Sampad was proud to be the Arts Champion for Birmingham’s Northfield District from 2014 – 2017, in partnership with Northfield Arts Forum.
Arts Champions was a ground-breaking scheme from Birmingham City Council, which united arts organisations in Birmingham with residents in their local area in order to engage them with the city’s world-class arts offerings. Each Arts Champion acted as an advocate for the arts sector, and promoted and delivered new activities within the community.
What Did We Do?
During Summer 2015, Sampad organised a lively family day of music, dance, storytelling, arts and crafts at Mumbai Friday, as part of Culture Mash at Northfield Beach. It took place on Victoria Common on Friday 24 July 2015, from 10am – 4.30pm.
The day featured:
Arts and Craft Activities:
Rangoli with Neemita Dabhi
Mask-making with Guy Miller
Mehndi Body Art with Sonia Hayer
Live Music, Dance and Spoken Word:
Punjabi Folk Dancers with Dhol Drumming from Nachda Sansaar
Bollywood Dance from Krupali Parmar
Lori Workshops and Interactive Dance for Children from Magdalen Gorringe
Storytelling from Peter Chand
Music Workshops from Bridge Arts and Music (BAM)
Spoken Word and Open Mic Session from Amerah Saleh
Classical South Asian Dance from Chitraleka Bolar Dance Company
Bollywood on the Beach Dance Workshops from Sohan Kailey
All workshops and performances were free.
Audience Engagement
In the months leading up to Mumbai Friday at Northfield Beach, Sampad also delivered free music and dance activity to communities in and around Northfield in Spring 2015.
Activities were created for families and adults who were retired or in residential care, giving audiences of all ages an opportunity to mix with friendly, experienced artists in a relaxed atmosphere.
Sampad offered free family sessions that brought traditional ‘Lori’ (South Asian lullabies) to life, through music and movement, intertwining Eastern and Western traditions with an easy-going and fun approach.
Using our Lori Lullabies book as a starting point, Sampad’s guest artists took participants on an interactive journey of sound, song and story, using Indian percussion and Western music. The artists explored common cultural experiences with participants and discussed the journey of tabla player Mendi Singh’s family and his integration into life in England.
Participants were encouraged to join in musically and orally, improvising music together and singing about their stories.
