Young People Benefit From Long-Term Arts Participation Project In Kensington

2017 marks the penultimate year of a seven-year participatory music and performing arts partnership between Chamber Made and The Venny, a communal backyard and drop-in centre for young people aged 5 to 16, some of whom are living in difficult circumstances, in Kensington and surrounding areas.

The Chamber Made and The Venny partnership has achieved significant outcomes for the young people involved, their families and local community including:

• inspiring participants to use music and performance as a platform for self-expression;
• providing opportunities for participants to be mentored by professional artists; and
• creating social inclusion by cultivating a sense of belonging and self-empowerment through a public outcome for the local community.

This year the public outcome of this partnership takes the form of a musical and drama performance called: Imagine a Place.

Imagine a Place has been created by The Venny participants with guidance from professional music and theatre practitioners including Chamber Made artists: theatre maker Sarah Kriegler; composers and musicians Aviva Endean and Matthias Schack-Arnott; vocalist Deborah Kayser; musician Kofi Kunkpe; and supported by The Venny staff Danielle von der Borch and Abshiro Hussein.

In the months leading up to Imagine a Place, and in collaboration with architects from Giant Grass, The Venny participants co-designed and helped build a range of bamboo instruments, objects and outdoor installations.

Some of the installations will be a permanent feature at The Venny, providing a lasting legacy of the Chamber Made and The Venny partnership and highlighting the co-design and creative input of the young people involved.

An independent evaluator, Doctor Ricci-Jane Adams reports that the Chamber Made and The Venny partnership "is an example of best practice in the delivery of a high quality arts project in a community context" that provides participants with a '"satisfying and engaging artistic experience."

The assessment report also identified that "The partnership offers the children of The Venny, including some of the most vulnerable members of the community, the hallmarks of a high quality community based arts partnership including artistic excellence, child-led art making, the genuine transfer of skills, enhanced community connection, positioning children as cultural leaders, increased social wellbeing and access to a safe and welcoming environment."

Chamber Made CEO and Creative Director Tim Stitz says, "We've got to know these kids over a long period of time and have seen how important the relationships are to our artists, The Venny staff and above all, the young people. This project enables us to engage with our local community in a meaningful way at this very special and vital place."

Imagine a Place
Date: Friday, 3 November 2017
Time: 7pm
Location: The Venny
Address: JJ Holland Park, 85 Kensington Road, Kensington
Tickets: FREE Information: www.chambermade.org/events/imagine-a-place/

Chamber Made and The Venny partnership
Key facts from 2011 - 2016:

• 111 young people have participated
• 28 professional artists have mentored
• 4 public outcomes with over 600 attendees from the local

From 2011 - 2017 Chamber Made have presented 108 sessions at The Venny, with an average of 25 young people attending each session.
The collaboration between Chamber Made and The Venny in 2016-17 has been made possible by the generous support of the Hugh Williamson Foundation. The project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Additional funding from Artist for Kids Culture.

Chamber Made
Chamber Made is the only Australian arts company wholly dedicated to creating original works located at the nexus of music and contemporary performance. The company is renowned for redefining artform boundaries and producing works that emerge from a deep collaborative dialogue across artform disciplines.
Bringing contemporary composition and performance dramaturgy together in ever-shifting forms, their works have been presented in theatres, recital halls, lounge-rooms, galleries, as well as and on iPads and online. The company has presented over 90 performance seasons in Australia and internationally and commissioned more than 40 new Australian works since it was founded in 1988.
chambermade.org

Photo credit: Daisy Noyes

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