In 2022, Britain’s Black History Month runs from 1st to 31st October, and what
better way for twelve of our diverse young people on our incredible Youth Of
The World programme to broaden their horizons than by discovering a
pioneering historic Black figure and getting creative at the same time?
Art practitioner Nayna lit up their imaginations as she introduced colourful
collages centred on the inspirational story of NASA mathematician Katherine
Johnson, who blazed a trail for Black women in science all the way to the moon
and back.
Known as ‘the human computer,’ Johnson calculated the exact path for Apollo
11’s 1969 moon landing, but because she was an African-American woman
who experienced workplace discrimination rooted in racism, almost nobody
knew about her or her ground-breaking work in aeronautics.
Johnson died at 101 years of age in 2020, but not before she was depicted in
the acclaimed 2016 movie ‘Hidden Figures,’ which you should definitely go and
watch!
With Nayna, our young people were able to ‘shoot for the moon’ using simple
and straightforward art materials to help uncover their own ‘hidden’
ambitions, making the most of the ‘space’ to be creative.
Have look at their amazing collages below.
Then professional illustrator and animator Toby ( Tobbs ), and art volunteer
Loren from our partnership with Whitworth Art Gallery popped by to fire up
even more of the Afrocats’ creative vision with an introduction to stop-motion
animation!
Toby aims to promote positivity and kindness through his work, which
captured the heart of everyone in the room with his brilliant short films and
memorable handcrafted characters.
He let the Afrocats and kittens in on the secrets behind his creative process
and led them through the experience of making some fun stop-motion clips
with the Stop Motion Studio app – both with his friendly fuzzy props, and even
physical actions made by the Afrocats as they shot lines, circles, jumps, and
twirls in front of the camera.
Click the arrow to take a peep at the stop-motion antics below.
Wallace and Gromit have got nothing on the Afrocats!
Our young people came away with stars in their eyes feeling inspired and
motivated, and we know this has a huge positive impact on their lives when
they can’t always easily access these kinds of creative resources due to legal
status and financial obstacles.
Thank you to all who made the session a huge success, and we look forward to
seeing you next time!
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news and goings on at Afrocats.