STORYsilience – Oaklands School visits Istanbul
It was uniquely fulfilling to see the young people bring themselves into their art – how their personal and intimate stories were brought to life and narrated – stories which spoke to bereavement and loss, the collective experience of grief, stories of nihilism and apathy toward education, memories of videogames, board games, family dinners and family cats, and reflections of mental health and overcoming challenges. But most of all, stories which reflected their perseverance through it all and a built resilience, shared.
Creative Facilitator Zahra Ahmad shares her reflections.
Last month, four groups of young people alongside teachers and creative facilitators, congregated in a hotel on the outskirts of Istanbul as part of the STORYsilience project.
Young people from Slovenia, Turkey, London and Cumbria have been participating in the project, offering different perspectives, sometimes overlapping and importantly, representing their own experiences.
The trip to Istanbul involved multiple creative sessions run by different facilitators, allowing the young people to explore creative practices and work together to produce art. It was wonderful to see young people, who perhaps otherwise would not have met, engaging, chatting, laughing and collaborating throughout the creative process. It brought differing viewpoints and ideas, and created an environment which facilitated cultural exchange, connection, memories and long-lasting friendships. I thoroughly enjoyed both observing, and participating in all the creative sessions, and learnt a lot from the facilitators on what it means to hold space, how to create successful and innovative ice-breakers, and how to inspire creativity among young people. The sessions involved physical theatre, performance poetry, collage, and many different art forms as well as team-building exercises. There was also an afternoon activity of photography where young people explored the scenic Istanbul area of Sultanahmet, taking in views of the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, and seeing the hustle and colours of the Arasta Bazaar.
Over the autumn, these groups had been immersed in creative activities with their facilitators and teachers in order to build a creative piece of storytelling, highlighting their voices and experience, as young people during COVID-19. This was done through applying different creative practices including spoken word & performance poetry, physical theatre, dance, and silent theatre. On the final day of the trip, the young people were given the opportunity to unveil their performances to an audience in Istanbul, and share their ideas, feedback and thoughts with one another to develop their pieces further.
As a poet and creative facilitator, I worked closely with a group of young people at Oaklands School, in Tower Hamlets (London), to develop a spoken word performance piece alongside their wonderful drama teacher, Ms Kleanthous. While I focused on the written poetry and craft, Ms Kleanthous equipped the group with performance techniques, bringing their words to life with theatre.
It was incredibly rewarding to witness how the young people grew in confidence and skill in communicating their thoughts, feelings and ideas in the form of poetry. Our sessions focused on introducing the young people to the art of spoken word, and reflecting and sharing their experiences of the pandemic, both positive and negative.
Through a series of group discussions, guided writing activities, and brainstorming, we embarked upon a poetic journey which opened a personal and authentic creative dialogue with one another as well as with themselves. The young people brought their creativity and imagination to the sessions, sharing the fun, joyous and playful moments of the pandemic, as well as the bitter isolation and grief which also came with it. They touched upon many themes during our workshops, including connection, technology, loneliness, family, food, education, motivation, and more.
We used a visual mapping exercise to help the group explore their different senses and how they related to these during the pandemic – they thought about the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes they could remember adding to a rich visual image of their experiences over the last few years.
Through a thought-challenging model, the young people also explored both positive and negative experiences during COVID and lockdown, and evaluated how one seemingly negative experience could be seen with nuance and transformed into a positive – reframing these thoughts and experiences allowed for a reinterpretation and reimagining of events through a different lens, shedding light on the opportunities brought by the pandemic. They decided on building a letter-style piece titled “Dear COVID”; a love/break-up letter to the pandemic, sharing their lamentation, joy and authentic response to the virus and all that came with it.
It was uniquely fulfilling to see the young people bring themselves into their art – how their personal and intimate stories were brought to life and narrated – stories which spoke to bereavement and loss, the collective experience of grief, stories of nihilism and apathy toward education, memories of videogames, board games, family dinners and family cats, and reflections of mental health and overcoming challenges. But most of all, stories which reflected their perseverance through it all and a built resilience, shared.
Zahra Leyla Ahmad is a creative and spoken word artist working with Global Learning London on our STORYsilience project. You can see more of Zahra’s work here.
