STRUT: Music+Fashion+Identity

WOVEN delivered 6 months of engagement activities with 16 groups of children, young people and community groups from across Kirklees.

These workshops provided a safe space for 500 people to engage in creative activity to explore identity and what our clothing and accessories say about us. We wanted to create an opportunity for our communities to showcase their own identity and the idea of a public catwalk was born.

Our team of artists: Kim Searle, Julie Roebuck, Thahmina Begum, Alice Burford, Emma Brackenbury, Karen Stansfield, Jane Howroyd and Jessica Grady.

Schools engagement: Pentland Infant & Nursery, Saville Town Infant and Nursery, Madni Academy and Kirkheaton Primary.

Community & Youth Engagement: Maker World Dewsbury, The Children’s Art School, THE HIVE, Sharing Skills Group, Room 12, Brunswick Youth Group, Switch on HAB DAB, Ukrainian British Friendship Group, Kirklees College – Dewsbury & Huddersfield, and Dewsbury & Huddersfield Women’s group.

This project was supported by Kirklees Council and Taking the Lead, Dewsbury’s Town Investment Plan project funded through the Town Fund and Kirklees Year of Music. 

What happened:
After 6 months of community based workshops the project culminated in an event on 3rd June 2023 in the heart of Dewsbury inviting participants to STRUT their stuff on the catwalk.

WOVEN teamed up with Year of Music to bring a number of bands to the stage including Klonk, High Times and Before Breakfast. The catwalk also played host to a number of performances by We Great Ladies, SONG GEET – Yorkshire’s first South Asian women’s choir, and Hardeep Sahota’s interactive Bhangra performance. 

The day was hosted by Rima Ahmed, BBC Presenter and there were lots of free, drop in activity including: the pop up skate Park by Skate it Yourself; Pop up Photo Studio for Saturday Town Kirklees by Casey Orr – an award winning photographic portrait project exploring identity and self expression through fashion and portraiture; Printing Your Own T-Shirt with West Yorkshire Print Workshop; and  Dewsbury Maker World engaging families in making their own weird and wonderful head-wear.

Impact:
Overall, 4,500 people engaged with the project and all took something different away from being involved. We’ve received positive feedback from the artist-led workshops with a range of groups and schools engaged which provided a safe space to talk about identity through creativity and artists tailored their activity to each group.

“Thank you for the opportunity Kate….the sessions with Julia were very productive and it was great to have an exciting event to showcase the work too.”

“It was brilliant! Children and parents are very happy and enjoying this festival so much)))))❤️❤️❤️❤️ Thank you very much for your attention to us.”

The nature of the activities enabled participants who didn’t speak the same language to come together to learn skills and had the opportunity for free creative play boosting confidence and general wellbeing.  

At the core of the STRUT event a platform was created to celebrate these participants and their identity and creativity representing different ages and cultural backgrounds.

“It was a wonderful morning. The children really enjoyed themselves and told the class all about it. It was so nice to see the parents so engaged with it as well.” 

“Great catwalk show, my son got up and I loved it. Need more events like this. Very entertaining.”

The high demand for the creative activities at the event demonstrated the need for free open inclusive creative activity. By curating an inclusive diverse offer of performances, workshops which reflected the diversity of Kirklees it really felt like an event that was open to everyone

“We have had loads of fun joining in with activities and making new friends with other kids and staff.”

“Really good turn out. Just what Dewsbury needs.”

The bands and performers incorporated a range of musical styles, the workshops were tailored more towards children and young people including the skatepark and Casey’s pop up studio also attracted teenagers & adults.

It was a family friendly event.

“It was amazing to sing along and have fun with the community. The good part was young children were enjoying it.”

We also strived to make this an accessible event and provided live captioning of the MC.

“A very enjoyable afternoon. Really appreciated the subtitles. Thank you.”

This event also provided an opportunity for an emerging band to participate in a professional production, High times, who are now prepared for future events having got their insurance in place and a deeper understanding of the processes, expectations and organisation. 

There were a number of participants who signed up for the catwalk via the public call out and on the day after taking part in the workshops. One of the participants is about to start her own business and wore some of her unique clothes to showcase her work.

“I felt so amazing, the atmosphere was incredible. It was amazing for myself and I enjoyed everything.”