Social mobility and equality through the arts

Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, there was a global movement that struck a chord with me in a deeply personal way. The murder of George Floyd represented a turning point in the continuous police brutality within America and started to raise the voices of others in the UK and around the world with regards to racial inequity. 

As a mixed race woman, mother, and educator, I felt very deeply that more should be done to highlight the inequities in regards to race within the UK, specifically within the creative industries and the education system. 

When I approached the Principal of Big Creative Education to request to lead on Black History Month in October 2020 I felt very deeply that this project should focus on joy and celebration. It was important to me that after months of viewing graphic footage of police brutality both in the USA and the UK, the Windrush generation scandal and government initiatives to send back migrants that have lived and contributed to the UK economy for years, that the project we created with the students highlighted important social issues exploring race but also did not just solely focus on trauma. I wanted the project to uplift the staff and student community at BCA and embrace all aspects of identity through the lens of race.

The restrictions of COVID and class bubbles meant that film would be the most accessible medium to use to document student responses to the project. This was very much a team effort; with a diverse workforce at BCA, the passion for the potential project was apparent from the start, and each curriculum area was pro-active about planning their own projects which were documented by Martin Irwin, our Marketing and Recruitment officer.

Alongside the work in different curriculum areas, I felt that sessions should be held throughout October with learners that specifically focused on black history but not just exploring slavery. We explored black culture beyond this, by introducing the Moors’ legacy to our young people and focusing on emerging black talent within the creative arts through case studies on Stormzy, Letitia Wright and Damson Idris. We also created a poster campaign, and each week documented a black or person of colour famous for creating, inventing, and surpassing boundaries under the title of ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’, to inspire and shine a light on the talent that exists within the black community which so often our young people are not exposed too.

The culmination of this work was a documentary highlighting the talent we have in our young people at BCA through a variety of art forms and projects – from original protest art to spoken word performances to the re-creation of the MOBO awards. It was wonderful to see the staff and students come together to work on this project and share it with the wider community. Identity is rooted in the ethos of the academy, and giving young people a platform to express this through their own individual talent was amazing to see.

This year, I wanted to expand on what was created in 2020; learners are working together to create a mixed media showcase exploring black history. The performances move through slavery and the Windrush generation to the current day, exploring what it means to be black and living in the UK. There are dance pieces, and spoken word pieces written by students around the title ‘I am not a threat I am a person’. Makeup students are exploring the lack of representation of other identities within editorial and catwalk fashion, creating their own original makeup concept specifically for people of colour. The art students are exploring the concept ‘Walk in my shoes’, creating artistic responses to this within the framework of their own identity in regard to gender, sexuality and race.

The ethos at BCA is to uplift, empower and celebrate identity on all levels, and hopefully the showcase will demonstrate this to a live audience, inviting the community in to highlight the importance of unity in the hopes that positive change can be recognised and implemented by the younger generation, who are most importantly our future.  

Charlotte Perchard is Curriculum Manager for Drama, Fashion, Art and Design, and Theatrical Media and Make-up​ at Big Creative Academy in London. Earlier this year, she won the SFCA Social Mobility Award for her work. This is the latest in a series of blogs from the award winners explaining how they achieved their success. The images below are from this year's Black Hisotry Month project.