Grainne Aldred: Voice that Shakes and Sends Ripples

At our recent Shake! showcase graphic artist & film-maker Grainne Aldred bravely volunteered to step out of her comfort zone and host the night with Lateef.

On the way down to London she wrote this piece to share with us:

"I am a part time factory girl and part time graphic artist living in Lancaster in the north of England. I work with an ethical mind and like to think that I make a positive impact with the work I choose to do.
 
This can sometimes be hard as people try and push you from this path and advise you that you should be chasing the money. As someone whose voice literally shakes, it can sometimes be hard to find your voice, stick up for what you believe is right and express yourself through words. But Shake! makes me feel part of a bigger voice.
We are all expressive and creative people and I know together we are doing something good and sending ripples of this energy and inspiration to others. I hope you take hold of these ripples and send them off in your own way."

Big thanks again Grainne for your own positive energy and inspiration - and those who attended the showcase were definitely touched by these words. The ripples roll on!

For more on Grainne and to support her ethical graphic design work check her website here.

Shake! Showcase #4: Remembering, Re-imagining, Reparations

Last Thursday 26^th of June we held our fourth Shake! showcase at Free Word Centre. Shakers present and past got together in an amazing line up of poetry, fiction, music and film, targeting pressing social and political issues.

The weeks prior to the showcase were intense. We had planning meetings, rehearsals, worked on our poetry and music, and practiced our performance skills. We also got together to think about what we wanted people to take away from this. We decided we wanted the audience to feel energised, inspired, and to realise they could be change-makers too.

The showcase was an opportunity to share some of the work created during the 4th Shake! course last February at Stephen Lawrence Centre. For five days we took part in intense discussions and art making sessions around the themes ‘Remembering, Re-imagining, Reparations’, challenging official narratives and stories, and thinking of ways to transform ourselves and the structures of society.

The event, hosted by Lateef and Grainne, featured powerful poetry by Christianah, Onysha, Selina, Mujtaba, Zena, Umaru, Orla, Sai, and Annie. We were also lucky to have Heritier and Marcina on the music front, a short story by Orla, and a long-distance video poem by Maaike all the way down in the Netherlands. 

Last but not least, the showcase saw the premiere of ‘Remember’, a short poetic film by Michelle, Mujtaba, Grainne, Isi, Edwina and Tasnima, who worked in partnership with Patrice and Dershe from Nuwave Pictures.

The 4^th showcase was a 2 hour taster of what we do at Shake, packed with powerful performances, shared stories, and passion for change. Here are some of the comments from our audience, who shared with us their experience:

Emotional, empowering, the themes of positivity, strength of voice… You are all amazing ! –

FANTASTIC SHOWCASE! 

The singing, the stories of individuals and people their voices and minds are powerful “AMAZING!”–

I’m still digesting and contemplating the wonderful work I saw in the showcase. Many congrats again.–

Our next Shake! Course is in August 18^th-22^nd. For more info on how to apply email farzana@platformlondon.org.

Shake! Showcase #4: Remembering,Re-imagining, Reparations

Shake! Showcase #4:

Thursday 26th June 6pm @ The Free Word Centre 

An explosive showcase from the participants of the fourth Shake! course.

An explosive showcase from the participants of the fourth Shake! course. Featuring freshly created poetic, filmic & musical responses to injustice from:

Poets >> Arkady Johns / Carmela Cuesta / Maaike Boumans / Orla Price / Paula Serafini / Sai Murray / Zena Edwards

Musicians >> Heritier / Marcina Arnold / Zareen Roy-Macauley

Film-makers >> Dershe Samaria / Edwina Omokaro / Grainne aldred / Michelle Bella / Mujtaba Ahmed / Patrice Etienne / Tasnima Ahmed

Special Guests >> Annie Rockson / Onysha D Collins/ Christianah Babajide / Lateef Shofoluwe.

 

Watch below a little taster of the poetic film,   which will be premiered during the showcase. 

 

 

 

Online Ticketing for Remembering, Re-Imagining and Reparations powered by Eventbrite

For more info:
email platformshake@gmail.com 020 7403 3738
box office: 020 7324 25

We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For…Shake! 2014

Shake! intensive course as per usual - INTENSE and immense. 

Thank you to all the wonderful participants and facilitators who created such an imaginative, trusting and powerful space to be in last week. As Sai would say "Hold tight and hug tight" for some upcoming blogs on the week, our Shake! film and of course our Shake! Showcase.

Before then, enjoy this poem Maaike shared as part of her concluding thoughts on the Shake! week.

We Are the Ones
We've Been Waiting For

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.

Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?

What are you doing?

What are your relationships?

Are you in right relation?

Where is your water?

Know your garden.

It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

—The Elders Oraibi

Marcina Arnold: Poetry and Music

The multi-talented Marcina Arnold is joining Shake! for the second time to collaborate with our poets, helping turn their work into beautiful and powerful musicalised pieces of spoken word or song.

As a contribution to our reflections on our current Shake! themes, “Remembering, Re-imagining, Reparations”, Marcina shared with us her poem Common Rumour, which was featured in her first album.
 
Common Rumour speaks of the struggles of being of multi heritage and dealing with other people’s perceptions and projections. Marcina’s poem, enhanced by a mix of enchanting sounds from across the globe, proposes that we re-imagine multi heritage, eliminating prejudice and assumptions that define how we see each other.

“It was a common rumour, that being mixed would be confusing…”

Applications open for #Shake2014 at Stephen the Lawrence Centre

Our next shake up >> 17th-21st February 2014 << at the Stephen Lawrence Centre Charitable Trust.

Applications now open for our FREE! 5 day course on Art/ Race/ Media/ Power for 16-25's.

See below for more info & how to apply 
======================================= 

Zena's Thoughts on the Three R's- Remembering, Re-imagining, Reparations

This will be my fourth time as a Shake! facilitator and the third time as  core team intensive 5-day course deviser.

Shake! 1: The pilot "Arts Race and Power" course honoured the lives of aspiring architect and London youth Stephen Lawrence, and the eco-activist and Nigerian Ogoni Tribesman writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and used their stories as case studies to interrogate the themes

Shake! 2 – The "Voice Verse Power" course analysed media representation, political definitions of race and power to estabilish, validate and give a platform for the voice of the marginalised and stigmatised.

Shake! 3: focused on the themes of and "Power, Perceptions, Propaganda".

Now we’re going in deep – Remembering, Re-imagining, Reparations. This the title of the next course and it is going to be one of our most challenging courses to devise for the themes are so broad, complex and could potentially take us down a worm hole of new age theory and idealistic visions of Utopia.

What we are going to endeavour to do is imagine a world where equality is a reality, where the redistribution of wealth is just and sustainable, where the generations and races are working together to ensure the human rights of every child is acknowledged and honoured into their old age.
WHAT could or will this world look like and WHERE TO BEGIN?

Since coming on board there has been clear trajectory for the content of this course.

We begin with the Story. 

Paula on the 3 R's Re-imagining, Remembering, Reparations

Shake! intensive at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre

My name is Paula, I joined Shake! as a volunteer last August, and I have recently become part of the Shake! core team. Most of my work is around art and social change, be it as an artist, activist, or cultural manager. I am also, at the moment a research student at King's College London, working on the role of artistic performance within activism and social movements.

The following paragraphs present my reflections on how the words Remembering, Re-imagining and Reparations are already present in, and can be articulated into, our daily practices as artists, activists, and as members of our communities. These paragraphs also reflect how the ‘3 Rs’ are already part of what we do at Shake!, and how these concepts can allow us to think about what we do on different terms.