City Arts (Nottingham) Ltd

City Arts devised the 'More than one anchor' programme to build on the work of Artists in Exile, our programme of support for refugee and new arrival artists and Solo Art, Solo Heart, the Artists in Exile international performance showcase. We commissioned artists Choman Hardi, Gaylan Nazhad and Shane Shambhu, to work with community groups from across Nottingham, exploring themes and ideas around identity and sense of belonging. During August, creative writing workshops were facilitated by Choman and photography sessions by Gaylan, with movement and performance explored in sessions led by Shane. From these sessions, three poems where chosen to be used as inspiration for a final performance piece and a stunning series of black and white photographic portraits were produced. Shane then delivered a series of performance workshops with participants and visiting Kurdish-born artist, Sara Omar. The final piece, directed by Shane, was performed at Nottingham Contemporary alongside two pieces of Shane's own work (Pogunilla & Dr Jagad and Mr Haridas). This film, documenting the final event, was made by Ben Wigley.

For World Event Young Artists City Arts worked with established textile maker Ali Pretty (Kinetica) and poet Panya Banjoko to deliver a textiles project with Nottingham community groups and families. In venues across the City we worked with the Meadows Conversation Group, Sherwood Textile Workshop, Double Impact, Zombie Group (After School Club at The Chase in St Ann's), Language Cafe / Culture Box and Future Foundations, a youth volunteering scheme. The artists also mentored student placements & early career artists who assisted in delivering the project. Inspired by the WEYA themes of global cultures and creative exchange, a 45-meter length of silk was produced using batik, with text and imagery created by local families and the names and place of birth of all the visiting artists. This was painted live in the Old Market Square attracting an audience of over 2500 people. Six mobile structures, decorated silk discs mounted on stalks, were produced by the community groups. This film was made by Ben Wigley.

"More than one anchor" is one of four programmes that were put together by City Arts for World Event Young Artists 2012. This particular strand of work was developed by internationally acclaimed artists Choman Hardi, Gaylan Nazhad and Shane Shambhu, in conjunction with community groups from across Nottingham. This short film has been made for us by Ioney Smallhorne, Director of IS Creative Media. The film follows participant's journeys during a writing residency at Nottingham Central Library. The group explored poetry with Choman Hardi during the week of 6th August, leading up to WEYA in September. 19 participants each produced around 6 poems a day and worked towards creating 3 group poems that formed the story for a final performance piece during WEYA on 11th September at Nottingham Contemporary. The performance also included photography with community groups by Gaylan Nazhad and was artistically directed by Shane Shambhu, who worked with performers in producing the final showcase. City Arts would like to thank all of the artists and participants that have contributed to this programme of work, without which the work would not have been possible. The Mouthy Poets, Deborah Stevenson, Jim Hall, Jeren Artykova, Jessica Yeung, Maresa Mackeith, Ingrid Mclaren and Ioney Smallhorne Writing and photography workshops: Sooree Pillay, Lan, Mina Fatemi, Emma Constable, Alex Cooke, Beverley Stirling, Ellen Storey, Phil Molloy, Richard Goodson, Ahinee Mensah, Miah Jumbo and Shakawan Hama Juliet Line and groups The Language Café and Conversation Group who meet regularly at Nottingham Central Library.