News from the Network - 7 February 2007

CONTENTS

NEW PARTNERS

EVENTS and TRAININGS
1. The Arts of Living (13 February 2007, East England)
2. Looking Up – BME Community Music (16 February 2007, London)
3. Can Music Save the Planet? (10 march 2007, Chichester, England)
4. As the mother of a brown boy (from May 2007, London)

RESOURCES and PUBLICATIONS
5. Paving the way: Mapping of young people’s participatory theatre

PROJECTS and OTHER NEWS
6. ACE: awards over £160,000 to arts projects in the North East
7. Side by Side: Israel and the Occupied Territories
8. Musical Migration
9. Chobi Mela IV
10. Global Search for Art Therapy Project with Children

NEW PARTNERS

These are the partners who joined Creative Exchange in the last few months:

Yasuko Harada works for in the South Sudan office of Peace Winds Japan. Her academic backgrounds are music and conflict resolution, and she is interested in combining them in international development.

Ice and Fire (www.iceandfire.co.uk) is a new writing theatre company dedicated to telling the real life stories of people who have been displaced as a result of conflict. They do this through the production of quality theatre and linked education and outreach projects.

Living Lens (www.livinglens.co.uk) carries out participatory video projects with groups in the UK and abroad. They teach practical video production skills as well as communication and team building skills. They often brings together groups who wouldn’t normally work together.

Jay Theatre Productions (www.vjaytheatre.net) is a company based in Leicester offering a variety of services, including: performances about cultural issues; drama workshops for all ages and abilities and production enhancement services.

David Wybrow is Theatre Manager of Cockpit Theatre, he is specialised in theatre and live events, show direction, teaching and training. His activities include a theatre project concerned with global tourism scheduled for May 2007.

EVENTS and TRAININGS

1. The Arts of Living

13 February 2007, Active Ageing Centre, Bury St Edmunds, East England

Suffolk Arts and Health Forum presents The Arts of Living - arts and wellbeing for the third age. An afternoon event which looks at arts and health from a wellbeing perspective with a particular focus on third age settings. This is a free event, with refreshments included. The afternoon will include: Discussion, Networking, Performances and Presentations from Suffolk Artlink Creative Care Project, Ipswich Town and Bridge Project, Active Ageing Centre, Bury St Edmunds.

Booking is required. For further details please contact Sound Sense (tel. 01449 673990; email: info@soundsense.org) or download a booking form from www.soundsense.org

2. Looking Up – BME Community Music

16 February 2007, Croydon, London

“Looking up: Increasing the visibility of Black and Minority Ethnic work in community music” is Sound Sense and MusicLeader event looking at identifying issues around improving the level of understanding and engagement by Black and Minority Ethnic groups in relation to funding and infrastructural support. £5 or £3 to Sound Sense and MusicLeader members.For further information contact Sound Sense (tel. 01449 673990; email: info@soundsense.org) or download the leaflet on www.soundsense.org

3. Can Music Save the Planet?

10 March 2007, Chichester, England

Can music save the planet? is a one day area gathering from Sound Sense and the University of Chichester. The day is suitable for musicians, music teachers, music therapists and all who work in and care about community music. The day will feature keynote speakers, breakout sessions, discussion and networking. Confirmed speakers include Rod Paton, University of Chichester, Chrys Blanchard, The Natural Voice Practitioners Network and Susan Naires a community music therapist and practitioner. For more information contact: Sound Sense, tel. 01449 673990; email: info@soundsense.org

4. As the mother of a brown boy

from May 2007, Chicken Shed Theatre, London

The birth, life and untimely death of a mixed race boy - through the eyes of his mother. How equal are equal opportunities? How mixed is race?

In 2006 another brown boy is killed. An adventure in petty crime ends with his death as he is pursued by the police. Still, he fitted the crime. Chickenshed’s new production “as the mother of a brown boy…” follows a real life and a very real death of a mixed race boy in 21st century London. He dies at the same age as his mother gave him life. Nineteen is a life cut short. His voice is heard through his grieving mother as she grapples with his own role in his death and pits it against society’s involvement. “as the mother of a brown boy…” is a real and disturbing story of how we live and the search for identity in a multi-racial society.

Previews at the Rayne Theatre, Chickenshed Wed 16 May – Sat 26 May and Wed 11 July – Sat 28 July, prior to Edinburgh Festival.

For further information and the dates for May 2007 visit: www.chickenshed.org.uk or contact the box office on 020 8292 9222.

RESOURCES and PUBLICATIONS

5. Paving the way: Mapping of young people’s participatory theatre

This report is the first comprehensive mapping of the youth and participatory theatre sector. Undertaken by Arts Council England in partnership with the National Association of Youth Theatres (NAYT), it provides a baseline assessment of youth and participatory theatre activity across England. It summarises the findings of an extensive mapping study, regional mapping reports and case study research.

The report was commissioned by Arts Council England to inform the development of the Young People's Participatory Theatre project (YPPT), a three-year initiative (2005/06 - 20008/09), funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and managed by Arts Council England. The report is available online on: www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications/publication_detail.php?browse=recent&id=573

PROJECTS and OTHER NEWS

6. ACE: awards over £160,000 to arts projects in the North East

(source: Arts Council England, 25 January 2007)

Arts Council England announced a new national youth council as part of a three-year programme to develop youth and participatory theatre in England. Made up of 20 young people aged between 14 and 24, the national youth council is part of the Arts Council’s Young People’s Participatory Theatre project (YPPT), funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Featuring young people from across the country, the group includes two people from the East of England – Emrys Green from the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds Youth Theatre and Ruby-Anne Robertson from Clash Youth Theatre at Classworks Theatre, Cambridge. As part of the national youth council they will play an important role in shaping the YPPT project. Emrys and Ruby-Anne will also form part of a regional youth council which will look to develop youth and participatory theatre practice in the East of England. This regional council is part of a network of YPPT youth councils established across each of the nine Arts Council regions.

The YPPT project will work to create opportunities and broaden the range of theatre in which young people can participate as well as strengthening its links with the mainstream theatre industry. It will also explore opportunities for young people interested in working in theatre and will focus on the full range of theatre practice including circus and street arts.

Peter Hewitt, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, says: “Young people are at the heart of participatory theatre in England. I’m delighted that we will be working with such a talented and enthusiastic group of young people on this project.”

“Youth Theatre is one of the most innovative and creative areas of theatre in this country, yet while much important work is happening, more needs to be done to strengthen and build the sector so that we can increase the opportunities for all young people to engage with and enjoy theatre.”

7. Side by Side: Israel and the Occupied Territories

In January 2007 PhotoVoice began a series of photography workshops in Jerusalem with both Israeli and Palestinian children who have lost family members, to produce photographic work that will form an important dialogue between young people on both sides of the conflict and create a space for reconciliation. To visit the project website go to: http://www.youthspace.net/pv/ . A BBC article on the project is also available on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6310779.stm

8. Musical Migration

Music for Change is to be involved in a new Lottery funded project until spring 2008. This project will trace the part played by the black and ethnic minority community in East Kent demonstrating the value and the contribution they have made over the last 250 years to the local heritage. It will raise awareness by providing resources to schools, teachers and young people in the area which are directly relevant to their local heritage.

The project will include: training and raising skills in heritage research; training in and production of schools’ materials for citizenship; training and improving website skills in order to create a website containing materials from the project; 8 workshops will then be held to enable the young people to participate in interpreting the research; findings by using performing arts which will be showcased in 2 performances.

The website will be a resource for schools and will be advertised on postcards distributed around the county. A summary of the project with a visual record of the interpretative workshops and performances will also be created. The NBS award will enable the materials produced to be used in special schools for those with physical and learning difficulties and to also produce special performances for these young people. For further information visit: www.musicforchange.org

9. Chobi Mela IV

On November 2006 Drik Picture Library organised organised Chobi Mela IV – International Festival of Photography, one of the most important photography festivals in Asia.

The festival showcased some of the finest works being produced, and celebrates the power of the medium. The eagerly awaited event created huge interest within the industry and amongst the public at large. The theme of previous festivals has been Differences (2000), Exclusion (2002) and Resistance (2004). This year it was ‘Boundaries’. Chobi Mela IV featured forty-nine exhibitions at nine galleries and over thousand photographs by nearly a hundred photographers. Mobile exhibitions on several rickshaw vans roamed around the city to reach marginalized people. The three-week schedule included curatorial lectures, panel discussions, seminars and workshops as well as films and other multimedia productions. Over a period of ten days, photographers, editors, curators and authors worked with their peers, teaching them the essentials of the art of photography. Through exhibitions, discussions and workshops, the festival explores the semiotics of present day photographic practice, showcases the work of established and emerging photographers, and initiates debates on issues central to the politics and culture of representation. While utilising the entire gamut of digital innovations from online submissions to colour managed workflow, the festival examines the dramatic shifts in image production, ownership and distribution brought on by new developments in the media landscape.

Further information, and a selection of the photographs, are available on http://www.chobimela.org

10. Global Search for Art Therapy Project with Children

(A message from Debra Kalmanowitz and Bobby Lloyd, Art Therapy Initiative)

If you are running, creating or working on an art / art therapy project with children in any of the above mentioned contexts we would love to hear about it.

There are very many art / art therapy projects with children that are in existence around the globe that are creative, effective, innovative and brave and we would like to hear about them, so that we can all begin to learn from each other and begin to raise the standard of our practice, even in countries of crisis and deprivation.

Save the Children U.S. have engaged Art Therapists Debra Kalmanowitz and Bobby Lloyd as consultants to conduct a global research, analysis and synthesis of the state of the art in art therapy for children affected by conflict, HIV/AIDS, and chronic poverty (both within Save the Children projects and beyond).

This is the start of a five year initiative, and we have been engaged initially on a six week consultancy. In addition to gathering and synthesising information, we have been asked to look at the best art strategies, activities and tools that have generated positive results in encouraging young children’s development or expression for addressing traumatic experiences.

Following collection of art programmes with young children, we will draw up a set of recommendations for effective art therapy project design and we will include a list of the contact details of the individuals and agencies whose projects have contributed to this.

Findings from all activities will be disseminated widely throughout the organization, the International Save the Children Alliance, and local and international partners.

Save the Children U.S. expects that this systematic approach to the use of art in its programmes will significantly increase positive impacts for children and will offer the new possibility of taking art to scale in many settings where children gather.

In our experience, there are many valuable programmes being run across the world, often in isolation. This could be a unique opportunity to share good work, successes and lessons learned in this rapidly growing and important field.

We would be grateful if you could let us know whether you use / have used art or art therapy in your psychosocial programmes for children. If so, we would be grateful for access (digital where possible) to any project reports that refer to related strategies, activities and tools, as well as, if possible, the staff and management requirements for the project, the frequency and intensity of activities, as well as any methods of evaluation. As we have a limited time period within which to conduct this piece of work, we keenly anticipate your response. An immediate email demonstrating interest would be most appreciated.

We look forward to hearing about your work. With thanks in advance.

Ms Debra Kalmanowitz and Ms Bobby Lloyd
Art Therapists and Consultants to SC US
Co-Directors, ATI – Art Therapy Initiative
atinitiative@hotmail.com, www.atinitiative.org