Creative Industries Trafford and Community Arts North West (CAN) are supporting a group of diverse young people aged 13-20, including those who have experienced forced migration, to create a new piece of work featuring illustration, animation and music responding to a theme important to the group of young people.
CAN Young Artists will draw and create animated images to accompany a performance of original live music made with CAN’s Music Leader, Emma Marsh and animation artists from Creative Industries Trafford.
Creative Industries Trafford has supported the project by offering the skills of two illustration artists, Sanna Räsänen and Jonathan Garvey, who will work with the group to develop their own piece of animation.
Sanna and Jonathan are part of the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive, held at Waterside Arts, and Creative Industries Trafford’s talent development programme, which focuses on traditional animation skills and includes projects to support well-being. Cosgrove Hall was the internationally acclaimed animation company and was based in Manchester. The company created animation films, containing some of the best-loved children’s characters of the twentieth century, including Danger Mouse, Postman Pat, Wind in the Willows, The BFG, and Chorlton and the Wheelies.
Drawings by Mohammed Adam Ali, a 17-year-old Sudanese artist. His drawings will feature in the final animation piece at Contact.
Beginning on Wednesday 5 February, over eight weeks, CAN Young Artists will develop their creative skills, and the project culminates with a special sharing for invited guests at Contact on Saturday 29 March.
The CAN Young Artists programme supports young people in making new friends, learning new skills, developing their leadership potential and sharing their communities’ creative traditions through regular creative projects.
“The CAN Young Artists Project has given me the opportunity to make new friends and become part of a community that feels almost like a family. Through being part of this collective, I’ve tried many new things and repeatedly pushed myself out of my comfort zone, ultimately boosting my confidence massively.
“I feel like a very different person in comparison to who I was when I first started the project. I’ve worked on my general people skills as well as leadership skills and have realised that this is something I would love to do in the future as well. “
Nour, aged 18 years old.
Contact has supported the project with workshop space and in-kind performance space.