Young people know what's what,
From Norfolk to Norwich to right Now.
Through the Arts we reveal the truth
That our world is a Festival.
A week ago today was the last day of the Young Norfolk Arts Festival 2022. I feel so lucky and grateful to have been part of this brilliant festival - the people, both participants and my collaborators alike have been absolutely awesome.
To be honest, when I joined the Young Norfolk Arts Collective in January this year, I had no idea that I would get the opportunity to be part of a team helping create/produce/run a festival. The thought that we would be given even more opportunities outside of our weekly creative workshops was incredibly exciting. I remember asking Jade, our coordinator:
"So what are we doing as part of the festival?" And she replied, "it's up to you."
And at that, my mind went reeling...
A main theme that we as a collective felt strongly about was the environment. As young people, we are so hyper aware of the devastating reality of climate change and how it is going to impact our future.
We were fortunate to have a workshop with community artist Genevieve Rudd a few months before the festival which inspired us to create our own nature walking workshop. We called it Nature is Our Home.
Film Editing Credit: Joseph Harrington
Building upon our environmental theme, we also came up with an experimental dance film called Growth. With just one evening of rehearsals and one afternoon of filming, I think we made something pretty special. The wonderful interdisciplinary nature of this piece was made possible by the insane talent of creatives Emily Thomas (choreographer & dancer), Malachy Luckie (film maker & photographer), Millie Evans (body painter & artist), Earl Murdoch (musician & Young Visionaries member), and my fellow dancers Selin Yazgan & Alex Martin.
Another medium that I was keen to explore was podcasting. I myself am an avid podcast listener and continue to be fascinated by the power of storytelling... not to mention that I love a good chat!
I created the Young Norfolk Arts Collective Nest to make space to listen to stories from creatives about how they got to where they are now.
I was keen for each interviewee to be at a different stage in life to reveal possible changes in perspective and insight or what advice they would choose to pass on. However, regardless of how far along in their creative career my guests were at, I was surprised to find the same themes recurring.
The conversations I had were so joyful and I am so grateful to my four creative interviewees: Tricia Mercer David, Jess Morgan, Lucy Farrant and IMMI.
Aside from my four creative interviewees however, I created a couple of bonus episodes which were slightly more "curious"...
Rather than interviewing creatives, instead I interviewed Jack (The Jackdaw) and River (The River Wensum). Voiced by my awesome fellow collective members Jordan Hunnisett & Ella Rowdon, the informality of our conversations addressed the relationship between humans and nature in a unique & quirky way.
The bonus episodes were inspired by a collective workshop led by Professor Steve Waters whose two-day symposium Nature. Crisis. Drama. was part of the last weekend of the festival. To sit on a panel and showcase our achievements as a collective to a room full of academic creatives & environmental activists was a moment I will treasure.
Finally, I want to say the biggest of thank yous to the four phenomenal creatives who were quite literally the backbones of YNAF 2022 and enabled us as a collective to achieve all the things we set out to do.
Jade Anderson - Coordinator of Young Norfolk Arts Collective, artist, curator, facilitator, & person-who-has-the-best-laugh-ever.
Milly Kirby - Producer of Young Norfolk Arts Festival, freelance creative, musician & very-cool-person-who-will-say-they-are-not-cool-which-makes-them-even-more-cool.
Emily Thomas - Youth Engagement Assistant of Young Norfolk Arts Collective, dancer, choreographer, and person-whose-dancing-abilities-will-conjure-tears-and-choreographer-skills-will-make-you-feel-liberated.
Lucy Farrant - Director of Young Norfolk Arts, creative producer, and quite-literally-a-Norwich-legend-whose-passion-for-Norfolk-and-it's-young-creative-people-is-unmatched.
I can't wait to see where my journey with the collective leads me next - but for now it's thank you and goodnight for YNAF 2022.
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