Double boost for Welsh Gypsy and Traveller group

Above: Shirenewton site in Cardiff, where workshops have already been taking place

THE Romani Cultural & Arts Company is proud to announce that BBC Children in Need has granted a further £151,811 grant over 3 years to fund project work that takes arts-based workshops and activities onto the Gypsy & Traveller Caravan Sites of South Wales, as a major new arts project also gets the green light.

Isaac Blake, Director of RCAC says that ‘These children deserve the best start in life and I am proud, as a Romani Gypsy to be able to continue to take our work directly to these children on site. BBC Children in Need can rest assured that they are making a tremendous difference to some very special young people.’

The enhanced project will be re-launched in Autumn 2014 and even more young people than before will benefit and get improved opportunities to engage and mix socially whilst learning new skills.

Jemma Wray, the National Head of Wales for BBC Children in Need said: “We are delighted to award further funding RCAC Gypsy & Traveller Arts Project. This money will fund an Arts Development Worker to run a programme to engage with the children from within the Gypsy & Traveller community. These art activities will help children and young people engage better within their communities, improve self-esteem and help them to make better informed life choices.

“These grants are only made possible thanks to the incredible support we get from fundraisers each year. Organisations working with children and young people in Wales who would like to apply for funding in future rounds should visit the grants section on our website to find out more about our grant programmes.”

Jeff Cuthbert, Communities and Tackling Poverty Minister, said: “The Welsh Government is working hard to bring Gypsy and Traveller sites up to a decent standard and to ensure that community members have equal access to services. Projects like the Romani Cultural and Arts Company will enhance the experience of living on these sites and help children and young people from these communities to fulfil their potential.”

The Romani Cultural & Arts Company is also starting an exciting new project that will see established and emerging Gypsy and Traveller artists develop innovative works while engaging the Gypsy, Traveller community and wider public in an ongoing dialogue about their inspiration and cultural perspectives.

Daniel Baker will be our established artist for the 2014-15 pilot year. He is a Romani Gypsy. An artist, curator and theorist, he holds a PhD on the subject of Gypsy aesthetics from the Royal College of Art, London. Baker's work is exhibited internationally work can be found in collections across Europe, America, and Asia.

Shamus McPhee is a Scottish Traveller, artist and activist. He holds a M.A. in Celtic Hispanic Studies from Aberdeen University, Aberdeen. The over-arching theme of this new work will be : 'Aspects of Gypsy Traveller Life', and he proposes to create and exhibit several pieces of work whose focus would be the examination of attitudes witnessed in the social response to Gypsy Traveller culture in Scotland.

Each artist will donate a piece of their works to the charity so that an ongoing physical collection can be amassed.

This will be a fascinating project that everyone will benefit from.

“This is an exciting, unique and inclusive project which I wish all the very best,” said Jane Hutt, Minister for Finance in the Welsh Government

Dr Daniel Baker said “I am very pleased to be working with The Romani Cultural & Arts Company on this new project which again sees them leading the way in developing progressive and engaging arts initiatives. Their unique approach to contemporary Romani culture draws people together by highlighting commonality across communities whilst at the same time recognising and celebrating difference; a valuable skill indeed.”

Dr. Ethel Brooks - 2011-2012 Fulbright Distinguished Chair, University of the Arts London said “The Gypsy Maker project is the first of its kind, combining as it does mentoring, the fostering of a GRT artistic community and the creation of a permanent collection of GRT art with an eye to creating a museum. The concerns of this project, and the attention it devotes to examining visual culture and representation in relation cultural identity, resonates with cutting-edge work being done by GRT communities across Europe, will help foster new artistic forms and practices in Wales and across Europe.”