We have reached Day 8 of the Lab. During the day we recorded some interviews with our young participants: What do they think are the words most commonly associated with young people in the media? They fear the words are largely negative - mindless, irresponsible, thugs - and are looking for ways to change people’s minds so that they can appreciate talent, resilience, drive and commitment. We will post the interviews soon.
INYWE PAL Lab reflections from a participant
Being an unemployed arts graduate feels like being caught in an endless loop; the job search swallows your days whilst your creativity rapidly disintegrates. Most visual artists, poets and designers are able to work alone, however dance requires a relationship with other bodies in space. On leaving university you lose a vital network and support system. You feel pushed out the back door, your academic and social life is dispersed, and you’re left with little money standing at a gaping entrance that is the rest of your life.
The PAL Lab was timely for me and exactly what I needed. It was invigorating to join a group of sixteen like-minded individuals; all hungry for change and from huge disciplinary diversity. The group is best described as a force of creative energy that illuminated the dull void I felt after graduation. I became immersed in a process that sparked great debates on art, social entrepreneurship, community and ethics; and some lasted the entire day. Not once did anyone declare who they were and what they did, so refreshing coming from a dance background where professional attributes often prelude personalities. The process created an environment of equality. We were all on the same level, exploring ambitious and complex ideas together.
Being immersed in PAL’s approach helped me understand a little more about the nature of dance as a practice, and how valuable its transferable skills are. The Lab provided me with a new and dynamic network of peers from a diversity of disciplines. I quickly realised how easy it was for us to share ideas and build on them, we were able to engage in activities and immerse ourselves in deep and lateral thinking. The Lab became my new support network. Its diversity combined with the focus on process-based exploration gave me new found confidence in my own creative ideas and a sense of artistic validity, with the tenacity to begin to think seriously about beginning my own projects. It left me feeling empowered as a young creative, and the opportunity to collaborate with other creative young people was inspiring. I believe the process helps young imaginations to flourish, something so essential to counter the culture of demonized youth as portrayed in the media.
PAL creates a way of thinking, a shifting in perspective, which has the potential to change our views on life. This transformation in my confidence has been down to a new sense of belonging and I now feel equipped with a creative approach that will certainly impact positively on my future.
Sian Goldby Is a recent dance and culture graduate. A choreographer and writer, she writes for Independent Dance and has her own blog which you can read here: http://www.siangoldby.blogspot.com.
28th June 2011
We’re shy of saying that there are only two more days to go as the Lab is much bigger than just the 10 days we are spending together. Young participants have been meeting and communicating independently and about half went along and performed at ‘Full Fat’ a couple of weeks ago.
Our six wonderful artists are showing us the centrality of knowing who you are in relation to your art, without which you cannot engage others in something which is authentic and really means something to them.
While it is the process that is matters, several projects are being honed including the Aurora Project, Skills Shed and Seat 4 the Nation. More news in due course.
If Not You, Who Else? brings together 16 young people and six artists. They are collaborating to test ambitious and imaginative ideas and how to put them into practice. We are blown away by the talent, openness and genuine commitment shown by all present to making work which benefits others.
“I’ve been given a gift and now I feel like I’m equipped to go into all the ideas I’ve had and I’ve got so much more inspiration and resource to tap into”, says Indigo Williams, poet and one of the young people taking part in our innovative new Lab programme.
The artists - photographer Franklyn Rodgers, jazz musician Byron Wallen, poet Jacob Sam-La Rose, visual artist Chrys Allen, story-teller Alia Alzougbi and arts practitioner and landscape designer Carolyn Roy - made a formidable team. They exemplify what is needed to make art which has a positive impact on communities, including a passion to connect and communicate, to be true to a vision and to take time to explore approaches to making work in depth. The young people, who range from 17 to 25 years old, bring a wide spectrum of experience, interests and skills to the table. Very few of the participants knew each other before the Lab began and it was remarkable how quickly they created a trusting, supportive environment in which all can experiment, question and try out new ways of working. And there is plenty of laughter.
If Not You, Who Else? continues through to November, working on and designing projects. The final element will be an event at which the developed ideas will be presented people from funding organisations, local authorities, policy makers and influencers. These will be people who may support the work after If Not You, Who Else? finishes.
If Not You, Who Else? is funded by the European Commission’s Youth in Action Programme, North Southwark Environmental Trust and PAL.
