Children and Art for Unity

Culture & Art For Unity (CA4U)

CA4U is a children-led, community cohesion project in the SE16 London area. The programme is funded by the London Mayor's Cultural Seeds programme and aims to provide educational and recreational activities to marginalised children (8-11 yrs) to create original, digital art that will bring Rotherhide's culture to life. The project aims to increase children's integration into a developing London area, while bringing cultures and all ages together to debate the results of their art and what matters to them.

Through a partnership with the local non-profit Bizzie Bodies, CA4U will hold digital art workshops, focusing on culture, race equality and community cohesion. The project will run until 31 March 2019.

The material that will be produced will be:

presented to the local community at open, interactive exhibitions that will be held at the Docklands Settlements Community Centre. Over 100 local residents will attend, representing Rotherhide's diverse communities
published in the form of a magazine that will be disseminated widely and e-book catalogued with the British Library and made available online through RJ4All Publications.
videoed and shared via social media and our YouTube channel.

The project is founded upon the belief that culture and art can bring people together and encourage community cohesion. We will use restorative justice values such as equality, involvement in decision making, inclusion and empowerment, to support our children to lead on the art creation, and through their work increase cultural awareness in Rotherhide.

Our research has shown that when cultural awareness is increased, inter-cultural conflicts and the attitudes that lead to hate incidents and racism are reduced. The stories, feelings and emotions of our children expressed through creative art can act as the best vehicle for sending a message of unity at a time when divisions and hate crime are increasing in London.

Key project objectives:

Celebrate, learn and teach about culture in Rotherhide by focusing on the Windrush generation, its legacy and contribution to the SE16 area, its history, achievements, struggles and continuous efforts to build a stronger community
Create a space for dialogue between different cultures and ages by bringing local people together and by providing them with prompts through local children’s digital art depicting our project's theme
Create an opportunity for local children to learn about Windrush and 70 years since the Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury.
Remove barriers for children and families who wouldn't be able to access digital art workshops, engage them in learning activities and inspire them to continue learning about art after the project is finished.
Provide local children and their families with after school fun, safe and educative activities for at least 3.5 hours x 10 workshops increasing in this way both their cognitive and emotional resilience.