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In our first podcast of 2010 we chat to Greenbelt's incoming Festival Director, Gawain Hewitt.

In a departure from the format of previous Greenbelt podcasts, Phil Smith, Greenbelt's Head of Communications, chats to Gawain Hewitt, Greenbelt's newly appointed Festival Director, about his life, his interests, his faith, and his feelings about and vision for the role he's about to take up on 8 February.

[podcast]http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/downloads/podcasts/gb_jan-2010_final.mp3[/podcast]

Click to download the .mp3 podcast file.

You can read more about Gawain's appointment over here.

Credits
Questions posed by Phil Smith
Questions answered by Gawain Hewitt
Mixed – bigJohn Noble
Executive Produced by Paul Northup

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Gawain Hewitt as the new Festival Director. Gawain will start his new position at Greenbelt in February 2010.

Gawain said of his new appointment: “Having always admired Greenbelt I am delighted to be appointed as Festival Director. It's a fantastic event and I am looking forward to working with Greenbelt's team to continue its success over the coming years."

Gawain Hewitt is currently Creative Director and Events Organiser at Community Music, a charity working with young people, underprivileged children and adults. In 2003 he helped set up an educational social enterprise company – Skillz – and has developed this as Director over the past seven years.

Greenbelt Trustees, who made the appointment, considered Gawain to be a strong communicator, an engaging manager, commercially aware, yet driven by the satisfaction gained in helping people realise and fulfil their potential through engagement with the arts. He has led initiatives in engaging individuals in this area which have been driven by his personal passion for social justice, and has a successful track record in the planning and organisation of numerous live music events.

Gawain Hewitt succeeds Beki Bateson, who left Greenbelt in September 2009 after nine years in the role.

Andy Turner, Chair of Trustees, is excited at the appointment and is looking forward to working closely with Gawain over the coming years: “Greenbelt is a festival like no other. Of significance to many people, assembled by an eclectic group of staff and volunteers, with a diverse and growing audience. Finding the right person with the vocation and that astonishing mix of skills, experience, vision and ideas to take us forward as Festival Director was always going to be a challenge. I'm therefore really pleased that following an exhaustive process, involving some excellent candidates, we have been able to appoint Gawain Hewitt as the new Festival Director. With an active Christian faith and a passion for justice and the arts, in Gawain we have appointed someone sensitive and astute, an entrepreneur who will lead Greenbelt, helping us to deepen our artistic vision, widen our community of volunteers and supporters, broaden our audience and nurture that important distinctiveness. With a background in charities and enterprise, Gawain is well placed to work with staff and volunteers to grow ambition. This is an exciting and challenging time for Greenbelt. I’m looking forward to Gawain starting, and the opportunity to work with him on the task ahead.”

The next Greenbelt podcast will feature an interview with Gawain, so if you want to find out more, come back in two weeks time.

Following on from our highlighting of the Kairos Palestine Document, we'd like to draw your attention to a second document that was published before Christmas by a variety of organisations including Amnesty International, Oxfam, CAFOD, and Greenbelt partners Christian Aid.

Entitled "Failing Gaza: No rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses", the report is an analysis of the aftermath of Israel's Operation Cast Lead, and a condemnation of the lack of international action to secure the ending of the blockade of Gaza, which is preventing reconstruction and recovery. The report highlights the grim reality endured by 1.5 million people in Gaza, and urges people to take action by reminding elected officials of their responsibility to traumatised, impoverished and isolated people.

Download and read the document, and then take a moment to send an email to the Foreign Secretary David Milliband MP to intervene and end the blockade.

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The short film No Way Through by Alexandra Monro and Sheila Menon also highlights mobility restrictions in the West Bank and is well worth a watch. It won an award  as part of the Short Film Project from Ctrl Alt Shift.

Bono – who probably won't be at next year's Festival – had an article in yesterdays NY Times listing 10 ideas for the future.

Our favourite idea is the Festival of Abraham:

Here’s something that could never have happened in the Naughts but will maybe be possible in the Tweens or Teens — if there’s a breakthrough in the Mideast peace process. The idea is an arts festival that celebrates the origin of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Every year it could be held in a different location; Jerusalem would obviously be the best place to start.

In Ireland, at the height of the “Troubles,” it was said that the only solution for rabid sectarianism was to let 1,000 punk-rock bands bloom: music helped create a free space for dialogue (of a high-volume variety). So no politicians allowed. Artists only.

Read more over here.

In December, a group of Palestinian Christians, representing a variety of churches and church-related organisations, issued "The Kairos Palestine Document" – an animated and prayerful call for an end to the occupation of Palestine by Israel. The call comes at a time when many Palestinians believe they have reached a dead end, and raises questions to the international community, political leaders in the region, and churches worldwide about their contribution to the Palestinian people's pursuit of freedom.

The document – entitled "A Moment Of Truth" – echoes a similar one issued by South African churches in the mid-1980s at the height of repression under apartheid, with a similar aim of galvanising churches and the wider public. It raises the challenge to religious and political leaders in Palestinian and Israeli society, international community, and to "our Christian brothers and sisters in the churches" around the world, of the urgency for peace with justice; yet even in the midst of what they describe as "our catastrophe", the call is described as a word of faith, hope and love.

With Greenbelt's campaign continuing into the new year, we would encourage you to download and read the document or visit the Kairos website for more ways to get involved.

GB09 headliner Duke Special recently parted company with his record label. But how does a dreadlocked troubadour survive when the music industry is going through its toughest time in decades? He turns to an alternative method of funding his artistic projects; something new, DIY, and unique, which lets an audience connect directly with their favourite artist.

And that's how the Duke decided on Pledge Music, a method by which fans can directly invest in the band and their projects. Income raised will help with the release, promotion and touring of three new records being officially launched in 2010, live events through May and June, the building of a promotional team, as well as a percentage going to Duke Special's chosen charity Depaul Ireland (www.depaultrust.ie) which works with homeless and disadvantaged people.

His new approach has already been highlighted in a blog post on the Guardian website, and over 250 pledges have already been made, so do look into supporting the Duke's work by pledging on his Pledge Music site, or have a browse through some of the other artists funding their work through similar means.

Andy Cato – of Groove Armada fame – is blogging for the duration of the UN Climate Change summit in Copenhagen "rooting for a deal that's ambitious, fair and effective".

He seriously knows his beans, so if you want an interesting and fresh perspective on what is going on visit http://andycato.tumblr.com/

And if you're still not sure what all the fuss is about, or need to be convinced, he's also produced a great little booklet called 'The condensed version of Climate Change and a simple way to stop it'.

Last month we asked you to show your support to Trust Greenbelt recipients Heavy Load by voting for them. Well, they won both the awards they were nominated for:

• CDN Diversity Award for Excellence in Creative Output: (presented to the film)
• DADA Community Arts Award (presented to the band)

Congrats, congrats, congrats!

… interviewed about her job at GB