Peter Chrisp celebrates the Rose Hill , a back street pub that ’ s become Brighton ’ s only artist-run arts hub , label and recording studio
The home of the avant garde
Peter Chrisp celebrates the Rose Hill , a back street pub that ’ s become Brighton ’ s only artist-run arts hub , label and recording studio
The most beautiful pubs in our city are those with the green tiles and ornate glass windows , built by the Portsmouth and Brighton United Brewery . One of the loveliest is the Rose Hill , tucked away in a side street near the Duke of York ’ s cinema .
We almost lost this treasure ten years ago , when Enterprise Inns sold it to a developer , who planned to turn it into luxury flats . Following a public campaign , the pub was registered as a community asset and the scheme was rejected . Better still , in December 2015 , the developer sold the pub to two local musicians , Kassia Zermon , AKA beat merchant and vocal juggler , Bunty Looping , and Jules Arthur , multiinstrumentalist with the Moulettes . They ’ d never run a venue but , as part of the Beatabets collective of artists , they ’ d been staging extraordinary events in the Brighton area for 15 years . I first encountered them at their biennial ‘ What the F *** is Happening Now ?’ festival , where they created a subversive fete in Falmer village .
Kassia describes the Rose Hill as “ a notfor-profit , independent arts organisation . It ’ s both a venue and a creative hub – offering live performances , artistic residencies and workshop / rehearsal space , while providing a truly independent and friendly space to see live performance . We aim to showcase consistently interesting music and performance from all genres , with a distinct leaning towards the more adventurous and original .”
It had been stripped of its fittings , so it had to be rebuilt from scratch . Artists decorated the upstairs spaces . Stevie Unknown , my favourite Brighton street artist , painted colourful malevolent clown faces in the gents ’ toilets . The basement and former beer cellar were later converted into a recording studio complex , filled with instruments . More than twenty albums have been recorded here , and released on the Rose Hill record label .
When live performances ended during Covid , the outside message boards became the Threebythree Art Gallery , with a different exhibition each month . In September 2020 , after we were allowed back inside venues , outsider artist Jim Sanders and filmmaker Tim Grabham ( AKA iloobia ) transformed the back room into a shamanic spirit house , an event they called “ Raising the Spirits ”. Sights , sounds and smells took small groups on an immersive journey into the subconscious .
There ’ s an Artist in Residence programme , allowing artists to spend a week developing work which they then show . In 2022 and again in 2023 , the artists in residence were the Galician performance artist and writer Xelis de Toro and the Cuban pianist Alejandro Vargas . They set the poems of Manuel Antonio , the Galician modernist poet , to music . They then recorded an album , Máis Alálá , released as a beautiful box of 19 postcards .
Writer Amanda Hallam Lane runs a monthly Scratch Meet , open to anyone who wants to share work in progress in any form . Here we ’ ve had the first showings of work by Tim Crouch , Lia Burge , Neil Noon , Victoria Melody and many more . At one Scratch in 2023 , I had my mind read by a ghost ( Alex Hathway , channeling the Victorian stage mentalist and spiritualist Anna Eva Fay ).
There are two regular nights of free improvised music . Safe House is open to musicians of all levels to improvise in a conversational way . On the Edge brings better known free improvisers to the venue .
The Rose Hill is sometimes a cinema , with screenings by the Brighton Film Club and the Toad Lickers film club (“ cinematic journeys through England ’ s green and not so pleasant land ”). Ian Helliwell , multimedia artist , electronic composer and inventor , hosts a monthly night called Synch Pulse , where he shows old TV ads and films with soundtracks composed on his own Hellitrons and Hellisizers . Each night has a different theme and , for ‘ Cosmic Science ’ last November , he ’ d even choreographed a dance piece .
The venue is also a community centre . Following Brexit , we had Club Europe Express , a monthly celebration of Brightonians ’ continuing sense of being European . Razom is a regular afternoon gathering for the local Ukrainian community , sharing music , food and friendship with the people of Brighton .
Apart from the amazing events taking place , the bar is a lovely place to have a drink . Like Bom-Bane ’ s , the Rose Hill has a fine section of Belgian beers and the proper glasses to go with them . My missus tells me the wine is nice too .
Right now , this is the text on the blackboard outside the Rose Hill : “ EVERYONE IS WELCOME AT THE ROSEHILL ! We have rehearsal spaces , workshops , cinema nights , live music performances and more . You can also hire us for private events sometimes which keeps us going … Get in touch with any ideas you may have . We are open !”
https :// www . therosehill . co . uk https :// www . instagram . com / the _ rose _ hill https :// www . ianhelliwell . co . uk https :// safehousebrighton . co . uk https :// www . toadlickers . co . uk
70-71 Rosehill Terrace BN1 4JJ