I Am Festival 2022

A unique creative celebration with D/deaf, disabled & neurodivergent young people

I Am Festival is our yearly celebration empowering D/deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent young people to explore their creativity. Over the past five years, the festival has provided a platform for hundreds of young people to showcase their talents, leadership, ideas, and opinions.  

Watch highlights from last year’s festival

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Taking place from 20–24 June 2022, this year’s festival promises to be bigger and better than ever. For the first time we will be delivering a hybrid of activities across a number of schools, cultural venues, and online, all focused on the theme of Unity. Teachers and students involved in our SEND Network will come together with a range of artists and arts organisations to create new artwork and performances which will be showcased throughout the festival week, both in-person and digitally.

Find out more

  • Festival partners

    Linda Bell (ActionSpace)

    Linda Bell is a leading ActionSpace artist and she is inviting students to co-create an interactive large-scale sculptural artwork with her. During the festival week, there will be an opportunity to add to the piece and explore the way it moves to create a series of informal performances.

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    Corali Dance

    Corali will be working with students to look at times when they felt united – exploring this theme through their cross-arts practice, making use of drawing, creative writing and dance. They have been working alongside the Cultural Ambassadors to delve into leadership qualities and co-designing workshops with Jack Tizard School. These will culminate in a film for audiences of the festival to engage with and respond to.

    Catia Silvestre

    Catia will help students use fashion to express creativity and self-representation, breaking down the barriers of traditional fashion and embracing everyone’s unique expression. The group will be working together to create a piece that represents their identities and the festival theme of Unity.

    Digit Music

    Digit Music is a record label, a digital instrument manufacturer and a creative learning and performance company. Students will use their unique and accessible digital instrument – CMPSR – to compose and play their own original pieces.

    English National Opera

    ENO will be co-creating a workshop with the I Am Festival Cultural Ambassadors where participants are invited to stage their own operatic self-portrait. They will use music and song to tell their stories, express their emotions, and say ‘this is me’.

    Graeae Theatre

    Graeae Theatre Company will join creative forces with Woodfield School to challenge the term ‘SEND’ as a community of D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people. With young people as artistic leaders, we will celebrate our identities and lead together in a festival revolution!

    my AFK

    This year will be our third year collaborating my AFK to provide a work experience programme for disabled young adults. The Cultural Ambassadors programme will support participants to co-design workshops for schools, consult with organisations about their accessibility for disabled young people, lead a festival project, and support the delivery of events throughout the festival week.

    The Economist Educational Foundation

    A New Direction will be working with The Economist Educational Foundation to produce an inclusive teaching resource that will support students to explore issues they’re passionate about, connected to this year’s festival theme of Unity.

    Wood Street Walls

    Wood Street Walls creates murals and runs paint jams and events, celebrating community and street art. For the I Am Festival, students will design and assist in the creation of a mural on a wall in London, working with the team using painting and stencilling techniques.

  • How can I get involved?

    Join us from 20–24 June to experience a host of amazing performances, artwork and activities created by D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent young people from across London. You’ll be able to log on to our virtual festival site where we’ll be sharing something new each day across each of the ‘stages’.

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    There will also be opportunities to come along to in-person events. We’ll be sharing more information about this soon – sign up to our Cultural Sector Newsletter or Schools Newsletter to stay up to date.

    Give Me Five – Schools Resource

    A New Direction invites schools to get involved in I Am Festival 2022 by creating a short film that celebrates who they are and showcases what ‘unity’ means to them.

    Download our Give Me Five resource to find out more and get involved:

    DOWNLOAD HERE

    Your film(s) will be featured in our virtual I Am Festival Cinema from 20–24 June and shown in our Worship Street hub throughout the week.

  • Schools Resource – Give Me Five

    A New Direction invites schools to get involved in I Am Festival 2022 by creating a short film that celebrates who they are and showcases what ‘unity’ means to them.

    Download our Give Me Five resource to find out more and get involved:

    DOWNLOAD HERE

    Your film(s) will be featured in our virtual I Am Festival Cinema from 20–24 June and shown in our Worship Street hub throughout the week.

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Stay up to date

We will be sharing more information about the festival in the coming weeks, including details of activities and events. Sign up to our Cultural Sector Newsletter or Schools Newsletter to stay up to date!

SIGN UP FOR UPDATES

I Am Festival 2022 has been made possible thanks to funding from Kusuma Trust and Old Street District Partnership.

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