Pleasant Reflections

It has now been about 5 months since I started this work placement, and I must say I’m feeling very thankful of the opportunity to work here. It has been very helpful to shadow Chantelle, work with Seneke, and be given proper responsibilities involving the management of a local company that’s heavily involved with community arts engagement. I’m quite proud to learn about and engage with other companies and brilliant individuals who share that energy. Learning more about West Africa has been a huge bonus too!

The past month has been quite interesting as well. As I’ve written before, it was fun to participate in the NHS Kingston workshops, which is another part of what I’ve enjoyed during the placement so far. Getting involved in what Mbilla Arts does out in the field, beyond the office has been great for me from a practical perspective as well – seeing what I’m helping to organise coming up actually happen - and happen successfully - is very positive and has helped improve my confidence in this role.

Something I’ve really found to be important to me on this placement is that element of confidence building; I’ve often involved myself in projects and things in a way where I haven’t quite realised my potential to engage with other arts organisations or individuals. However, working with at Mbilla Arts has started to change this mentality and lead me to be more confident and involved, knowing I can do it if I try! A good example of this is the audio/video piece I created for the E17 Art Trail in the middle of July, which was a great night and a great success. This has led me to imagining the possibilities of an arts project on a larger scale, having completed this for the local art trail.

I’m happy with what I’ve learned and achieved on this kickstart work placement so far and I will ensure I make the most of what workshops and activities I’ve got left to work on.