The BAC Young Producers programme gives 16-29 year olds the chance to organise and curate part of Battersea Arts Centre’s annual youth takeover, Homegrown Festival. We caught up with participant Divya to see how they’re getting on…
Hi Divya, tell us a bit about yourself
I’m an Events Management graduate but I have always been hugely passionate about performance making and attending arts events.
Why did you want to want to join the Young Producers programme?
Young Producers really sparked my interest as I was attracted to the idea of working with different types of artists and being able to produce and curate an arts festival. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to get some real hands-on experience in an arts organisation and get my creative juices flowing!
Great! How are you finding the course so far?
I’m finding the programme content and all the knowledge that we’re getting from the tutors, Rose and Lara, as well as all the guest speakers, really useful. Meeting with BAC’s Artistic Director David Jubb was particularly inspiring for me and really gave me the motivation to move forward with my ideas.
Before starting the programme I didn’t realise how much freedom and creative ownership we would have over the work we produced (as long as it fits in with the budget of course), which is great!
It’s also been really refreshing to meet such a diverse bunch of creatives from all walks of life. I think we are all learning from each other as much as we are learning from the programme and we have definitely made some friends for life.
What have you all been working on?
So far, we have split off in to two teams to produce our show Pick n’ Mix and the Homegrown Festival Party, using Battersea Arts Centre’s working model of ‘Scratch’ as our basis for generating and testing ideas.
We’ve had masterclasses in arts marketing, artist liaison and project planning, with the guidance of last year’s Young Producers who formed YoPro Collective and other industry-experienced mentors.
At the moment we’re in the process of ironing out how the event will look aesthetically, sound and feel, as well as programming in artists, working out the logistics of the event and the challenges that will come with simultaneously running activities across the building.
Good luck! Is there anything you can reveal about your plans for Homegrown Festival?
Without giving too much away, we will be welcoming audiences to immerse themselves into an evening of rebellious art with fresh new voices taking centre stage. The BAC Beatbox Academy will be joining us along with a diverse line-up of wonderful talent.
> Find out more about the Young Producers programme
> See this year’s Homegrown Festival line-up , 4 – 9 April