Title: Sounds Like Chaos and the Albany
About you – a short description of your organisation and the team
Hosted by the Albany, a Deptford-based arts centre that inspires, develops and supports creativity for our community, this project aims to provide an artistic/community resource where diversity and creativity flourishes, a space where new talent is discovered, nurtured and exposed to different ideas, and high-quality creative experiences relation to the communities we serve.
Sounds Like Chaos is a radical, political arts collective reimagining the future of the creative industries. Our objectives are to nurture the confidence and skills of our members, so that they can flourish as artists and young leaders now and in the future. We also seek to make theatre, art and cultural projects for social change, making work that connects our experiences across age, class, gender and race.
People, Places and Poetry Led by young artists and researchers Aleksa Asme & Kaylah Jackson
Aleksa Asme is an all-round creative, marketer and young researcher. Kaylah Jackson is a theatre-maker and young researcher. Aleksa and Kaylah have come together with Sounds Like Chaos and the Albany to incorporate their creative expressions into a research project, with the aim of discovering and amplifying the voices of other young people. Aleksa and Kaylah have created the project, People, Places and Poetry, with Sounds Like Chaos and the Albany in partnership with Partnership for Young London and the Greater London Authority as part of the city wide Young Londoners Research Programme.
They are investigating where young people, aged 14-25 years, go when they’re not at home or at school, and whether there is a correlation between mental health and spaces. This comes as a result of the vast public funding cuts for youth services in the last decade, alongside the severe and rapid increases in mental health issues amongst young people. Through the research, the team wishes to better understand and advocate for the positive impact certain spaces have on the wellbeing of young people, as a protest and urgent call for action to provide more access for young people to attend.
Aleksa and Kaylah are currently conducting field research, focus groups and creative workshops to find out about the views and experiences of young people in South London. In the new year they will present their findings in a report and a live spoken word event, that will put across young people’s ideas and make recommendations for change.
People, Places and Poetry is part of Sounds Like Chaos and the Albany’s ongoing partnership, supporting young artists and cultural leaders and resourcing local young people as change makers in our communities.
Follow their progress @soundslikechaos @thealbanyse8
Research Brief
What are you aiming to do and why?
We aim to understand the role spaces play in the mental health of young people in order to recognise the need and urgency to make them more accessible. As creatives, we understand the immense impact space has had on us and so we want to explore if expanding access to spaces will help tackle the increasing mental health epidemic amongst young people. We want to know what spaces are currently available and effective for young people and what barriers they may face in regard to accessibility.
Who are you targeting the work at?
young people aged 14-25, living in South London, with a specific focus on Lewisham.
What are you trying to influence?
We are trying to influence spaces to be more aware of young people’s mental health struggles and to increase the number of resourced, safe and inspiring spaces for young people to attend.
Contact details – who should people contact
Gemma Rowan (gemma@soundslikechaos.com)