Involving children & young people in the arts - presentation for #BrightGenerations Assitej Artistic Gathering 2025

I was invited to speak on a panel at the Bright Generations Artistic Gathering on how we can involve children and young people in artisitc creation. Here are some of the questions we discussed. What deeply motivates you in involving children and Young people in your projects? Is it an artistic or a political action? Is it a widespread approach in your country? Or is it innovative? What status do children and Young people have in your projects? What more do they bring to the table compared to adults in the creative process? In your opinion, from the perspective of the children, their parents and their communities: What difficulties, fears and doubts did they encounter in these projects? What joys, what meaning, what beneficial changes did they gain from this experience? What have been the greatest challenges or frustrations and the greatest joys for you as a creative artist in these projects? What matters most? The experience, the creative process, or the final work? Can you have high standards in all the different areas? Can we create today for young audiences without young people ?

Some key elements of how we create an authentic artistic experience from my practice of story-writing are to give children: - authority to write a story as a singular author - freedom of their imagination - agency to use their story to make change And one of the key outcomes of involving children from schools is that when we make a community performance we connect across the range of the community (not just segments), because all families go to school. And we are experiencing the live performance with the children as collaborators/accomplices. Dominique Bérody spoke about how this impacts on the reception of the show - something changes, a democratisation with a different type of aesthetics and more plural, non-hierarchical relationship to audiences. The session was moderated by Séverine Coulon and Céline Garnavault; With the artists Zoë Demoustier, Cie Ultima Vez (Belgium), Sue Giles (Australia) and Michael Judge, New International Encounter Theatre (UK). Keynote speakers: Dominique Bérody, artistic consultant and Sylvia Girel, sociologist. An example of working with children and with objects from a Museum to make a show in Fenland.

Marseille - City of Grafitti

The city embraces public art, self-expression and hip-hop culture

Top 3 Shows of Assitej 2025 - in no particular order...(and I didn't see them all)

1. Harold: The Game An analysis of the Bayeux Tapestry and its depiction of the Battle of Hastings from both the French and the English points of view. Audience on 4 sides, a game show format which descended into a Rugby match complete with bags of earth and a projection of the tapestry itself on the screens above the audiences heads. Where was the tapestry made? Canterbury or Bayeux? Is it in fact an embroidery, not tapestry? The battle for the truth was played out by six grown men with some bias towards the French - 5 to 1. A French collaboration between Bob Théâtre and Vélo Théâtre based on an original idea by Rina Vergano, The Egg Theatre in Bath (GB), this spectacle was much enjoyed by the young audience and, with a pile of bodies in the earth at the end, provoked reflection on the futility of warring nationalism, not just between the French and the English.

Penguin A funny, moving story of a journey from Syrian refugee camp to Gateshead. Performed and co-created by Hamzeh Al Hussien · Directed and co-created by Amy Golding. The simplicity of the telling gave direct engagement with the performer making the story more powerful.

L'Oiseau (Bird) - La POLKa, Anne Noziere. When Mustafa loses his father he connects with Pamela his classmate who has lost her dog. Its actually a light, funny poetic piece - more than this opening scenario might intimate. These two characters meet little Francou who can commune with the 'other side', the dead. This is acheived with such widespread success from those who have lost loved ones... that the headteacher is alarmed and call a meeting for the parents at the school, "Its serious - she says - its a situation that I cannnot speak about in front of the children...I must speak to you in English." And there it is. The inability of adults to speak about death. The children take control and, in a section projected on film, we see the funeral cavalcade, and the children driving and the cars and stepping out to dance around the grave. One caveat - why only 2 white actors telling the story of Mustafa who clearly is not white?

Friche la Belle de Mai - What an exciting venue for #BrightGenerations Assitej Artistic Gathering 2025

A converted Tobacco Factory with 5 performance spaces, a skate park, library, garden, roof terrace and multiple other spaces for cultural activity. France repurposes architecture very well.

Assitej Awards for people from UK - Lifetime Achievement Award for Vicky Ireland & Emerging Scholars Award for Dr. Kitty Morley

Vicky Ireland was a member of the first Theatre- in-Education team at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and started the charity Action for Children’s Arts in 1989, and she co-founded the International Inclusive Arts Network with Daryl Beeton in 2011. Dr. Katherine Morley is an associate researcher at the University of Manchester, UK and researcher in residence at The Egg, Royal Theatre Bath. Katherine recently contributed to Mapping Research: A map on the aesthetics of performing arts for early years.

Bounced - Magnet Theatre

 

Entendemos La Historie, Esta es La Revolución - Understand History, This is the Revolution

 

A word about Cuba the country... So much complexity around the economy, the government currency rates, the pesos for dollars on the streets... power cuts... some notes here to help find a way through.

Why does the US have Guantanamo?  It was 100 yr lease for 1902 when the US helped to fight the Spanish.

My airbnb host told his story of the revolution. 1953 and Castro's fight against Batista and subsequent capture and trial where he defended himself...'History will observe me.' His exile.

His return in 1956 in a boat with just 82 men. And his fight from the East to the West of the island between 1956 to 1959.

Until December 1958 when Batista flees to the Dominican Republic with 300 million dollars. 

The Bay of Pigs 16th-19th April 1961.  And cuban missile crisis in 1963, when Castro was unhappy that Kruschev did a deal with Kennedy. 

He told me about the The film I am Cuba. It is a proud history. However, it now seems it may be in the way of the best interests of the people, when some struggle receive basic supplies.