Meet your muse
Some 73,000 years ago, a pair of unknown hands marked a decorative red zigzag on the walls of South Africa’s Blombos Cave. Ever since, human artistry has exploded – through dark ages and renaissances. It is how we express the ineffable, the sublime, the emotional. And with it, we beautify the world – and sometimes, sometimes – change its entire course.
- Take your place in the director’s chair, Cuba
- A backstage pass to the Opéra Garnier, France
- James Joyce’s Dublin, Ireland
- The art of wildlife photography, South Africa
- Carve beautiful forms from limestone, Italy
- Become a designer for the day, UK
- The methods of Machiya, Japan
- The sounds of a continent, India
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
A hands-on filmmaking experience in Havana, Cuba
For future filmmakers, videographers and broadcasters
Location: Havana, Cuba
Fast facts: Age 16+ | September – June | Half day
Founded in December 1986 by a collective of artists, writers, filmmakers and theoreticians, the Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV (EICTV) – or International Film and TV School – is Cuba’s foremost institute for the cinematic arts. Its students – who hail from around the globe – embark on a comprehensive course of study that involves documentary, fiction, sound, TV, and new media.
And now it’s your turn to sit in the director’s chair. During this action-packed experience, you’ll gain a personal, hands-on introduction to the intricate workings of the film industry, all from behind the lens, trying your hand at shooting footage, operating booms, dressing sets, and calling the shots.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Cuba. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Learn about the practices of filmmaking and broadcasting
- Understand the jobs and roles that underpin the industry, from makeup and set dressing to sound producers and focus pullers
- Learn about the equipment and technology used in the modern film industry
- Have the opportunity to ask questions of the experts and practitioners themselves
You’ll leave with a rare, insider’s knowledge of what it takes to shoot a film or produce a documentary.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Take a behind the scenes tour with a prima ballerina
For future ballet dancers, performers and stage technicians
Location: Paris, France
Fast facts: All ages | All year round | Half day
The Opéra Garnier of Paris was built for the Paris Opera company at the command of Napoleon III, and first opened its doors to audiences in 1875. An opulent monument to the decorously eclectic tastes of the age, it is renowned for its lavish interiors and is often referred to as the ‘Palais Garnier’.
Today, its stage is home to the famous Paris Opera ballet. With one of its talented prima ballerinas as your guide, you’ll have the rare chance to explore the Opéra Garnier from behind the scenes, and investigate parts of the theater that usually only dancers and stage managers see.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in France. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Learn about the rich history of the Opéra on a full backstage tour, with the chance to ask questions along the way
- Discover the mechanics of stage machinery
- Explore the Foyer de la Danse, where the dancers warm up before each show
- Finish your visit with a private performance from the prima ballerina
Leave with a rare, insider’s insight into the behind-the-curtain workings of one of the world’s most iconic artistic establishments.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Artefacts, encounters and the Irish literary revival
For future novelists, poets and literary critics
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Fast facts: Age 16+ | September – June | Half day
“When I die, Dublin will be written in my heart”. So wrote James Joyce, Ireland’s most iconic and uncompromising master of letters. Writing in the tumultuous early years of the 20th century, Joyce was marked by the politics and personalities of his era, watching – uncertainly – as the Irish identity stepped into the limelight. Eventually, he would leave his home country to settle in Triest. “Absence”, he said, “is the highest form of presence”.
You’ll see for yourself the places and artefacts of James Joyce’s Dublin – the city he immortalised in Dubliners (1914) and – notoriously – his masterpiece, Ulysses (1920). Like Leopold Bloom (its protagonist), you’ll walk the streets and catch the sites – from the GPO office to the National Library, even stepping behind the curtain of the Museum of Literature of Ireland for a curator’s private tour.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Ireland. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Tour Dublin’s most storied and iconic sites, from the GPO office to the National Library
- Gain an understanding of the spaces and places that appeared in – and shaped – Joyce’s writing
- Embark on a private, ‘white glove’ curator-led tour through the Museum of Literature of Ireland
Leave fuelled with an ‘on the ground’ knowledge of Joyce and his times, accented by the actual places and artefacts of his enthralling era.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Join a renowned wilderness photographer off the coast of Cape Town
For future photographers, naturalists, and zoologists
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Fast facts: Age 14+ | Nov – April | Half day
Chris Fallows is one of the world’s most renowned photographers of marine and bush wildlife. In 1996, his camera was the first to capture the breaching great white sharks of Seal Island, documenting never-before-seen behaviour among one of our planet’s most fearsome apex predators. His work, which has featured on the covers of publications around the world, is both a creative and scientific endeavour. Wildlife photography is an art. But it has a profound purpose among scientists and naturalists around the world.
And on this dynamic day, you’ll join Chris not only for an in-depth talk on wildlife photography, but a boat ride out into the seas to photograph and document its creatures for yourself.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in South Africa. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Enjoy an in-depth talk by Chris about his career, his work, and about wildlife photography itself
- Gain an expert’s understanding of how to best operate a camera to capture wildlife and landscapes
- Embark on a boat cruise into the seas off Cape Town in order to photograph its marine life for yourself
Leave with an expert’s understanding of what it takes to capture the world’s most impressive species on camera.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Work with Renzo Buttazzo in his Italian atelier
For future artists, sculptors, and creatives
Location: Puglia, Italy
Fast facts: All ages | May – October | Half day
For over 25 years, Renzo Buttazzo has honed his extraordinary craftsmanship sculpting Pietra Leccese stone (a type of limestone from Lecce). The artist says he seeks to transform Lecce limestone’s ‘heavy and rigid’ quality into shapes and silhouettes that are ‘light, soft and fluid’. He is known for creating smooth, balanced works with curvaceous, circular lines.
Channel your inner artist and express your creativity in this workshop with Renzo, where in the meditative and colorful setting of his atelier, you’ll try your hand at carving beautiful forms from stone.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Italy. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Meet Renzo Buttazzo in his atelier and explore his artistic process, with the opportunity to ask questions
- Learn about manual processing and the techniques passed down by stonecutters of the past
- Using professional tools, try your hand at sculpting and carving stone
You’ll leave with the knowledge of how to work limestone and a deep fascination for the historic art of sculpture.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Explore Catherine Walker’s atelier with head designer Said Cyrus
For future fashion designers, pattern cutters, tailors and dressmakers
Location: London, England
Fast facts: Age 14+ | All year round | Half day
Catherine Walker (1945-2010), a French-born fashion designer, established her brand and celebrated design atelier in 1977. Best known as a favorite designer of Diana, Princess of Wales, Walker supplied her with over 1,000 elegant outfits during her lifetime. The brand proudly maintains its reputation as a leading British couture house and is now entering a stylish new chapter under the creative direction of Said Cyrus, while continuing the label’s signature looks – always elongating the line of the body and fashioning delicate embroidery and beading.
On this experience, you’ll gain exclusive access to the design studios and have the chance to view some iconic Catherine Walker pieces; past and present.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in England. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Embark on a tour of Catherine Walker’s atelier with head designer Said Cyrus, with the chance to ask questions
- Explore the different workrooms of the company’s seven design studios
- In Said’s personal office, view a selection of outfits from his private collection, including those worn by Princess Diana
- Visit the Catherine Walker boutique store to take a look at the current collection
Leave with a first-hand appreciation of the work of the designer, taking on fresh ideas and inspiration for your own couture creations.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
An architectural tour of Kyoto’s historic wooden buildings
For future architects, anthropologists and architectural historians
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Fast facts: Age 14+ | March – May, Oct – Nov | Half or full day
In contrast to the glass, steel and concrete of Tokyo, Kyoto is a city defined by paper, fabric and wood. This style, known as Machiya, dates as far back as the Heian period (794 – 1185 CE), and in many ways it shapes our image of the traditional Japanese city; with sliding screen facades and Kanji-decorated signs. It’s authentic, historic, and remarkable to behold.
Introducing you to this authentic architectural style will be a visiting professor at Kyoto University, and a global expert on this truly unique style of architecture. Together, you’ll tour preserved neighborhoods with thatched-roof inns and residential homes, as well as temples and shops, some of which date back to the Edo period (1603 – 1867 CE).
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Japan. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Tour Kyoto’s preserved Machiya downtown alongside an architectural expert
- Gain access to an ongoing Machiya restoration project
- Understand the history, aesthetics and purpose of this truly authentic architectural practice
Leave with a deep understanding of Japan’s most traditional architectural style, and of the relationship between space, place, and culture.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
An introduction to Indian music with Dr Ashwin Dalvi
For future musicians, instrumentalists and musicologists
Location: Jaipur, India
Fast facts: Age 13+ | October – April | Half day
Dr Ashwin Dalvi’s passion for music and the arts was passed down to him by his father. Today, he is an esteemed Surbahar player (it’s a little like a bass Sitar), and an internationally revered installation artist. His extensive knowledge and skill make him the perfect tutor for this exciting sonic experience at the Nad Sadhna Institute for Indian Music.
You’ll gain an understanding of Indian music, its instruments, its intricacies, and the part it plays in Indian culture. You’ll also get to try playing or singing along, before enjoying a special performance from a professional Indian musician.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in India. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- From Dr Ashwin Dalvi, receive an introduction to Indian music – from traditional to modern – through a mixture of lecture, conversation, performance, video, and audio
- Embark on a museum tour of the Nad Sadhna Institute, and explore its collection of over 500 instruments
- Have the opportunity to learn and practice vocal techniques or an instrument of your choice
- Enjoy a private performance by a professional Indian musician
Leave with a sonorous understanding of the sounds and history of Indian music.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
