The business
I’m currently the director of a non-profit, Art Represent, and an independent curator. As leaders in the conflict and art space, we wanted to empower young people to use art as an effective tool for building empathy, community cohesion, and civic engagement.
The challenge
I started the toolkit because through previous work, we have seen how direct engagement with the arts can help to shift the perception of otherness, while raising awareness of minority communities and the social issues that surround them. Research shows that early exposure to ‘otherness’ and cultural diversity can help young people identify inherent biases and break down learned prejudice. I have a small grant from the City of London Culture Mile, but I want to create more toolkits and prototypes, for that I needed more funding. The project is very scalable and adaptable – it could be adapted for different ages and groups, so the time and money to explore those is needed too.
The impact
Since taking part in the CCF project, I am developing the prototype. I enjoyed the showcase event and it gave me the opportunity to make some connections. I’m currently reaching out to schools via funders and I’m looking to develop more partnerships in time. The project is moving forwards, and we are looking to roll this out in schools and other community organisations including a Ukrainian refugee group. We are also in talks with MeWeInternational to consider how brain sciences can help us better understand the impact of storytelling on communication and mental health.
I enjoyed the showcase event and it gave me the opportunity to make some connections. The project is now moving forwards, and we are looking to roll it out in schools and other community organisations including a Ukrainian refugee group.
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