This Fertile Ground is Alive
Something very exciting is happening with the young people at Romano Lav’s Community Catalyst programme. This short piece of writing is an attempt to capture something of it.
By Rahela Cirpaci and Toni Bruce | Photos from photography workshops run by Morwenna Kearsley at Street Level Photoworks
Over the past two years, the young people have been learning. And then teaching. Growing their knowledge - about human rights, housing rights, all of their rights. That they have rights.
They have made all sorts of connections with new people and organisations. People who will gather around someone who has faced a violation of their rights, who will support them to stand up and fight for their home, their job, their health. People who recognise fierce injustice and who refuse to let the wrong side win.
Then they became these people.
They met people who supported them to explore their creativity. They haven’t been dictated to, they have been allowed to make things the way they want to, explore their own stories and tell them the way they want to. This way, there has been truth - real ownership, real representation.
Join・Explore・Connect・Learn・Collaborate・Uncover・Teach・Realise・Create・Feel・Move・Grow
Aven・Explorin・Conectin ・Sikion・Colaborin・Descoperin・Sikaves・Realizis・Creios. Simtos・Mishkis・Barios.
The most important thing they have learned - in their own words - is that everything is connected, and it is all about power.
It is all about who has power and what they do with it - whether it’s sexism, a bad boss making workers work for less than minimum wage, discrimination, or an evil company polluting our seas. But power can also belong to those who fight the abuse of it. And that - we can fight, we can have community, we can stand up together. We can use art to challenge these injustices.
Using newfound knowledge and technical skills alongside their training in rights to investigate issues that are important to them.
For instance - short films are currently being made about mental health, and why young Roma people drop out of school. They chose these topics. They see what is wrong with society and they want to change it. Their rights-based training flows into their films, and their photography. These tools of power and change have been clipped on; secured onto belts, into kits.
The intersection between art and activism is being fully explored, investigated with keen and inquisitive young eyes, understanding how they can use it to question the world around them - change the world around them.
They are giving back as much as they are learning. Organisations and individuals working with them are being inspired, creating their own work on the back of this infectious joy of telling their own stories, their own way.
When we feel supported we can support others.
The development of our new space has the potential to act as a radiant hotbed for this extraordinary activity. We look ahead with a swell in our chest, thinking about what might be.
What new connections, synergies, and cultures will be created? How will they use this exuberant power? They feel powerful; they are powerful.
They are representing their culture, whilst creating new avenues of exploration - culture is beautiful in that it is at once about tradition, as well as ever-changing, it is not static and the young people are teasing out new strands and branches on this fecund tree.
A new cycle of the catalysts lies ahead, the aim is for this phase to be as youth led as possible. They will decide what to focus on, what issues to investigate and what stories to tell.
This fertile ground is alive, teeming, bristling with excitement of what will happen, where the young people will lead us. New young people will join. Old and new - all working together to create. Some will be learning, some will be learning to teach, and some will be teaching how to teach. Airwaves open, frequencies hum, monoliths glow and buzz, the whirring of worlds, vibrations of moving tectonic plates ring out loud and bold over this thrilling, electric space delicately held and moved in time.
We can hardly wait.
Look out for upcoming short films made by Romano Lav’s Community Catalysts, a photography exhibition in collaboration with StreetLevel Photoworks and next year’s CineRoma - a Roma film festival that will be programmed by young people in collaboration with GAMIS.
Jolt・Expand・Oscillate・Undulate・Catalyse・Cause・Bring Forth・Cultivate・Nurture・Become