Words Apart
Our ongoing collaboration with Brighter Futures reached new heights with our ‘Words Apart’ art, poetry and panel discussion event on the 19th November 2019.
Who are Brighter Futures?
Brighter Futures are a group of young people who work together to speak up for young migrants and their rights, using creativity as a tool to challenge negative perceptions of migration in the UK.
http://www.brighterfutureslondon.co.uk/
How was ‘Words Apart’ created?
This collaborative project was led by Praxis Community Projects and Kazzum Arts. We ran workshops over 10 weeks in which the Brighter Futures group worked alongside professional artists to explore poetic forms, including prose and political poetry resulting in a collection of poems (found below). The poems created provide an insight into the lives of young people on the sharp end of hostile immigration policy – and give control and agency over how their experiences are told, and by who. The group were inspired by the work of BAME poets from migrant backgrounds including Gil Scott-Heron, Jose Olivarez, Jonathan Edwards and Maya Angelou and created their original work in collaboration with poet and current Jerwood/Arvon mentee Arji Manuelpillai.
Click below to download their book of poetry-
Inspired by this collection of poems the group created artwork for the event. This artwork was developed through a series of workshops in collaboration with artist and graphic designer Kathryn Corlett.
What happened on the night?
The group then curate an interactive exhibition of their writing and artwork, presented as part of a live event in which they engaged in dialogue with the general public through a panel discussion, poetry readings and an Artist walk and talk.
They enabled the wider public to challenge their own assumptions around migration and see migrants in a new light. The group also create a short film featuring their performed poetry in order for their work to have the widest possible reach and legacy.
We are so proud of every young person in our Brighter Futures group for their creativity, vision, courage and the power of their words!
Here are images of the incredible exhibition and their short film.
Words Apart is brought to you by Brighter Futures with the support of Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and The Equality Trust.