MetroLand via MediaBox (II)

Week two of the MetroLand project which, incase you’re not following, is a project run by Usurp Artists and funded by MediaBox. The project is working with refugees in Harrow to enhance their Art skills and in the meantime, interact with them, improve their english, eat together and have fun. This week was a lot easier and I absolutely love working in this way with young adults. We worked with photography, using a digital SLR to take portraits of each participant, we asked the group to think about something, either a good memory, or bad, a feeling or of something significant in their lives. The portrait would depict this thought and the group could look at the photographs and use words to describe how the person felt and what they were thinking. Most of the time they were right, and for the times they weren’t they learned how people can cover up their emotions , this will become really important in the following weeks. we did another small excercise where the group wrote “me” in the middle of a page and used words to describe themselves, they did this in english and in their own languages.

I really enjoyed this weeks session, I felt integrated with the group and much more confident, I hope I have started to buildup the trust we all need to have in people so we dont feel so alone.

MetroLand via MediaBox (I)

This week marks the beginning of a project being run in Harrow by USURP artists Poulomi Desai and myself in collaboration with Toby Benedetto, a London-based journalist, and Harrow Youth Services. The project, funded by MediaBox, works with refugees in the Harrow area who have either been rescued from trafficking, been sent unaccompanied as minors to the UK or fled war-torn countries. The aim is to communicate their stories through animation and film, in order for them to achieve a Bronze Arts Award, which compliments their studies and could lead to future opportunities within the arts. Through this process the group will get to know each other and us, and hopefully support each other on their journey’s. This week we opened up communication by discussing story timelines. Each participant wrote about their lives before coming to the UK, special moments, what has happened since they got here and their hopes for the future. Then they worked together to find words to describe how they felt or would have felt at each moment. Another group learned techniques for stop motion animation. By writing their names letter at a time, they learned basic skills of using a digital SLR and a video camera. They are all looking forward to learning more camera skills.

I’ll admit to finding the first session hard. I have never working in this way before, or honestly, with young adults with this background. But they are just like any other group, some are quiet, some are more confident, some will take on different aspects of the project, there are leaders and team players. For me it’s now a matter of realising that similarity and learning from the differences. I am looking forward to the rest of the project and becoming part of the process by which these young people can express their stories through art.

Keep an eye on my blog for weekly updates on the project.

Also check out http://www.media-box.co.uk for more information on other projects being run in the UK.

visit http://www.usurp.org.uk for more information on events and projects.