LONDON meets ARNHEM
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index. the project
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music process
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meet the team
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drama
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guest interview
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XXL festival
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interviews
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the way forward
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inspiration
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the group
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the project. Two years ago New Arts was asked to be the new partner in a European project called Euro-Aspire. The Euro-Aspire project was a 2-year research project with the aim of creating accreditation for the trainers that we work with. The goal of the project is that the non-formal sector gains recognition for the development, skills and abilities of the creative practice trainers working in the sector. In April 2011 New Arts and Wac Performing Arts and Media College decided to organise a youth exchange.30 young people participated in this project. The project, called ‘TEN FEET’, helped a few young people in making the transition from project participants to creative practice trainers in their own right. These ‘cross-workers’ through the Aspire project, were given the opportunity to meet and learn from each other. We wanted to continue the success of the ‘TEN FEET’ project with more partners and with the possibility for the participants to really create and learn in a more sustainable way. This is Collaboration in the Air We are aware that despite great successes it can sometimes be hard for others outside the sector to appreciate cultural entrepreneurship and non-formal learning through the arts as powerful tools for young
people to grow and become successful citizens. This is the reason for the ‘Collaboration in the Air’:, which seeks to engage young people who use cultural entrepreneurship, in a dialogue with policy makers, stakeholders and peers through different types of media: radio, AV and social media.
To engage young people who use cultural entrepreneurship, in a dialogue with policy makers, stakeholders and peers The participating organizations promote talent of young people and provide venues for this talent. They work through non-formal methodologies and peer education on the creative development of these young people. This way of working with entrepreneurship encourages personal development within the structure of Collaboration on which they can build their future. Young people with different talents across disciplines and at various levels take part in this project. They all have a message and they can all learn from each other through peer education. The organizations taking part in this project recognize the immense benefit of peer education. We facilitate by providing resources (studios, equipment, space, etc) and by coaching the artistic and social process and providing pastoral sup- port and mentoring. Different role models from the creative sector advise and inspire the participants throughout the whole project providing real contextual learning. This magazine is a product of Collaboration in The Air. It provides an insight into the talents and abilities of the young people involved who came together for one week to inspire each other, create great products, to learn and have fun. We hope you are inspired reading about it. Collaboration In The Air.
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meet the team. WAC
WAC Performing Arts and Media College is a hive of creative industry! We are a registered charity and provide a vast range of affordable training opportunities for the under twenty-fives, offering high quality activities and experiences for all our six hundred members. We also offer a range of career and personal development projects for the eighteen-plus age group. Our priority is to ensure that low income and disadvantaged young people can take part in the performing arts at all levels. This extends as far as members want to go and especially if they choose to develop their skills into a future career in the arts.
At WAC Performing Arts and Media College we have fully developed a practice of arts education which values the key, transferable skills that young people learn from arts experiences. We specialize in training arts trainers to work in accredited educational contexts. We are known for providing a platform for those who want to excel, but lack support, or who would otherwise be unable to gain access to mainstream provision. To find out more about WAC, visit: www.wac.co.uk
NEW ARTS
Our main goal is to ensure that low income and disadvantaged young people can take part in our society. New Arts College is based in Arnhem, the Netherlands and was founded 5 years ago by Stichting Beleven. Stichting Beleven is an organization specializing in art education for children and youngsters and in community art projects in Arnhem. Our main goal is to ensure that low income and disadvantaged young people can take part in our society. We offer a project based learning environment where the young people are given personal training in different art forms, career development and personal development. After finishing the project, participants have gained the skills and experience to enrol in formal art education or to work as freelance art practitioners and trainers within the creative industries. The people who participate in the project become role models for other young people who are marginalized and unrepresented by society (in particular those from immigrant communities). New Arts College focuses on disadvantaged but nonetheless talented young people and
provides community based art activities to give them new possibilities and opportunities. In cooperation with both formal education and government, New Arts develops projects which provide a structural contribution to the reintegration of young people. Projects are context driven which makes the educational part focus on the real products and activities. We call the people that participate in New Arts ‘crossworkers’. These young people are role models and mentors for other disadvantaged people and capable of reaching other disadvantaged people because of their often shared background and experiences. Internationally. crossworkers are getting more and more acknowledgement and recognition. Currently different organizations are working on achieving pan European accreditation through the STEP (Supporting Talent to Employment Programme) project. Collaboration in the Air is part of this same partnership network and shared ethos. www.newartsarnhem.nl
COLLAGE ARTS
Collage Arts is a leading arts development, training and creative regeneration organisation. Collage Arts is a leading arts development, training and creative regeneration organization based at The Chocolate Factory in the Haringey Cultural Quarter. For 25 years Collage Arts has created opportunities for greater participation in the arts and creative industries for the whole community through a range of learning programmes, business support services, facilities and resources.
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We seek to provide greater access and support to under-represented sections of the community by providing a platform for local established and emerging artists, musicians, creative businesses, film makers, writers, designers and young people interested in creative expression, media and the arts. For more about Collage Arts, go to: www.collagearts.org
meet the team. LOCATIE SPATIE
Locatie Spatie is a creative centre where we facilitate for creative businesses and social-artistic projects. Locatie Spatie is a creative centre where we facilitate for creative businesses and socialartistic projects. We’ve been active for a year and a half and we are based in a temporary building, which is going to be demolished. We facilitate studios for visual artists, musicians, a Turkish dancing and music school, an Urban Arts Studio, a Caribbean catering company and aweekly organic vegan kitchen. The place is for the most part run by volunteers. Locatie Spatie is based in a neighbourhood where more than 130 different cultural backgrounds are represented. We give arts lessons for children who live in the neighbourhood in different disciplines: visual arts, fashion design, music and dance.
The users of the building operate as a cooperative culture. The people who use the building take their own responsibility for the use of the space. In August 2012, we will begin a residence programme with a prominent artist. International artists will be invited to pitch for the opportunity to be based in Locatie Spatie. This will mean accessing all our facilities without paying rent for studio space and living accommodation, in exchange for delivering arts based activities to the local community. For further information about how to apply for this, please contact Claudia Schouten at: claudia.schouten@kunstbedrijfarnhem.nl
THE STREETS DEPARTMENT
It is possible to reach for their dreams and goals through the help of others and self-motivation. The Streets Department is located in Arnhem and planning to move to their new location within the city. The Streets was founded by Edson Blinker & Marcellino van Callias in 2008. After 2 years exploring different working methods they came up with an unique business structure. As they continue to draw in more and more business and interest, the young people involved in the projects improve their skills. They are guided in such a way that it is possible to reach for their dreams and goals through the help of others and self-motivation. The young people that work at The Streets follow an Artist development programme. Within this programme they can explore the different sides of the Music and Multimedia industries. They can make any choice they want but when they choose they have to be certain that “this” is what they really want to do in the future. The Streets will help them to go back to school or start a small business for themselves. If you want to know more about The Streets Department and their projects visit the website: www.tsdstudio.nl
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guest interview. COLLABORATION IN THE AIR
DANCE SEQUENCE
“I feel that hip hop culture ha s given me a positive turn o n my life... Th ats what I wan to provide for o t ther young peo ple as well.” -Aruna
ARUNA FROM HIPHOPHUIS. We had the pleasure of having an exclusive interview with Aruna, a young entrepeneur within the world that is hip hop. With her beboy crew “Where my girls at?”, she teaches dance classes at their academy and has had many successes over the years! “I am the director of the HipHopHuis, we organize lessons and various events in Rotterdam. I feel that hip hop culture has given me a positive turn on my life, dancing and experiencing hip hop has enriched my world. That’s what I want to provide for other young people as well. The students get opportunities to gain skills within dance, music and visual arts. This gives them confidence which is useful for life experiences. I get inspired by the success of our students, whether it is in society or in the entertainment industry.
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During ‘Collaboration In The Air’ I have seen that the participants have got to know each other wthin a short space of time and that the language barrier doesn’t stop the creativity between them.” www.hiphophuis.nl
interviews... Shawty My discipline is music – I’m a singer, songwriter and a beginning rapper. Also I’m a member of the Black Rose Rebels. Through doing this, I hope to become a self-supporting artist and also make it big with the Black Rose Rebels in the future. I think Arnhem is pretty chilled, it’s pretty musical, there’s a lot of artists – you got The Streets Department, you got a lot of studios, and yeah it’s just urban. I really like it. I hope to learn on this project how to work together with different kinds of people. Like right now, we’re busy with the people from London and I just wanna know how they work over there, you know? So we can teach each other. I also think the workspace is just really cool. Like in The Streets Department you’re like one family, and it just feels like home. The people from here and in London are just laid back, and everybody respects each other so it’s relaxed too.
Blink
I really like this city, I was born in Rotterdam city myself but now I live in Arnhem. I got a nice team around me at The Streets Department and we make a lot of music, that’s why I like this city, its real urban culture round here. My discipline is rapping, and I make music and edit movies and videos & shoot them myself too. I like to act - I got two movies that I made. That’s what I do! I got my own studio at home but I prefer to work at TSD because there is a more professional basis. I like this workplace a lot because it’s not like other workplaces; we are like family. We work well together because we are like family and that’s how we get things done. What I hope to learn is more about editing and filming and just to make connections with the London people and make music and collaborate with each other. My dreams for the future are to make it in music. Make money with music, and be a great performing artist. Be on a stage and make a living from it.
Vincent Arnhem is a good town, there are a lot of very good artists here, and we got a studio & a green screen so we can make anything happen on YouTube, on the Internet. Yeah Arnhem is a nice town to be in. My discipline is making designs: flyers, posters, websites, branding, concept design, almost everything that happens in design. The English guys are pretty cool. I’m excited, they are exciting, and I’d like to work with them. I want to learn about the different culture of England and what’s happening there, and I like the idea of collaboration with the Netherlands so we can hook up later and do a lot of things. My dreams for the future are to own a big company with a lot of employees who work for me, so we can work together on big exciting projects.
Melina Well.. Holland.. What do I think about it? I dunno. First time here, it’s kinda surprising. It’s a bit similar to London in a way. The weather is the same, but a bit colder. It’s nice though, and I’d like to get to know it a bit more. I like the idea of seeing people’s talents and getting to know where I can network - maybe to come back in the future & do some more work with the Arnhem crew. Everything’s quite interesting, and I’d love to get more experience collaborating. This workplace is interesting ‘cos it’s a bit like WAC, you’re all a family, you’re all united, you’re all together. It’s comfortable; it’s homely. My discipline is vocals, and video, I want to become an editor, director, and producer. That’s it mainly. I also wanna do human rights law however, but first of all, ‘cos I’m already in the media aspect I’m gonna start there and then do law after. So that’s my future goals.
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Daniel What I think about Arnhem is it’s a great little city. The people are friendly, the people we’ve met here are very creative, and they’re inspiring & quite open. They’re very much like we are in London. What I hope to learn about this project is how possible it is for people from all different ethnic backgrounds to come together and come up with something creative to show to other people. My disciplines are I’m a performer – I sing, I act and I dance. So yeah those are my main disciplines. In the future, I want to be successful but to also be creative and teach. I’m into performing so I wanna do some successful stuff within acting, being in theatre, being in films, putting on my own productions, and just about creativity really. So anything creative I’ll be doing!
Brendan I love this city, I enjoy it, the people here are very friendly, and we went to a couple places that I thought were amazing. As I said the people here are funny, this is my first time coming so I’ll definitely be coming back for a holiday. It’s very interesting & it’s very good; the facility you got here, like the studio and the green screen and where you edit your videos, and the place as a whole is interesting. I like it here, good vibes. I can feed off a lot of people that’s basically doing the same thing in the creative team. I like to learn new things, within the media sector as in filming and taking pictures and producing. Me as an artist, I’m a rapper, but I want to make my own beats & film stuff and learn how to edit pictures & film. I rap, I’m a hip hop artist and future entrepreneur. So I don’t only wanna do music, I wanna be behind the scenes, I wanna do clothes, I wanna do so much stuff in the music sector and even outside of the music sector. So yeah, I’m a rapper first and foremost.
Tom I think Arnhem is cool so far, everyone seems really nice that I’ve met. Everyone is really friendly and they’ve just welcomed us into the centre. I like the trolley buses too, those were cool. I like the graffiti area by the river too, that was cool. I think Locatie Spatie is a really cool place, I wish we had one near me in London because it’s a really good place to meet up and there’s some good stuff being made here. Hopefully from this project I can improve my skills in design and in networking with other people to make big collaborations. I’m mainly involved in graphics, in animation illustration graphic design, a little bit of web design but I enjoy doing music and other stuff. In the future it’d be cool to be a self-employed graphic designer or animator or filmmaker.
Ingrid I used to live in Rotterdam, but now I live in Arnhem because I moved school and I love it! I got to know the people in Arnhem and the nightlife and love it so far! The location is lovely, everybody can do something here – We can do almost everything from dance to rap, recording in a studio and we’re having fun while doing it. In this project we will have to work on communicating – I hope this goes well! This will help us to all get to know each other better and also have fun. The English guys are social and when you have a question you can just ask it. We help each other if we need it for anything. I dance, and the reason I’m with New Arts is because I’m recovering from an injury. I am hoping to go back to my former dance school in the future. I also teach dance and my plan for the future is to keep developing the teaching and leading of my own dance crew.
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inspiration... To help the groups from London to feel more at home in the project and the area, the staff from Locatie Spatie took them on a tour to various sites within Arnhem. This also provided the building blocks for any inspiration the groups would have for the mountainous project ahead!
These images are from a dedicated area near the river for certain artists to collaborate.
Not all inspiration came from external locations however. This is the sofa from one of the rooms in Locatie Spatie.
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music process.
My life is a mission, and music plays a big part in that mission... I spread messages subconsciously and consciously through it. – Alex
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In the drama part of the project, the group in charge decided to make a play about some key topics from the discussions.
“I love acting because I can be somebody else playing different characters.” – Glody “I like acting because you can be creative and act out any role” – Daniel
“I love acting because it’s fun to entertain people and when people love our projects it gives me an amazing feeling.” – Yoshi “I love acting because it brings out the child in people, and you reach a lot of people.” – MoQer
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“I like acting because my life is a movie.” – Assi “I really enjoyed directing and writing with the guys. They all got into it really quickly and acted like professionals.” – Chateelah
drama.
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XXL festival.
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XXL festival.
ESCAPING A DIRE SITUATION THROUGH RAP AND DANCE Baseball caps, snazzy sneakers and booming rap music. On Saturday the XXL-festival drew a thousand young fans of R&B and street art to Luxor Live and Willemeen.
In this project from Kunstbedrijf Arnhem young people develop their talents in new art disciplines. The XXL-festival, whose programme they were in charge of, serves as a stage for them to showcase their talents. The creative programme, full of R&B music and dance, reflects the daily struggles of their young lives: looking for work, being in love and dreaming of a brighter future.
He’ll be a millionaire and a famous and celebrated rapper at 25. How old he is now? “21...Hey man, you gotta believe in something!” In the hall of Luxor Live Brendan Offta Enseh from London is roaring with laughter. But the cheerful young rapper from England is determined to make it big in the music business. Just like his idol, Jay-Z. “Ali B?
The youngsters from Arnhem and London have worked hard during the past week. A special treat is the professionally shot video of the self-penned rap number It’s Gonna Be the Last. ‘Cool video, eh?’, laughs Brandon, who is rapping in the video. It’s hard to tell from all the tough poses: the girl for instance, who sings the chorus between the rapping, is holding a crowbar. But according to Brandon the song is about being successful as a team.
Who is Ali B?” Brandon is curious to know. He promises to ask his new friends from Arnhem about the Dutch rapper. That night Ali B, a national treasure in the Netherlands, who with his rapper friends manages to make even the most ancient artists from way back when like Ronnie Tober trendy again, is the main act at the XXL-festival in Arnhem as he plays for a capacity crowd. This week Brandon is a guest at the New Arts College in Arnhem, together with twelve other young Londoners.
Ingrid Aboa Befalo is dancing in the video. She’s had a great week with those ‘funny English fellows’, the 21-year-old from Arnhem says enthusiastically. And talking about passion: Ingrid is nourishing her own dreams of being famous.
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She dreams of fame and fortune with her own girl dance crew ‘Fantastic’. ‘Chicks with balls’ is how Ingrid characterises her girl dance group. “Boys only ever want girly girls. We’re not like that. The way we dance and everything, we’re just as tough as the boys.” Ingrid wants to be a performer and teacher. She’s designing a choreography for Anouar. The artist from Arnhem has already made it to the televised stages of ‘Holland’s Got Talent’. Ingrid’s come up with steps and poses that should get Anouar into the final, or so she hopes.
Besides Luxor Live youth centre Willemeen is also part of the XXL-festival this Saturday. Various workshops are held in the youth centre. Young girls are making jewellery or having cool henna tattoos painted on their arms. Most boys are having their baseball caps ‘pimped’. The more unusual your cap, the higher your status in street culture, a visitor explains. This morning 8 year old Radjani will definitely turn up in the Juliana school playground wearing some cool headgear. On Saturday afternoon the youngster looks on in admiration as guest teacher Elmer Kouwenhoven writes his name on his cap in angular graffiti-like lettering. “Awesome, boy”. With a smile Elmer puts the pimped cap on the young man’s head. What does Radjani want to be? A rapper, he says.
Hip hop and rap culture means a lot, if not everything, Brandon says. It’s a way of life. “This is who we are. This is the way we feel. We can put all our emotions into this music and dance. Whether you feel happy or have just had a bad day.” Brandon says he’s enjoyed the international exchange thoroughly. “It feels like a family.” His new friends will certainly see him again in Arnhem this summer.
Source: De Gelderlander
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way forward. DATE
LOCATION
CONTENT/THEME
WORKSHOP
24-01-2010 / 30-01-2012
Arnhem
The participants create products to pitch at the New Arts XXL festival. Politicians and decisionmakers will be invited to provide feedback.
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Cultural entrepeneurship Making a live magazine Radio / presentation Inspiration by role models
02-2012 / 04-2012
Arnhem / London
The participants create 8 radio shows for each other. Themes can be; local politics, policy in the creative sector and youth work.
– – – –
Radio presentation History of radio Interview techniques Audio
05-2012
London
During this week the participants will create videoclips together. Context is the VideoVirus project.
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Video Dance Theater Editing
06-2012
Arnhem / London
Live-gig. The videoclips will be presented, and the best will win a prize. Both events are recorded, there will be a live connection between the events.
01-09-2012
Malaga
Evaluation meeting The hostel in Torremolinos offers creative facilities such as a recording studio, during the week the participants can use all facilities to create products and have fun together.
– Reflection – Giving feedback
colophon. THE PARTICIPANTS ARNHEM: ANNA KRIJNEN DEBBIE DEN BESTEN MARCELLINO CALLIAS EDSON BLINKER KRISTA BURGER ELINE BOERBOOM GIOVANNI MUSKATI SURELLA RENJAAN INGRID BEFOLO GLODY KABEYA REDOUAN EL OUAKILI RAHIM GOELOE ANOUAR QACHACH VINCENT VAN DEN THILLART BLINK UITbLINKER MAARTEN VAN DEN THILLART ASSI BEN BOUZID NINIE DE KOM JAMAL SENNANI CHRIS TJONA AJONA
PHOTOS LONDON: MAGGIE MENDY KEITH GILLES TOM HALLGARTEN MELINA MARTINEZ RHANIE AL- ALAS CHATEELAH GREEN RIO SHIBI KAI DANIEL RICHARDS ALEXANDROS DIAKIDES BRENDAN OFFEI-ANSAH MARIE BOATENG SAMUEL AWUKU OLUWAFISAYO AJILORE
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SEPPE RUBERTI ELEJAN VAN DE VELDE SAMUEL AWUKU KEITH GILLES GRAPHIC DESIGN O.K. PARKING RIO SHIBI KAI TOM HALLGARTEN VINCENT VAN DEN THILLART
the group.