Smashing Times are delighted to implement the Creative Connections programme in Northern Ireland, supported by the Northern Ireland Executive’s T:BUC Strategy through the Central Good Relations Fund.
Creative Connections is a cultural, arts-based project using creative processes of theatre and storytelling workshops, group and panel discussions, and online digital presentations to promote positive community relations between people and traditions in Northern Ireland. The aim is to work creatively with a range of groups to promote discussion and debate on issues facing local communities today and to promote shared visions for the future.
Creative Connections is implemented by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality in partnership with CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet), the University of Ulster INCORE International Conflict Research Institute and with a range of groups including Clann Eireann GAC and South Shore Health and Well-being outreach Project, Ballybeen Women’s Centre, Old Warren Association and the UDR Association, Portadown.
Smashing times are reaching out to new groups from all traditions who wish to be involved in the programme to share their visions for a more inclusive society and a shared future for all. If you would like to take part in the following workshops and events please contact us for more information:
Writing for Equality Workshop
Creative Writing and Discussion workshop online.
Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality will deliver a creative writing workshop exploring themes of equality, diversity and shared futures. Participants take part in discussion and writing exercises designed to prompt a creative response to social and cultural issues. Participants then have the opportunity to create a piece of flash fiction that can shine a light on an issue close to them. During the workshop participants respond to current events both social and political and reflect on the roles that individuals and communities can play to promote equality and justice for all.
As part of the workshop, participants work together to create a collective vision board of thoughts and views for a shared future. The aims are to reflect on issues facing our communities in the past and today and to explore ways to move forward together, shining a light on imagined possibilities for the future. A selection of the work may be published for the Smashing Times online magazine Creative Connections. The workshop requires active participation and provides participations with a quality arts experience, offering the opportunity to engage with key issues through a creative process and to work together towards building a better future for all.
Where: Implemented online via zoom with schools – ages 14 and up – and communities ages 18 and up
When: Organised through Smashing Times. 60 Minutes duration.
Booking: Peter – projects@smashingtimes.ie
Exploring Equality through Theatre for a Shared Future
Theatre and Discussion work online.
This theatre-based workshop explores equality and a shared future through a fun, participative process. Participants engage in drama and theatre games and exercises and open discussion reflecting on themes of equality and a shared future for all. The aims are to reflect on issues facing our communities in the past and today and to explore ways to move forward together, shining a light on imagined possibilities for the future. Participants work together to create a vision board of collective thoughts and views for a shared future and a selection of the work may be published in written format for the Smashing Time online magazine Creative Connections.
During the workshop we use creative processes of theatre games and exercises to explore themes of equality and diversity working in small groups and collectively, creating short stories and a vision board of collective thoughts and views for a shared future. The workshop requires active participation in games and exercises – wear practical clothes and flat shoes if you can – and provides participations with a quality arts experience, offering the opportunity to engage with key issues through a creative process and to work together towards building a better future for all.
Where: Implemented online via zoom with schools – ages 14 and up – and communities ages 18 and up
When: Organised through Smashing Times. 60 Minute duration.
Booking: Peter – projects@smashingtimes.ie
Creativity for Well-being Workshop
Breathing, meditation and discussion workshop for well-being, online.
Smashing Times will deliver a relaxed creative based workshop focusing on reconnecting with the breath to help steer us through challenging times. As part of the Creative Connections project, this workshop offers the opportunity for participants to stop, take a moment and breathe. The workshop explores, through practical games and exercises and through group discussion, the roles that mindfulness, breathing and physical activity can play to promote well-being in times of change. Using mindfulness and mediation techniques, alongside fun creative-based games and exercises, this workshop offers both a gentle introduction to mindfulness and meditative practice whilst offering a forum to discuss the current issues of the day and consider how we can, collectively and as individuals, best equip ourselves to remain calm, collected and at peace with ourselves and the world around us.
Where: Implemented online via zoom with schools – ages 14 and up – and communities ages 18 and up
When: Organised through Smashing Times. 60 Minutes Duration.
Booking: Peter – projects@smashingtimes.ie
Arts for Peace
Creative Connections culminates in a Creative Arts for Peace symposium featuring artist discussions, a film screening, and the engagement of local communities in discussion on how to remember a legacy of conflict in Northern Ireland and how to continue to build new visions for the future, identifying collective, shared solutions for bringing communities together to create a more inclusive society for all. As part of the symposium day, Smashing Times are presenting an online panel discussion for the Imagine Belfast Festival – see details below.
For more information contact Peter on projects@smashingtimes.ie
