Afrocats has joined creative forces with Manchester's cultural institution The Whitworth in 2020 to hold exciting, inclusive and free half-term cultural activities that the whole family can take part in.
And this year over 28th to 30th May, our featured artists and volunteers supported with creative movement, singing, and arts and crafts sessions focusing on the work of Trinidadian artist John Lyons and the themes emerging in his body of work which include nature, duality, and Caribbean carnival in the 2024 exhibition: Carnivalesque.
Are you excited yet? Of course you are - read on below to find out what everyone got up to!
Singing
Everyone had the chance to discover their rhythm with guidance from our practitioners, and throughout the three days there were bursts of song ranging from the famous ‘Feeling Hot Hot Hot’ to ‘Wade in the Water’.
Click to see the sessions in action – go on, have singalong:
Creative movement and dance
Young people and families of all ages and backgrounds were crawling and fluttering through the gallery like they were in a tropical rainforest before coming together to tell a story with their bodies – just like the characters you can see in John Lyon’s paintings.
Watch everyone go below:
And take a peek at the view from the gallery balcony:
Arts and crafts
It wouldn’t be half-term at The Whitworth without art, and each day in the School of Creativity featured a new craft, from magnificent carnival headdresses to awesome mask-making, with both little ones and grown ups gleefully getting messy.
Scroll through below for more:
A collaboration offering access to the arts for everyone
This year’s Whitworth collaboration brought a total of over 200 global majority participants, some of whom come from community groups we work with such as Women’s Voice, Heaton Norris, Little Lions and Rainbow Haven – ensuring vital access to cultural places and spaces like The Whitworth for sanctuary seeker and first-generation young people.
We were also joined by local families and young people, who lit up the gallery and School of Creativity with happy half-term smiles despite the Mancunian springtime downpours.
Feedback included:
Our toddlers had a brilliant time dancing, singing, making stuff, having free play, and the women managed to grab a coffee together as well and enjoy the playground in Whitworth Park once the rain stopped. Very memorable.
It was a good day, well planned, and we could take breaks.
Every single day this week has been great – a fantastic experience, we will definitely be back!
As always, Afrocats is thankful for the incredible opportunity to bring our joy and creativity to The Whitworth, and we are excited to see what the next half-term collaboration brings for Manchester's young people and families.
To know more about current exhibitions at The Whitworth, click here.
And to get involved in Afrocats' projects, visit our Join Us page.
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