Norfolk Young Creatives - Listen To Us! Commissioned by Festival Bridge.

We NEED to champion creative careers!

Commissioned by Festival Bridge to be 1 of 5 Co-Producers, this film was created to highlight some of the challenges facing young people within Norfolk and how creativity can in turn benefit them. The film covers some of the key issues in the creative industries ranging from education, funding and health to culture, community and inclusivity.

My particular aim was to highlight how creativity can allow people and communities to connect with culture and that the right funding is given to creative voices and spaces alike, in order for these communities to grow. Gaining this understanding can allow us to diversify, where we start to nurture, challenge and discuss cultural identities, communities and heritage.

“It is, therefore, our responsibility to help nurture, challenge and discuss these important conversations around diverse creative talent to ensure that access is inclusive.”

Our 3 initial requests for the county’s decision makers:

– We want an event and funding for an ‘Anti-Racism In The Arts’ or similar event. This shouldn’t be performative and tickboxing; it should give lots of individuals – who experience racism, don’t see themselves represented in the arts, and/or have unequal access to the creative arts – real opportunities for paid work and allow their voices to be actively heard in deconstructing the biases and issues that affect them in the creative industries. This should also come with a set of short- and long-term goals for decolonisation with deadlines for action so that people can be held accountable at all stages of the process.

– We want you to commit to taking part in Engage Works in collaboration with Site Collective in Autumn 2021, which sets up young creatives for the creative industries and focuses on how the county can nurture its talent. We would encourage prior meetings to this to discuss how to bring this and further creative careers advice to ALL young people in ALL areas of Norfolk through schools and community organisations.

– We want you to facilitate a conversation for us with the person from each district responsible for community spaces so that we can work together to make those spaces more available and exciting for young creatives.

This was written, filmed and edited within the space of a month and first debuted at Norfolk Arts Forum executive committee on 17th June 2021. To find our more about the project and other Co-Producers please visit the Festival Bridge Website.

Comments from the Norfolk Arts Forum executive committee 2021;

“A really good watch, this film. It hits the spot and is not just a jingly promotional bit of fluff.”

“Fantastic film and brilliant challenges to us all!”

“The arts and creativity are what make life worth living, over and above basic survival.”