Bedford Creative Arts (BCA)

Culture and Gender

Culture and Gender is funded by the Bedford Charity and runs from autumn 2007 to spring 2008.

During the project, the participating groups explored their lives through photographic images. They have used objects, still life combinations or real situations to show special aspects of their culture and gender.

The groups involved have been an ESOL class from Barnfield College, the women's group SARAH, Ravidassia Temple women's group, mothers' group in Queens Park Neighbourhood Centre, women from the travellers site at Kempston Hardwick and the Bedford Sisters' Forum. Three of the women's groups created photographs for display at the International Women's Day Event in Bedford Corn Exchange organised by young women and Bedfordshire Youth Service.

Bedford's population has changed over the last few years and we have newcomers from many new different cultures especially East Europe, the Middle East and Africa. By participating in Culture and Gender they become more involved in Bedford and through Bedford Creative Arts become part of the town's cultural life.

Bedford Creative Arts is able to point people in the direction of new creative opportunities. If they decide to show their photographs publicly these people are sharing their culture with us and revealing the new cultural groups that make up Bedford today.

‘Take one!’ funded by Local Network Fund

This film project, finishing in March 2008, has aimed to involve teenagers in the Cauldwell area to make one-minute movies on a theme of their choice. Over thirty young people have participated, including teenage mums and a youth inclusion project. Subjects have included drugs, naughty schoolboys and being a young mum.

Pre-NEET photography

In January 2008, this group of four teenagers was given the chance to experiment with digital cameras and have a day off school in the process… This five-week course resulted in several book designs by the group including fashion in Bedford and freerunning.

Pre-NEET animation

Towards the end of 2007, a group of six teenagers worked for ten weeks on a claymation film about gang culture. ‘Old Man’ shows what can happen if you pick on the wrong person in a dark alleyway… The group scripted the film, made the models, backdrops and props, filmed, edited and produced the soundtrack for this three-minute animation film.

MediaLab2

This photography project starting in summer 2007 involved working with homeless people and adults overcoming substance abuse. Disposable cameras were handed out regularly last year at Prebend Day Centre and the resulting images gave a fascinating insight into life on the streets for homeless people.
Sessions at James Kingham Project enabled a number of adults to improve on and experiment with digital photography. This involved a number of trips out of the town centre and they now all have images on The Photographers' Gallery website.

MediaLab - Multimedia Taster Sessions

MediaLab set out to look at the way young people use technology and give them the opportunity to explore their creativity and experiment with low and high end technologies in an informal drop in approach. We worked with groups from various agencies and accommodations around Bedford. The young people used photography, video, animation and music to create a variety of small works.

Our World - Youth Photography Project

Our World was a project devised by young people working within the Bedfordshire Youth Offending Service and Youth Inclusion Projects. The group worked together to create a series of large scale framed prints representing their lives and portraying them in a positive light. The young people; assisted by Bedford Creative Arts, were involved at every stage of the process. From completing the funding application to choosing the situations they wished to be photographed in and photographing each other.

Click to see 'Our World' panorama larger.

This project was supported by the Youth Opportunities Fund.