Amira Halabi wished she had something like GEN2168 when she was in school.
The 20-year-old is facilitating a workshop as part of the month-long youth arts festival in Miller which aims to foster the creativity and imagination of young people in the area.
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GEN2168, which is being produced by CuriousWorks and partner organisations, features a series of after-school creative workshops and interactive arts exhibits.
The inaugural event also includes a Youth Week outdoor movie night (Pokemon, Detective Pikachu) at Michael Wenden Aquatic Centre on Saturday, April 9 at 6.30pm. The event, which is being held in partnership with Liverpool Council, Core Community Services and Liverpool Neighbourhood Connections, will also feature short films from CuriousWorks young artists.
GEN2168 is also hosting a festival closing night and block party on Saturday, April 23 (5pm to late) at The Hub, Miller to celebrate the voices and creative visions of young people in Miller.
Ms Halabi, who lives in Miller, is facilitating a slam poetry and spoken word workshop for Miller Technology High School students. Since 2008, CuriousWorks has been working with the young people of the school through ReFILL, an arts-in-education program with Year 7 students. The workshop program is an opportunity for young people 15 - 25 to develop creative, civic engagement and leadership skills.
"It's a different kind of way to teach poetry; a bit unorthodox with different exercises, skill building and relationship building," she said.
"We get the kids thinking about topics they are passionate about and issues that affect their lives and teach them how to turn their feelings into poetry through different methods that gets them more involved and is fun."
Ms Halabi said it is important for kids from Miller to have a better "qualify of life" and think about "more than surviving".
"We want young people to take the skills they learn into adulthood; that's the goal to foster them into smart, young good adults," she said.
CuriousWorks plan on making GEN2168 an annual event and the start of sustained creative investment with the young people of Miller.
- Details/register: curiousworks.com.au/gen2168.
Chris Boulous
A journalist for the Fairfield and Liverpool Champion.
A journalist for the Fairfield and Liverpool Champion.
