Words Apart

‘Words Apart’ was a collaborative project led by Praxis Community Projects and Kazzum Arts. It included 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.

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.

Images from the exhibition and the video can be found here

Words Apart was made possible with the support of Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and The Equality Trust.