Finding your Creative (and Activist) Voice: Creative Workshop and Exhibition

What’s on offer?

9th November 2024, 11:00am-2pm, Moseley Hive (Community Centre, 93 Alcester Rd, Birmingham B13 8DD)

A free, interactive Exhibition on the theme of creative community activism, at Moseley Hive, and a Creative ‘drop in’ style Workshop – making placards and colouring in your own pop-up home!

What’s it about?

The exhibition showcases our research into whether finding your creative voice with your community can inspire you to find your activist voice, and get involved with your community in new ways. The exhibition will tell powerful stories about navigating, racism, poverty and class inequality, gendered inequalities, and ableism, and the barriers these pose to creative and cultural activation. The exhibition includes an eclectic mix of items, e.g. a community cookbook created by young people facing multiple inequalities; creations made from cardboard boxes and how these tell us about people’s histories of a lack of access to the arts as children; and how making and blowing bubbles can facilitate intergenerational learning and new community connections.

We will have a ‘meet the exhibition curators’ opportunity – with Katy and Amie on hand to answer questions about the exhibition.

The workshop will have two activities:

1) placard making – people can create a placard around a social justice issue that they are passionate about – either in their local community or more widely, and/or an issue that captured them from the exhibition – led by two of the Fun Palaces team;

2) an intergenerational learning activity whereby people can engage in a colouring activity of a 3D home designed and led by Creative Creator Chery Nguyen. You can take the house home with you after the event.

What are the benefits of attending?

• A fun and enjoyable activity to do with family and friends
• A chance for children and adults to learn a new skill (e.g. placard making, colouring in 3D)
• A chance to find out more about how to get involved with your community and to meet new people
• Inspiring or unlocking an interest and passion for social justice issues and barriers and inequalities that people may face (and how people navigate these issues)
• A general interest in community arts and/or social science
• Carving out time to do something creative for yourself and chat to and meet new people while you do so
• A chance to share and celebrate the genius in everyone!

Enquiries: Katy Pilcher, k.pilcher@aston.ac.uk

Who’s leading the event?

The event is led by Dr Katy Pilcher, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University, together with Fun Palaces Director Amie Taylor.

(Fun Palaces and Moseley Hive are the event partners. Image credit: Roswitha Chesher)

Open to

Any member of the public is welcome to attend – you can stay for the whole event or drop in anytime. There will be specific activities for children.

Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied at the event by an adult.

Of particular interest to

Anyone is welcome to attend. If you are keen to make your community a better place for everyone – this is the event for you!