It’s been two years now since we decided to organise our first Casgliad conference and constitute as a new organisation, Youth Arts Network Cymru. Tomorrow, on the 13th of May, we’ll be holding our second national conference in Llandrindod Wells.
It gives us a rare chance, as a youth arts sector, to come together and make connections. We’ll be able to learn from each other through hands on workshops and master-classes, and I can’t wait to do just that for one day. We spend our lives running arts workshops and it’s hugely nourishing and inspiring to be on the receiving end of someone else’s creative practise. Personally I am really excited about the master-class from Coney and a chance to play rather than write emails!
At a time when there are so many changes going on in the world, it’s so important to keep working with young people and delivering with passion and vigour.
We started YANC two years ago to give a voice for the young people and the sector and YANC can try to provide that. We want as many people involved so the sector is enriched by different voices – from practitioners to emerging artists to students.
Initially, the network was formed on the basis of various companies who were initially involved in a project. However, this quickly grew as there was a genuine appetite amongst practitioners and organisations alike to develop practice and networks across Wales. YANC has now become a genuinely pan Wales network which involves both Welsh and English-speaking companies and individuals, and we regularly hosts skills and practice sharing workshops across Wales.
Personally, YANC is important to me as I have collaborated with so many other individuals and organisations that I wouldn’t have come across without the organisation, and that enriches the work I do but also my experiences and opens up new avenues and possibilities.
In my work with Mess up the Mess we create awkward and brave theatre with, for and by young people. We work with young people locally in Ammanford and across South Wales. We make plays, films, art exhibitions and social action projects that give voice to marginalised young peoples concerns. We support the young people we work within and outside of the creation space and often over long periods of time with young people joining when they are 11 and still with us when they are 21! We are project by project funded so are always applying for funding or looking for ways to generate income. Some young people go on to degrees in the arts but others take the confidence and skills they have gained from work with us in totally different avenues. It is fantastic work but it is full on and Casgliad is a chance to refuel and recharge.
We hope people will leave Casgliad re energised with new games, ideas, plans and connections ready to get back to making a difference to young people lives in Wales.
If you’d like to join us tomorrow, tickets and information can be found on www.yanc.co.uk