This year’s Senior Zone Get Creative residential took place at Bach Wen, a beautiful collection of cottages on the Welsh coast. From the moment the group arrived they began to explore questions around art and creativity. The programme was intense but rewarding and included games, exercises and the use of various media to help each person to think through their own creative process and practices.
Specialist freelancers encouraged the young people to step outside their comfort zone and helped them to experiment by creating a safe environment where every creative expression was valid. Through dance, drama, sculpture, music, writing, photography, filming and animation the group tried out different ideas; sometimes working alone, sometimes as a team.
Each member of the group threw themselves into the weekend and the results were amazing. In roughly 48 hours they created sculptures which they then hid in the grounds of Bach Wen; they put together a contemporary dance to a music track they recorded themselves; they made a short film of things that interested them from around the site and they created a brief animation.
More importantly they gained confidence in their own creative skills and learned how to pass on those skills to others. The participants are now planning to get together with another group to carry on the process and are looking at new ways to express themselves.
For more information about the Get Creative programme at Mahdlo, you can contact our Arts Coordinator Steve on 0161 624 0111 / steve.beal@mahdloyz.org