Posted on Thu 1 Dec 2022
We Don't Bite collaborative report blog post
Here is a blog post summarising the project We Don't Bite, and an invitation to read or listen to the report created, detailing the research and design process.
Posted by
Joe Hill
Joe is a composer, performing musician & sound artist. He's a nerd for nature and his work focuses on using interactive, tactile and musical ways to explore environmental issues from a place of story, psychology and empathy.Project
We Don't Bite
We Don't Bite, a Research and Design project ran by Joe Hill and Sumaya Hassan-Murphy investigating ways the Pervasive Media Studio can become a more equitable space for young people.Play audio description of this page:
In the first few months of 2022, Joe Hill and Sumaya Hassan-Murphy carried out some research looking into how the Pervasive Media Studio can provide more equitable opportunities for young people. Equity being the key word here. How can young people have genuine agency within the studio, not just performative representation.
This was carried out independently of the various teams within Watershed, and The Pervasive Media Studio who are already doing some thinking and work around this context. It involved conversations and reflections with a number of young creatives, and organisations that support young people who are not in formal education or training.
The project was born primarily out of a shared frustration of not seeing enough opportunities welcoming young people to express themselves authentically, and have agency over how and where they do this. Marginalised young people are often invited into creative organisations being expected to speak of their traumatic experiences, as a token for access to funding or never allowed much agency to express their own initiative and speak up for what they care about with full loudness and clarity.
The research that Joe and Sumaya undertook, scratches the surface of how the Pervasive Media Studio can hold space for more educational and equitable opportunities for young people. Pathways to leadership, calls for reparation and ways to facilitate familiarity and safety for those most mistrustful of spaces like the Pervasive Media Studio are some of the key ideas explored. This project marks the beginning of action, allowing space for young people to be LOUD.
Please read the full report for ‘We Don’t Bite’ to understand our collaborative vision and ideas shared from the wonderful humans who participated in this project.
You can also listen to an audio version of the report on Soundcloud.
You can also watch the lunchtime talk for this project (in English) which includes captions on Youtube.
Big love and thanks,
Joe and Sumaya
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