Forging the Future
Forging the Future is an exciting and inspirational strand of the orgaisation’s development, providing us the freedom to develop great ideas and raise aspiration.
Forging the Future is an excellent vehicle for responsive and pro -active work within participatory arts for the North East region.
- Research and Development
- Arts Action
- Cultural Innovations Hub
- Internationalism
Research and Development. The Forge are committed to being at the forefront of both arts and educational strategic developments and ensuring these are joined up wherever appropriate and relevant. We are therefore ensuring research and development is crucial to the development of our work in the future.
Arts Action. An aspiration to involve young people in the development of their own projects in their communities. Children and young people will build their capacity to become responsible citizens and agents for change within their community.
Cultural Innovations Hub. A partnership with Specialist Schools and Academies Trust to develop a programme to further research and develop the cultural activities which enrich the lives of young people across the region.
Schools wishing to apply to take part in this exciting development are asked to contact Colm Doyle for an application form (colm.doyle@ssatrust.org.uk)
Internationalism. The Forge has a commitment to international working. The current priority is to create links between the UK and South East Asia by developing projects that focus on children, exchange, participation and creativity. We are currently developing a web-based project that focuses on child generated content with the aim of connecting 5-11 year olds around the world. (year one onwards.)
We are excited to announce that we will be having two international artists visiting us over the next few months.
Paul Zetter who is based in Vietnam and runs our partner organisation Ensemble Creative will be visiting the UK in March 2009.
Paul Zetter has been based in Southeast Asia for 10 years, half of that time as arts manager at the British Council Vietnam and the latter half as director, development of ensemble creative training and development, the community arts arm of the David Glass ensemble. With a background in music and disability, Paul has been a pioneering figure in South East Asia promoting the value, processes and creativity of participatory arts by working with a wide variety of people and institutions designing and delivering arts based training programmes, writing new curricula and networking with practitioners across the region. More recently making documentary films, Paul has sought to focus on the process of creative transformation in community based arts programmes.
www.ensemblecreative.org
For Paul Zetter's previous visit: Inspiring Internationalist report
Caroline Watson a cultural pioneer based in Beijing will be visiting us in June. She founded Hua Dan in autumn 2004. (This is exchange is supported by Arts Council England, North East, ‘Creating Connections’ scheme)
Hua Dan is the first social enterprise in China, dedicated to using arts-based approaches to development practice, education and training. They have been pioneering creative methodology in China and over that time, have overcome many hurdles in advocating this way of working in a country that has no historical precedent for ‘arts for all’, let alone participatory models of working. The organisation is committed to using arts-based approaches for system-changing impact in the developing world.
www.hua-dan.org
