Camden celebration of International Day of Families: young Londoners to perform at free outdoor festival alongside MOBO-winning rapper Akala and R&B singer Ny.
Thursday 15th May 2014 – 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Queen’s Crescent Community Association, 45 Ashdown Crescent, NW5 4QE
Free entry
Camden celebration to mark International Day of Families’ 20th anniversary on May 15th, Headlined by MOBO-winning rapper Akala and R&B sensation Ny.
Event includes young people from Camden and Lambeth who have worked on innovative family-based projects with acclaimed UK poet Anthony Anaxagorou and spoken word artists FLOetic Lara and AmeN NoiR
Thanks to two innovative projects looking to explore alternative perspectives of family life, young people from Camden and Lambeth will perform alongside the MOBO-winning UK rapper Akala and R&B singer Ny at a free outdoor festival.
The event, which marks Camden’s official celebration of International Day of Families’ 20th anniversary, will be held at Queen’s Crescent Community Association on the evening of May 15th. Performances start at 6.30pm.
It follows a series of library-based workshops that have focussed on developing the young participants’ literacy and performance skills, while using music and poetry to explore different aspects of family life.
In Camden, young people from Queen’s Crescent have worked with youth organisation WISDM and the acclaimed poet Anthony Anaxagorou on a project called “Thicker Than Blood” – focussed on the often intricate relationships between the participants and non-blood relatives who they still consider “family”.
In Lambeth, spoken word artists FLOetic Lara and AmeN NoiR have worked with music and media charity Raw Material on the project “I Am What I Am, Because Of My Fam” – helping young people explore family and peer group experiences that, they believe, have shaped them as individuals.
Aside from performing their compositions on May 15th, all participants in the projects will gain a Bronze Arts Award – a qualification widely recognised by businesses in the creative sector and colleges of further education.
According to Anthony Anaxagorou, who has worked extensively with the Poetry Society to mentor young and emerging poets, such creative projects represent an innovative way of reaching out to young people: “Thicker Than Blood is a crucial creative initiative offering young people the chance to not only engage with fellow members of their community but also to structure their realities using both the tools found in language and artistry. The aim of the workshops is to empower our youth while simultaneously reintroducing poetry as an art-form that every person is entitled to, irrespective of age, gender, race or religion.”
FLOetic Lara, who has performed regularly on BBC and Channel 4, added: “The ‘I Am…’ project provides a safe platform to explore the importance of understanding and achieving goals, whilst building awareness of the role we each play in our community as creative young people. The sessions have explored how our family, friends and experiences – and even the music we listen – can stimulate an individual’s learning process and we have used texts such as Tupac Shakur’s ‘The Rose That Grew From Concrete’ as a focus point to stimulate discussion and explore emotional literacy.“
“Thicker Than Blood” and “I Am What I Am, Because Of My Fam” are two of eight family-themed events developed and facilitated by London-based arts organisation Small Green Shoots and funded by Arts Council England . All are encouraging young people not in education or training to gain new experiences and create new works based upon alternative perspectives of family life.
Natalie Wade, director of Small Green Shoots commented: “These are two of eight unique events that Small Green Shoots has helped to develop – all exploring the diversity of today’s family life from the viewpoint of socially excluded young people. For these projects to succeed, it is absolutely crucial that we can partner with respected and inspirational artists like Anthony and FLOetic Lara and use the expertise of community organisations such as WISDM and Raw Material. As well as producing some innovative and thought-provoking work, the event will earn all the participants a valued Arts Award qualification.”