a municipal pool, open in the summer season, in a totally gorgeous setting of mature forest, it's easily reached by bus from Hilden or Haan (or by bike or car). Alongside the 4 pools (diving, swimming lengths, slide/fun, baby splash)...

Our 'home' pool is London Fields lido, which we love dearly & hard recommend.... But when we see the municipal pools of Europe there are pretty impressive features; low prices, beautiful settings, great snacks. We're scoring as we go, so might not be 100% consistent & new categories might sneak in.

Ready for our swim Europe thread? Starting today and for the next few weeks we are going to review our family swims 🚶‍♀️🏙️🏊 across pools/lakes/swim spots in Germany, France and Spain..... 1/

No swim spot, but a foot-cooling dip in the river Itter today. Setting: 5/5 Value for money: free 5/5 Fun factor: climbing trees, stepping stones, but kids say only 2.5/5 Food: blackberries galore 4.5/5 (on the small side) Cleanliness: looks idyllic, but some rubbish lurking in the water 3/5 20/25

Today's swim plan was the Naturfreibad in Mettmann. Lovely looking natural water pools, slide, dive platform, beach& loads of space. Bargain 5 eur/3.50. BUT although it's only 7km away, there's only 1 bus p/h & takes an hour to get there? No way in this heat! Repeat trip to the Waldbad instead.

Moving on to Paris, today's swim was at the Bassin de la Villette, a free summer city swim venue. 🚶‍♀️🏙️🏊

Where are your posts about these guys, or did you not hear about them because its only white men who can commit serial misconduct with impunity? www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10...

This petition needs as many signatories as the Exeter one. Please sign and share — don’t let Hertfordshire managers get away with this just because a Russell Group one took the spotlight. #UKHE

📌 @livingmaps.bsky.social Conference is over for another year - two wonderful days of artworks, mapworks, fascinating talks, and engaging 'hands-on' workshops making social, racial, and environmental justice visible 📌 Join our mailing list for news of forthcoming events! 👇 bit.ly/4gat8CC

The cherries are really early this year in my neighborhood, but still managed to get a pretty good haul this morning #UrbanForaging #EatHackney #EastEndJam 🚶‍♀️🏙️🍒

"It’s a bit of a sanctuary" This is Fallowlees Farm – a welcoming, safe space on the Wallington estate in Northumberland - is run by West End Women & Girls Centre. The farm gives 1300 women and girls from Newcastle’s West End space to grow, learn new skills and spend time outdoors.