| Photograph: Alice White
The Community Club: a special place to meet people, by Timna Krenn
- Written byTimna Krenn
- Published date 22 February 2023
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| Photograph: Alice White
Timna Krenn, Post-Grad Community Ambassador and MA Performance: Theatre Making student at Wimbledon College of Arts, reports on her visit to the Community Club
I recently had a conversation with a dear friend of mine who was very surprised that I'm not that keen on moving to a new city at the moment. I've always loved meeting new people, exploring cultures and cities, but every time I moved to another country, I had to give something up. Whether it was a friend, family member or colleague, I always felt I had to leave a piece of my heart that I couldn't take with me when I moved to a new place. Of course, nowadays technology allows us to stay in contact with people we care about, even on the other side of the world. This is a great advantage that I would never want to be without again. Still, I think technology can never replace real human interactions. Seeing the look of someone we like, hearing that special giggle, or feeling the warmth on our skin as they hug us is irreplaceable. Technology allows us to stay in touch, but it's difficult to truly connect with someone when a device is in front of our faces. So, when my friend curiously asked me why I didn't want to move to a new city right away, after a moment's hesitation, the answer was simple and clear: community.
For as long as I can remember, I have always been part of different communities, such as theatre groups, university communities or associations. Being part of a community always gives me a feeling of being seen and heard in a different way as well as seeing and hearing others in a different way. I can't tell if it's the intimacy within a community or a shared interest in something, but I know community offers empathy. In big cities like London, where it's easy to lose yourself in anonymity, communities can be a great place to connect with others.
Furthermore, communities have always been part of my theatre and artistic practice. Working with different communities not only helped me to meet great people who became friends, but also pushed me to discover new cultures and different ways of looking at the world. So not only can human relationships bring us a lot of joy by truly connecting us to others, but there is tremendous power in the community itself.
A place for art practitioners interested in working with community
For that reason, I was delighted to meet Alice White, CCW Community Engagement Manager at UAL. In November last year, Alice founded the Community Club, which she organizes once a month. This is how Alice describes the club: “The aim of this club is to create an informal space for the cross fertilization of ideas and to bring people working, or interested in working, with community and the arts together. The Community Club is a place to exchange and test ideas, swap references, share knowledge and chat. It will be open to UAL staff, students, and external practitioners.”
| Photograph: Alice White
The first Community Club (CC) meeting took place on the Camberwell campus, where MA students from various courses, alumni and artists met to get to know each other. Alice not only created a welcoming atmosphere but also gave us an insight into her own objectives for this club. For her, the CC is a place to share, exchange, test, swap and play. It allows people working in the creative industry and collaborating with communities to share information, exchange knowledge such as methods or literature, test and play around with new ideas.
No sooner said than done: Students from various fields such as the MA program Global Collaborative Design Practice presented their research. Sanaa Asim introduced ‘Around the corner’ which works with young people to investigate what public space is and could be. Yuxin Jiang presented her project, ‚Quirky Science Questions, Debbie Allen, an artist from the area provided information on upcoming events at Camberwell Arts and Laura Kamińska, a visual designer, UAL alumni and my colleague at The People Speak, explained how the Talkaoke format works.
A community to discuss, share insights and exchange ideas
| Photograph: Alice White
The first meeting of 2023, hosted by Elizabeth from Staffordshire St in Peckham, brought around 14 people back together, new and familiar faces, and was again a lovely evening where we shared insights, opportunities and started some interesting discussions. Alice invited Mark Dean, Chaplain and Interfaith Advisor to UAL, who shared information about his work as Chaplain and artist such as the Arts Chaplaincy Project, a collaboration between the Diocese of London and UAL to connect arts practitioners with spiritual communities.
We were also told about the Talents Works project, an opportunity for second year students at LCC and Camberwell to work with a local charity and develop creative skills. The evening ended with a fruitful discussion on how we understand community, and as this can be understood in many different ways, all participants had many thoughts on this subject.
The Community Club is a welcoming place to share thoughts about working with the community and the arts. Excitingly, the CC community itself made me realize once again that the community is about sharing and caring for others. Alice has managed not only to create a wonderful club with interesting topics for discussion, but also to bring together people from all kinds of backgrounds who now form a kind of community of their own.
The next Community Clubs of 2023 will take place as follows:
- Wednesday 8 March, 5-6.30pm
- Wednesday 5 April, Easter break, no club
- Wednesday 10 May
- Wednesday 14 June
For more information and to join, email CCW Community Engagement Manager, Alice White: a.white@arts.ac.uk
Related links
UAL Post-Grad Community
Established in 2013, Post-Grad Community is an inclusive platform for all UAL postgraduate students to share work, find opportunities and connect with other creatives within the UAL and beyond. Find out more