INSPIRE Write up from the first 5 months of my pARTners residency

by Rocca Gutteridge, 4 Jul 2011

I’ve just come to the end of the first third of my pARTners residency between Creative Scotland, Edinburgh Mela, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Forestry Commission.

I’ve previously posted a couple of updates from the residency including my methodology for the full 15 months of the project (I am contracted with pARTners until April 2012)

I have decided to use PAR +RS blog as a platform to share my write up with the hope that other socially engaged artists (or funders, commissioners, arts organisations) will gain from my experiences, add suggestions, critique, comments and potentially get involved with similar future opportunities.

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Job Outline

Shared Territories is a dynamic residency programme created by Edinburgh Mela and it’s partners to provide high quality participation in the arts for hard to reach groups.

Two artists of different disciplines, supported by a project manger, have been asked to facilitate a programme of visits by minority ethnic community groups to natural locations across central Scotland. The groups will work towards a collective presentation of their work at the Edinburgh Mela Festival 2011, before reflecting on the overall process through further creative encounters in natural environments.

For the last 5 months I have been working with a culturally diverse (Zimbabwe, Uganda, Singapore, Venezuela, Pakistan, Spain, China) group of 8 – 18 years, each with a passion for hip hop.

My Process
(Proposal I developed at the very start of the residency)

Collaboration

• Myself and the Group
  Throughout the residency I will learn from the groups as well as being able to teach and advise. I will initiate projects and hope the groups will do so too. I believe the sharing of goals, ideas and responsibility is crucial to a feeling of ownership for all those involved in the project.

• Within the Group
  I will focus on building an atmosphere of trust and respect between participants throughout the duration of the residency. It is through this environment that the
  groups will have the freedom to talk, share ideas, collaborate and critically reflect on
  their work and the project in general. I will use my Artachat project and methodology to cement this atmosphere of trust.

• With other Communities
  From the start I proposed I would form link between new organisations.
  The key partnership that has been formed from this residency are with MYDG (Muirhouse Youth Development Group). web link
  Fundamental to MYDG is the building and maintaining of relationships with young people, as they grow up in Muirhouse.

We are now also forging partnerships between Ready Ready Sauce (Breakdance Group), Soulstress Lu Angel, the Mobile Picture Salon and Leith Community Council. Other collaborations include working with vocal coach Lorna Brooks and photographer Stephen McGarry.

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Questions and Difficulties

Can you really collaborate with community groups?
Upon reflection I realise collaboration is tricky word within socially engaged arts/ community projects. A trick word in general?
A project that springs to mind is Re:Create by Stills Gallery “a collaboration between the public in Edinburgh and artists with the purpose of exploring contemporary visual art.”

web link

I remember going to a talk by Re:Create artist Alice Betts. Alice made it very clear that it was difficult if not impossible to force a true collaboration upon artist and public. A collaboration would need to occur naturally and happen almost without realising. Time scales, funding objectives and being able to (or not) choose who you work with are huge factors in working towards collaborations.

The Mela never asked for me to collaborate with the group I’d be working with, just to work with them, perhaps even for them.

My practice operates in a very socially engaged, people focused way. Overtime, I’ve put down my chissel, clay and welding skills and become increasingly interested in people, conversations and events being a medium to work with and towards. Is the current outcome of Shared Territories a collaboration? Would I call the work we’ve done my work?

If collaboration = “the action of working with someone to produce or create something” then yes the outcomes have been a collaboration. The group, our partner organisations and I exchanged ideas, worked together to so far put on three performances, build underwater hydrophones, design our group logo, create songs and new dance moves.

To answer my question if the work we’ve collaboratively done is my own or if the project sits within my practice oevrall then I’m not sure at the moment is the honest answer.

I’m not sure if the project yet pushes or answers enough questions to be my own. I need to step further away from it first. When I look at a project like Jeremy Deller’s Battle of Orgreave web link it makes more sense that it’s an artwork. I’m not sure why yet and why mine isn’t pushing those same buttons, or if it’s a problem that it’s not.

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Structure

Our group was barely formed when I joined them. A group of isolated BME youths had started to meet on a weekly basis to work in new lyrics of a Soulja boy tune- “turn your swag on”
web link

I quickly discovered that instead of teaching my degree taught skills and forcing a workshop structure onto the group it was more beneficial to first discover each individuals’ creative passion and then work to support these passions and skills in which ever way possible.

The first few sessions on meeting the group were spent just sitting “chilling out” and getting to know the members. I then became a facilitator, or a manager / producer for their talents. There’s no way I could teach the group to sing, or breakdance but I could get the groups small gigs, an interview on the radio and I could inspire them to do the best they can and enjoy it.

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Questions

As my skills don’t lie in the groups interest, I saw it as my role to bring in what they needed.
I asked the group- “What do you want to happen each week?”
They replied- “Dance coaching, singing and rapping.”

We now have in place a professional singing coach, breakdance coaches and on it’s way a VJer and screen printer to help with the visuals at our forthcoming performance at the Mela Festival.

I did hold in my head a worried question-

Mela are paying for voice and breakdance coaches, is this justifiable, should I be working with the group in my specific skills area to save money?

I think I now see that my skill is in seeking out what is needed and facilitating it. My process is to work with the group on what their true passions are. If I can make this happen then the job is successful.
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Structure for the residency (continued…)

I have decided to divide the residency into three parts:

INSPIRE- The first third. Jan – June.
My aim was to first get the group inspired, focused, excited to come along to the sessions.

The main event I organised in order to inspire the group was to bring Ugandan breakdance troupe, Tabu Flo to Edinburgh to partake in an action packed weekend of dance and cultural exchange. The event took place at Loch Leven where we worked with one of our partner funders: Scottish Natural Heritage.

For photo documentation of the brilliantly bonkers weekend see: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjufs23X

My write up of the event can be accessed HERE

Before this weekend, the group was attended by about 6 core members. Although this was successful (and I believe in quality not quantity) I knew we could engage many more youths in the area to join in on our activities in a succesful, quality assured way. 6 came to the residential (although it took a lot of persuasion and hassling). By the end of the weekend and the following week, news spread of the “coolest things happening at North Edinburgh Arts”. The core 6 were triply focused and the group is now attended by just under twenty most weeks.
The inspire strategy to push a community project from the start seems to work.

Other inspiring trips have been to the Water of Leith to record underwater sounds and a gig during the Leith Festival.

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Hip Hop is a predominately urban entity. Part of my brief is to engage my group in the natural environment, using art as lens to do this.

As well as an inspirational tour around Loch Leven, a performance by the side of the Loch and a discussion session in the bird hide we went to the Water of Leith to record underwater sounds which would then be mixed into a track we’d sing and breakdance to.

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REVEAL – 2nd third. July – Nov. This section will be all about “REVEALing” the talents of the group to the wider public. Already the group are starting to take a greater level of ownership over the group.

The dynamic within the group

The group are already wanting to take more ownership.
The project is succeeding in becoming a shared learning environment: Individuals within the group are using their own skills to teach each other.

Teaching does not just come from the top down but within the group. This makes the project much more sustainable, when I can’t make a session the momentum of the group doesn’t collapse and ultimately when my residency ends I can leave, passing the ownership onto the group which comes to the final third of the residency…

(Image caption)
Each member of the group has a different role. Manny music producer, Eloy leader, Dionne, photographer, Eugene, rapper… Sean, techy

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Questions and Difficulties

My perhaps slightly naïve belief is that anyone that turns up to a Shared Territories session can find a place within the group, offer and take something away with them.

But as the group get bigger, will there be control, less ownership for the ones who are more established within the group?

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PROGRESS (title tbc)- The final third (December – April) will be about “PROGRESSing” without me but getting out there and doing it themselves and hopefully teaching others to do the same.

Change of artists statement from me to them
Them tagging themselves in social media

I try to see educational and social engagement projects as part of my practice rather than an addition. So collaboration is in a way a goal I am trying to achieve with my chosen youth group through my residency. I genuinely find the group talented, creatively inspiring and dynamic to work with and would like to work on our next goal (performing at the Mela festival) as another member of the group, collaborating on a shared vision. We’ll see!

Reflection

Blog with PAR +RS
From the start I choose to use this blog to promote the Shared Territories project, reflect on my process and to encourage potential collaborators to get
involved.
This blog is also used to discuss topics from and around Artachat. I would like to reflect further on how to use this tool in a more creative, innovative way. Perhaps by
creating opportunities for my group to post writing, storytelling, poetry etc document their own experiences and ideas.

Social Media

I have set up and use a Shared Territories facebook and tumblr site to document the groups progress, post up related opportunities, inspiring videos and to keep in touch with the group. Social media of this kind is free, connected with the day-to-day lives of the group and enables communication to a related but wider network.

I also use my own flickr, blogger and twitter account to promote and give updates on Shared Territories.

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Selected photo diary of the first 5 months of Shared Territories

A participant of Shared Territories recording her singing solo in the recording booths at North Edinburgh Arts.

The residential weekend started on a Friday night at North Edinburgh Arts. The Ugandan Breakdance troupe, Tabu Flo arrived to 30 + keen, eager (and a little bit rowdy) Muirhouse kids to deliver a brilliant workshop and breakdance performance.

The janny quoted “I’ve never seen so many of the kids engaged for so long”.

Mixing it up, Scottish dancing with Ugandan twists.

The nature tour at Loch Leven. Craig Mitchel of SNH inspired the group over a two hour trip round the loch.

Watching birds from the birds hide.

To the Loch Leven lodges for breakdance practice. Eloy, a Shared Territories learning some moves.

We camped at Loch Leven campsite where there was a huge barn- perfect for late night breakdance practice, parties and film nights.

The next day we arrived back tot he Loch for a cultural mixed feast by artist and cook. Sophie Fegan. Sophie prepared food from all the different countries we represented. Each plate had a question we had to answer: “What’s your favourite national dish?” “Who cooks in your house hold?”

Last minute practice before the end of weekend performance at the Loch in front of a the cafes’ audience.

Studio One, at North Edinburgh Arts where the weekly rehearsals take place. At this stage we had no coach so participants teach participants. A successful strategy but requires a lot of communication and focus.

ECA student, Catiriona Rose Gallagher came to a session to teach our group how to make hydrophones.

Trying them out.

For one week, as a boost before our performance at Leith Festival, singing coach, Lorna Brooks came in to teach our three budding sing stars.

Using our homemade hydrophones to record underwater sounds.

The performance at Leith Festival (venue- the Word of Mouth Cafe)

A question and answer session with Kerrie Sauce of Ready Ready Sauce at the end of the performance. From this session Ready Ready sauce have now come on board as full time break dance coaches for Shared Territories.

Eugene and the Shared Territories logo

The group now decide where they want to go next with the group- and for the performance a the Edinburgh Mela festival.

Final two pics to show the talent of the Shared Territories Crew!