Author name: Liz Pavey

Laura and Liz give presentation about their creative practice with young people in secure centres On Thursday 14th September in the Great Hall, Sutherland Building, Northumbria University hosted a forum for the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance (NCJAA) / Clinks.  Laura and Liz gave a presentation about the work they have done at Aycliffe Secure Centre and Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.  Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness gave the keynote address.  There was also a presentation by Helix Arts.  A copy of the press release is below.   A forum called Cross-Cultural Arts Practice: Working with Young People within Criminal Justice Systems has been organised by Northumbria University, in partnership with the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance (NCJAA) and Clinks, which represents members of the voluntary sector working with people within the criminal justice system. The forum will take place at the University on Thursday 14 September and provides opportunities for those with an interest in social, racial and criminal justice and delivering creative arts projects to disadvantaged young people to meet others working in the field, and to share examples of good practice. Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuiness will provide the keynote address. Northumbria University’s Assistant Professor in Creative Writing Dr Laura Fish and Assistant Professor in Dance and Performance Liz Pavey will share the findings of their project The Stolen Generations (2018 – 2020). The Stolen Generations offered young people (aged 11 to 18) at the Aycliffe Secure Centre, County Durham, opportunities to engage in dance, creative writing, and visual art workshops; these were informed by Indigenous Australian cultures and dance practice. In June and July of this year, Laura and Liz offered two further days of creative arts workshops, one at Aycliffe Secure Centre and one at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin, Australia. Their presentation offers insights into the similarities and differences between these contrasting youth detention centres on either side of the world. Aycliffe Secure Centre is rated as ‘Outstanding for Children’s Health and Good in all other areas’ by Ofsted. The highly controversial Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, built over 30 years ago as a maximum-security prison for adults, was found to be ‘wholly inappropriate’ for children by the 2017 Royal Commission. At Don Dale over 90% of the children are Indigenous Australians while Indigenous people make up 3.2% of Australia’s population. The Stolen Generations project feeds into The Other Side of Me, a dance production inspired by the story of an Aboriginal man – one of the Stolen Generations – who was taken from his family in Australia and brought up in England. The dance production is part of the wider research project, When Words Fail Us, Expressing the Unspeakable: The Other Side of Me: https://hosting.northumbria.ac.uk/theothersideofme/ The forum includes a presentation by North East-based Helix Arts. Cross-Cultural Arts Practice: Working with Young People within Criminal Justice Systems is on Thursday 14 September 2023, from 13:30 to 16:30, in the Great Hall, Sutherland Building, Northumbria University. The event is free, and all are welcome. Find out more and book here.

Stunning images capture poignant moments Here is a selection of images by professional photographer Paz Tassone who also photographed the hero images and other publicity shots. 

Darwin Entertainment Centre awash with publicity for The Other Side of Me Performance week arrives and publicity for the production is everywhere in the Darwin Entertainment Centre (DEC) VIP Reception before the premiere performance On Tuesday 8th August the final dress rehearsal took place. An invite audience of about 20 guests joined us for this event.  Then on Wednesday 9th August the premiere performance took place.  The evening started with a VIP reception. First Nations artists Tony Duwan Lee and Trent Lee delivered a traditional Welcome to Country. There were then speeches by NT Dance Company Vice Chair, Heather Brown, Dr Laura Fish, and Gary Lang.  Premiere performance Programmes were accessible via a QR code.   Standing Ovation After many years of working towards this, it was amazing to witness the first public performance of The Other Side of Me. The production was received with thunderous applause, cheers, and then a standing ovation. My people were visibly moved to tears and many stayed for a while afterwards to discuss what they had experienced.

Display of Artwork by Young People at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre and Aycliffe Secure Centre A key aim of the project is to engage with vulnerable and disadvantaged young people within criminal justice systems. Laura and Liz delivered a day of art and poetry workshops at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre on the outskirts of Darwin. This part of the project reaches out to young people who would not otherwise easily access the arts, offering them opportunities to create high quality work with experienced practitioners. Don Dale was built over 30 years ago as a maximum-security prison for adults. The premises was repurposed as a youth detention centre in 2015. Conditions are appalling. Children are locked in cells for at least 13 hours daily and it would seem most days they are routinely locked away for far longer. We were told that over 90% of the children are Aboriginal. In 2017 a royal commission found the Don Dale juvenile detention centre ‘wholly inappropriate’ for children and concluded it should be shut down immediately. A report in The Guardian (June 2023) says that according to data from the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities, ‘There are 15 children with a diagnosed disability in the Northern Territory’s detention centres, but many more are believed to have undiagnosed conditions, which advocates say are made worse by lack of appropriate treatment and inadequate staffing’. A protest vigil calling for the closure of Don Dale has gathered outside the detention centre every Friday since Christmas Day 2021. The project team have delivered ‘The Stolen Generations Project’, short intensive cross-artform sessions in dance, creative writing and visual art at Aycliffe Secure Centre, a residential youth detention centre in the UK, for young people aged 10 – 18 (2018, 2020, 2023). Some sessions have culminated in displays of artwork and creative writing and the young people engaging in performances with professional dance artists. Display of artwork and poetry created by young people at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, Australia, and Aycliffe Secure Centre, UK. Darwin Exhibition Centre 7th – 11th August.