In all, it was a good time for all and the videos were uploaded on to Tagmap.

Tagmap took a workshop in Peterborough. It was good to meet another group of young people who gave up their own time to do voluntary work, and who’s main focus was studying hard, something they were keen to encourage other youngsters to do!

We ran the session with the guys in the usual way, using the cards to provoke discussion and then filming one another to upload to the Tagmap application.

Instead of talking about their views on the different topics, these guys performed some raps for us, talking about identity, and racism!!

Here two groups of four split of to create a rhyme to express their feelings about racism.

Every Tagmap workshop is different,  and it is great to meet young people all over the country trying to make a positive change in their own, and their peers lives! Keep it up!!!

The guys were really inspiring, and spoke to us about all sorts of issues surrounding living in Burnely and being a Muslim.

They spoke about the conflicts between Pakistani and Bangladeshi youth in Burnley, and how the youth centre they run is helping to bridge the current divide between the two, with the aid of some snazzy technology and positive youth workers including the ones we met!!

When we started using the Tagmap cards to encourage conversation around certain topics the conversations held were fascinating, and the girls and boys spoke openly about the positive and the difficult things about being a Muslim.

These two girls were in sixth form, and it was really interesting to chat about all the teenage worries they have, and hear about how these two young girls are taking a positive active role in their community in Burnley.

This was a really interesting group and they seemed keen to carry on this project which is brilliant!!

Alongside discussion of the usual Tagmap topics surrounding Britishness faith and identity, the group shared experiences of prejudice, similar to the people we have met in other Tagmap workshops.

In addition to this we spoke further about individual challenges they faced as a result of hearing impairment.

Another was outspoken about his failure to get into a university due to criticism of his English, despite other foreign students having less of a grip on English than him.

Here One of the young guys talks expresses his views on Knife crime

The group were one of the most enthusiastic groups we have worked with. They really appreciated the opportunity to express their views in this way, and through doing so help to break the stigma’s that they are hard to communicate with.

Here one of the guys from the group tells a story about how he had been made to feel like a terrorist on the tube, and seen attitudes change as he helped a lady onto the train!

These guys were great, and really inspiring!

In February we did a photo shoot with a selection of young people who we had met at our Tagmap Workshops.

It was a great day and we all had a wicked time dressing up and trying our hand at modelling the different T-shirts designed within the workshops!!

The photographs all came out wicked, and the guys looks great!

Adrian Burke was the photographer, and we reckon he did a great job, click on his name to see his photography website

Ellie Stidolph was the Stylist adding some hoodies and bling, and Gigi Hammond sorted out the Hair and Make-up!

It was a great day, BIG thanks to everyone involved, and to the guys from the workshops for helping to design these wicked T-Shirts and coming down and Modelling!!

]]> http://tagmap.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/tagmap-t-shirt-photoshoot/feed/ 0 tagmap Portrait_00003 PortraitH_00033 PortraitR_00022 Portrait_00042 PortraitH_00010 Portrait_00018 PortraitR_00040 http://tagmap.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/tagmap-workshop-hackney/ http://tagmap.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/tagmap-workshop-hackney/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:24:44 +0000 tagmap http://tagmap.wordpress.com/?p=473 Read more]]> For our latest workshop we headed down the road to Hackney, and met the Hackney Police Cadets.

It was the first Tagmap workshop to be held inside an actual police station, which was a bit different!

We ran the usual format, using the Tagmap cards to provoke discussion, and filming one another with the i-flips to add to tagmap and create a network of young people’s voices.

The police cadets were a diverse mixed gender interfaith group which was interesting, and made a bit of a change.

The group talked a lot about careers and opportunities. They were all proud to be cadets and felt it was a really positive opportunity for them, it would help to secure them a good job in the future, either within the police or not.

Another key issue that arose amongst the cadets was a feeling that within the Hackney area there was a great divide amongst the rich and poor and that in some cases this divide encouraged crime. Knife crime was a topic that was also a big concern amongst them.

]]> http://tagmap.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/tagmap-workshop-hackney/feed/ 1 tagmap Stockport2 http://tagmap.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/tagmap-workshop-stockport/ http://tagmap.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/tagmap-workshop-stockport/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:13:21 +0000 tagmap http://tagmap.wordpress.com/?p=453 Read more]]> This week we went to Stockport to run a Tagmap session.

We ran the workshop with a group of young guys who were the only asian youth group currently running in Stockport.

We used the cards, and the i-flips, and had lots of discussion about a range of topics from education to Mecca to the Freemasons.

Racism was one of the key issues to come out of this youth group.

The young asian lads felt there was a real clear divide in Stockport between White and Asian communities. The boys explained the cultural divide and the issues surrounding Tradition and Racism in the area.

RAP TIME!!

One of the highlights was when two of the young boys performed an amazing RAP about racism!!

Go Guys!! It was so good to see the key issues from their area inspiring positive creativity!

At the Preston Sahara workshop we met a bunch of friendly girls. We chatted a lot about different things, it was particularly fascinating to get a female perspective on being a Muslim in Britain.

The girls talked about the influence the west and modernisation have on muslims, and the positive and negative impact of this.

Two of the girls had an engaging discussion about homosexuality and Islam, and whether modernisation meant that this should be okay, despite traditional law.

The Sharia law came under hot discussion, talking about whether it would be of benefit in the UK, some girls felt it could be a positive influence, while others strongly rejected the idea.

Three of the girls discuss Religion, Culture and Clothing.

A couple of the girls talk about the Hijab and what it means to them.

We recently went to Sparkbrook centre in Birmingham, and met a youth group made up of Muslims lads of a range of ages.

They talked a lot about the dangers of the influences of the west and modernisation on Islam as a faith.

Some of them felt strongly about the negative impact this is having on their religion.

Here one of the young lads talks about the Quran

When we went to Leeds to run the Tagmap workshop the kids at the youth centre had a lot to talk about when it came to being a muslim in Britain having recently had the EDL protest in town.

The EDL (English Defence League) are a English far-right single-issue organisation formed in 2009. Their stated aim is to oppose the spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in England.

Throughout this the boys frequently discussed the impact of the EDL and the recent protest in Leeds on Muslim perceptions, highlighting issues between muslim’s and the far right.

One of the lads discussing his views on the EDL.

Aside from the focus on the EDL the boys had engaging discussions about the topics from the flash cards, and felt strongly about conspiracies and the media.

We also worked with them to start to design a t-shirt for them!

They shared with us their experiences of fleeing a country in war, and living in Britain as a result.

A young guy from Trinity talks about the impact of the war in Afghanistan

The impact that the war had on their lives meant they appreciated all the benefits of living in Great Britain, noting aspects like the education system, the police and .

Overall, the general theme of discussion was around family ties, and those left behind.

One of the young lads talks about the police in Britain

This girl talks about Knife Crime in the UK

We spent some time at the Ayesha Community Project talking to a group of young muslim boys.

Though the boys at Ayesha Community Project were some of the youngest we have worked with at TagMap, they really impressed us with how well they articulated their opinions around selected topics.

They spoke strongly about being a Muslim, and being against Racism, issues of Identity, and the Taliban, particularly the effect they had on Muslim perceptions and the taliban view of western society.

Irfan talks about identity and racism.

Muhammed expresses ideas about the Taliban, and negative perceptions of Muslims.

Tagmap workshops generally take place in youth centres, but this time we took Tagmap to the streets of Birmingham!

We headed to the BullRing Shopping Centre, it was interesting in a different environment, surrounded by festive shoppers.

With the help of a few youth leads, we got talking to a group of friendly youngsters who, using the tagmap cards as a starting point, spoke openly to us about their opinions.

So big thanks to those guys for taking time out from a bit of shopping to talk to us about some serious issues!

Discussion about Identity and advantages of living in Britain.

One of the guys talks about fashion

We took a Tagmap workshop with a group of young muslim boys in Brent.

The lads all had their own ideas about being a muslim, and what that meant to them.

Using the tagmap cards, the group discussed a lot of serious issues,

from 9/11 through Media to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

These were a well informed group of boys who were proud of their faith.

Here are a couple of interesting videos from the session: 

The group talked a lot about the Qur’an and what the felt it meant to them and here a lad discusses 9/11 and the impact it had on Muslims.

Here one of the young lads talks about the importance of education in his life.

This was a great group  and, as ever, it was really interesting talking to them!

Over in Barnet the group were most concerend about how the media was portraying Muslims.

Raising their concern for society if the BNP are to gain more seats.

Re-enforcing that wearing the Hijab is a freedom of choice not oppression!!

There were loads of great opinions, these girls had lots to say!!!!

The most topical issues for discussion was the controversy over armed police in the capital with the rumours of the CO19 deployment in Haringey.

We are going back to BRACE in a few weeks to design some more T-shirts!!

Syed worked with one of our in house designers at Bold Creative to realise design, this is a great opportunity to experience design first hand and something we are trying to facilitate with participants from other Tagmap workshops.

From an initial sketchbook design to the final design worked up on a computer…

And also when you are chasing your dreams you need to think ahead and plan your steps to achieve your goals…

Stay tuned to see the final design printed on a tee-shirt!!!…

Syed developing his idea further...

hoodie variations!!!...Purple is definately the colour for the cold breeeze

simple yet effective, time for the printers to have a look...

Syed modeling one of the T-shirt designs created by Bold Creative.

The T-shirt design is inspired from the content and discussion made during each workshop, this design is based on a positive representation of Islam.

The group helped to come up with the design and theme for their T-shirt.

Each member of the group is re-warded for taking part with their very own T-shirt to take home.

We are looking forward to getting everyone professionally photographed with a fashion photographer and having some really nice portraits to take home and hopefully get published soon.

Lets get started: The lads choose from a range of topics they wish to talk about and share their views to camera.

Filming: Everyone paired up and filmed their views to camera camera.

We captured lots of opinions to post onto Tagmap.

T-shirt ideas commence: We re-grouped and discussed great ideas for their T-shirt design

Lets get designing!!

The group get stuck into filming and sharing their views.

One of the guys shares his views on what family means to him….

….and his thoughts on George Bush

The Young people interviewed each other using the I-Flip cameras and the cards were used to prompt and inform discussions around faith and identity.

Lets focus on the T-shirt Design:

The group came up with ideas for T-shirt design to communicate Islam in a positive way.

We used cards as a discussion tool to help prompt the young people to talk about the issues that matter to them. This is an oppertunity for Young people to have their voices heard. The idea is that each young person chooses a number of cards they tended to choose cards which they feel they have a lot to say about!!!

The cards cover many topics from, The Media, Faith, Identity, Culture, and Events.

We had been busy designing T-shirt since we last saw the group. This was an opportunity to get their thoughts and ideas on the designs! It was all good we had the thumbs up!!! Next stage lets get them printed!! Black and Metalic Gold is on the cards.

The conversations were broad and included issues around identity, the media, the Muslim and non-Muslim community and generational differences.

We’ll be going back to St Hilda’s with T-shirts and Headscarfs all designed based on some of the key points that came out of the conversations. Right, lets get busy designing then…!

It’s a big step forwards thats taking us closer to the launch of a bigger, better, bolder, easier to use Tagmap!

We’ll still be creating films with our groups round the country whilst we create a shiny new home for them to live.

Doors will be opening very soon so watch this space…

We’ve been working with an energetic group of young people in Redbridge to explore the make up of the borough and the issues young people face on the street every day.

The group phave been passionate and vocal about their lives and loves. From gangs, to stop and search, to cricket. We’ve only just tipped our toes into the lives of these teenagers and we’re already full of experiences and stories.

A few of the group have already started making films, keep an eye out for more…

Over the next few months Bold Creative will be delivering a series of innovative and exciting projects with young people that explore issues around identity and growing up in the UK today.

We’ll be using Tagmap, our online online tool and workshop program designed to give young people a video-voice in the UK and beyond.

Our ambitious project will take us all over the country, meeting young people and helping them to get under the skin of issues they meet on a daily basis. We’ll be creating micro-docs on all sorts of issues, from crime to love to faith and the future.

This blog is designed to keep you in touch with the project, keep track on how we’re doing and hopefully encourage you to let us how to make it better!

Subscribe to our RSS feed or stick us in your bookmarks if you want to keep an ear on the street in the UK today.

Greg + The Bold Creative Team