Bricks on the wall

Saakshaat is an arts and well-being project funded by Arts Council England to work with the Southeast Asian community to bridge cultural communication gap between generations.

Aug 2021: We will be looking closely at our identities as Southeast Asians and the stories and poems that explain the essence of our journey. We want to promote and encourage connection, listening, empathy, reflection and open-mindedness. Sessions will explore Hindu mythologies and fables to spark conversations around how we can improve communication between generations.

Through interactive sessions of writing, poetry, movement, theatre and visual arts, we will explore what the mind and body can do imaginatively. Sessions will be fun and engaging, enabling participants to explore creative ideas individually and in collaboration to feel a sense of achievement.

Nov 2021: During the October half term in 2021, we met and worked with a dedicated and delightful group of young Southeast Asians in Bexley, London. Saakshaat is an intergenerational project exploring cultural barriers in communication and deep-rooted masculine attitudes towards creativity within the Southeast Asian community. Through interactive sessions of movement and poetry, we created a playful space for listening and conversation to build respect and trust. We discovered our similarities and our differences, explored emotions and nonverbal communication, shared our traditions and customs and mapped our identity and values. The artistic activities enabled the young people to express themselves individually and promoted teamwork to support one another’s ideas, opinions and creative exploration. Most importantly, we celebrated our achievements by inviting families to share and experience the work we made by having a go themselves and being an audience for an informal sharing. The young people demonstrated how valuable creativity is not only for their personal and social development, but how the arts can be used as a vehicle to start some important conversations.

We have created a photobook with the ideas and outcomes made by the young people who participated in our productive and dynamic project. The aim of the photobook is to be interactive with activities to provide revelations, provoke emotions and surprise the reader to spark a creative dialogue between generations to bridge the gap – like a set of instructions and ideas to try out.

Here what some of the participating parent/guardians had to say

It’s ok not be perfect. Everyone is unique.

It’s been a wonderful idea and an eye opener for both parents and kids.

Brilliant ideas needed for everybody.

Today’s sharing was an eye opener. I hope I will be able to take on discussion more openly.

Impressive. How much of an eye opener it has been for my child and me!

I will definitely slow down and step into my children’s shoes. Acknowledgement is key.

Amazing to see how encouragement can help the young and old to communicate better, verbally and nonverbally.

I will take away – relationships, communication. My influence on my daughter. Her perception of our behaviour as parents and its effect on her – I need to give it more thought and I may change a few things.

Expressing oneself to their parents was something we practice at home but never through art. It was an interesting idea for children to put their thoughts together and express it though poetry.

I will take away various ways to develop communication and bonding.

Feedback from the participating Young People

We asked - What would you like to tell others about your experience of the project?

This was quite different to what I was expecting. I learnt a lot of new things. I now find it easier to communicate and express myself without feeling shy.

I would tell them that the days you spend here would be one of the best days of your life.

This experience was awesome. Sure, go for it.

It was peaceful and enjoyable.

It was great and if you have problems speaking to your parents, you should do it.