This year's Exodus Refugee Arts Festival attracted large crowds
on Sunday 31st August. The event is a unique celebration of arts
and culture by Greater Manchester's diverse refugee communities
including world music and dance from Angola, Bosnia, Cameroon,
China, DR Congo, India, Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and other countries.
Now into its 7th year, The Exodus Festival was brought to Urbis & Cathedral
Gardens for the very first time, bringing the arts & culture
of refugee communities right into the heart of the City Centre.
Cooks, performers, artists and communities came together, to share
food, music dance and culture from across the globe and made in
Manchester.
There were spectacular music performances across two
main stages from Asian Music Talent, Testimony, Kokoriko, The
Dubside, Heritage
Survival, The Ironweed Project, Nouvelle Alliance plus many more;
dance performances included The New Step for African Community,
Ice Cold and Cold Passion and Kurdistan Art and Culture. An array
of food, handicraft and information stalls scattered across Cathedral
Gardens enticed the crowds.
'Inside The Lines' was the climax of a 6-month creative process
delivered by Community Arts North West bringing together culturally
diverse young people, artists, volunteers and youth workers from
across Greater Manchester to present a dynamic and original hip-hop
theatre production.
Part of the 2nd year of the Urban Music Theatre Programme, the
story was told with the true voices of Manchester's young people:
diverse, passionate and direct.
The project was funded by The Big Lottery Fund and The Paul Hamlyn
Foundation.
For more information about the project contact yaz@can.uk.com
THESE CITY STREETS
'These City Streets' was a unique and innovative production
showcased in December 2006 that celebrated the first year of the
'Urban Music Theatre' programme, a highly successful three
year youth arts initiative, produced and delivered by Community
Arts North West.
'These City Streets' brought together a culturally diverse cast
of 61 young people from across Greater Manchester, to tell a story
of a young brother and sister who arrive from West Africa as two
unaccompanied asylum seekers. In total the project engaged with
320 young people who were all from diverse geographic and cultural
backgrounds.
The project was funded by The Big Lottery Fund and The Paul Hamlyn
Foundation.
For more information about the project contact yaz@can.uk.com
EXODUS LIVE
Exodus Live is the regular Exodus band night showcasing and celebrating
live world music by talented musicians from refugee communities.
Piloted in December 2005 at the Mint Lounge, this unique event
was an enormous success and due to overwhelming demand has since
moved to the Life Café where a diverse audience of over
600 people enjoy the 10 acts on offer. Exodus Live has featured
musicians from Afghanistan, Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Eritrea, India,
Iran, Kurdistan, Liberia, Pakistan, Uganda, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.
Exodus Festival 2005 took place on 18 June in Hulme Park, Manchester
and included world music, dance and drama from Zimbabwe, Somalia,
the Congo, Uganda, South Africa, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Kurdistan,
Pakistan and other countries across the globe. The audience also
enjoyed interactive workshops, children's activities, delicious
international food, crafts and stalls.
To celebrate the launch of Exodus in March 2005, Community Arts
North West held a unique launch event at greenroom, rich in
international music, dance, digital media, poetry, exhibitions
and guest speakers.
NOW WE TALKIN' engaged over 200 young people aged 14+ from Greater
Manchester to devise and produce exciting, powerful arts based
work. The project included MUSIC, DRAMA, VISUAL ARTS, VIDEO, CREATIVE
WRITING and HIP HOP, bringing together young people to share, talk,
experiment and collaborate.
To download and view a 15 minute film showing highlights of the
project click here (broadband
connection recommended).
For more information about the project contact yaz@can.uk.com
CAN ASSOCIATE ARTISTS SHOWCASE
Throughout January & February 2004, CAN worked with 8 freelance
associate artists and companies to create a DVD which profiles
and promotes their work. The CAN Associate Artists Showcase DVD
was launched at the 'Art 04' conference at Contact in February
2004.
The CAN Associate Artists Showcase DVD contains profiles and contact
information about the artists, as well as 15-20 minutes of video
of each artist's work. You can get a flavour of the DVD by viewing
our CAN
Associate Artists Showcase Sampler, which contains short extracts
from each video.
For more information about the artists or a copy of the DVD contact richard@can.uk.com
IN THE MIX
'In The Mix' was a recent exciting project that created music
making opportunities for young people in Greater Manchester.
The project worked with young people from diverse geographical
areas, cultures and backgrounds, to develop music-based collaborative
work through a variety of projects and partnerships. The project
brought together young people at different stages of their development,
those who were musically active and those for whom music-making
was a new experience.
