Manukau Youth to Perform at Splore

 A group of Manukau young people are about to get a taste of performance art as they put together a spoken word video performance and art installation for the Splore festival at Tapapakanga Regional Park from 8th -10th Feb.

The 12 young people aged 15-20 began working with on their poems exploring their relationships with their neighbourhood, peers and family before Christmas and met again in January to workshop and film their performances with the help of Youthline youth workers and poet Darren Kamali.

A final workshop to be held on January 29 will see them completing their installation piece.
The resulting short film of their poetry and the installation will be displayed at Splore and the young people will also have the opportunity to perform their pieces live at the event on February 9th.

The young people will also meet with Ishle Yi Park, American poet and performer who will be on stage at Splore.

Youthline youth worker Ramon Narayan says that the project helps the young people to build relationships with each other and with the adults who are supporting them in the project.
“They can really see how their work transcends a few lines on a notebook, linking poetry with hip hop culture and see that people travel the world doing this kind of thing,” he says.
The activity was funded with help from Manukau City Creative Communities, to help encourage youth participation and leadership.