One of the Mexican organizations we are working with on the Adobe Youth Voices program, Espolea, decided their team would use a different way of exhibiting the youths media projects. They chose social networks and platforms. Throughout their organizations Facebook page and Twitter account, Espolea showcased the images that were produced by their Adobe Youth Voices participants.

Espolea’s goal was to create reaction from viewers on their social platform pages and spark discussions amongst the audience - a way to create dialogue around the images they were viewing to get various insight on the issues at hand.
 

Throughout the months of November to May, Espolea has been posting completed images online, each representing topics that were directly affecting the young people such as HIV, sexual and reproductive health, and drug use.

Exhibiting via social networks proved to be a way for young people to freely communicate their ideas and voices - young people were very eager to use Facebook and Twitter as a way to exhibit versus their traditional use of the platforms.

Youth speak out against bullying. For Antyx Community Arts the focus of this year was anti-bullying. Based in Calgary, Canada Antyx Community Arts hosted an exhibition event on May 1st, 2013 showcasing the wonderful media projects their youth artists produced in the Adobe Youth Voices program.
 

 

Antyx Community Arts incorporated two unique aspects to their exhibition that spoke out against bullying. The first being a live collaborative mural that involved all youth and community members to participate and contribute to and the debuting of their Harlem Shake Anti-Bullying Video.

The youth participants had the opportunity to share their stories and talk about the ideas that went into their videos with the audience. As young activists against bullying, this event presented itself as an opportune time for the youth to speak to an audience about the issue and illustrate a different perspective on bullying to the community members.

The exhibition was a great way for the young people to shed light on the issues and concerns around bullying, get the community actively involved in speaking out against the issue with youth, as well as bringing on new groups of youth who are interested in becoming socially involved through the arts.
 

Our team would like to congratulate Antyx Community Arts on a successful event and we hope their youth participants continue to speak out against the ongoing issues around bullying.

On Saturday May 4^th, our Adobe Youth Voices team had the opportunity to exhibit some of the media pieces at the Art Fusion Festival in Toronto. Art Fusion is an annual, non-profit community arts event held at Toronto Mel Lastman Square, attracting nearly 3,000 visitors. The event provides an open space for artists of all types to come together and showcase their talents.

Art Fusion provided our team with the unique opportunity for young artists in our Adobe Youth Voices Program to exhibit their talent and creativity to a large Torontonian audience. On this beautiful sunny day, TakingITGlobal was able to deliver an outdoor exhibit, featuring some of the many brilliant final projects created by our youth participants. We had an array of photographs and graphic designs created by youth from South Africa, Uruguay, Egypt, India, Bonaire, and many more.

In addition to the media pieces created by our youth artists, we had a special contribution made to our exhibit by the Executive Director of TakingITGlobal, Jennifer Corriero. Jennifer did a live painting during the second portion of the event. The art piece is called "Fragmented Action" and was a contribution to her existing poem and collection of paintings titled "How Does Change Happen?". 

The turnout at Art Fusion was outstanding – people of all ages were amazed by the work that our youth participants have created throughout their time in Adobe Youth Voices. In some instances, individuals expressed their curiosity about the media pieces, asking questions about what inspired the youth to create the projects they did. One gentleman stated that he was “very impressed that young people are taking the time to raise awareness about issues they are most passionate about and very relevant amongst all societies”, referencing the HIV Campaign poster created by a participant in Uruguay.

The media projects covered various issues ranging from HIV Awareness, animal abuse, heritage and culture, woman’s rights, and bullying just to name a few. People also had the opportunity to learn more about TakingITGlobal and the Adobe Youth Voices Program through promo material that we shared with throughout the duration of the event.

Alongside the Adobe Youth Voices exhibit there were various artist and art-based activities at the event including musicians, stilt walkers, painters, live performances, and crafters. 

 

All in all, we were thrilled to have been given the opportunity to have our first outdoor exhibit of the year, giving exposure to our incredibly talented group of young people and all the wonderful pieces that they have created. This will be the first of many summer events to come and we look forward to more opportunities to showcase Adobe Youth Voices. 

A big congratulation goes out to all of the wonderful youth who have contributed their brilliant art pieces to us throughout their participation in the Adobe Youth Voices Program. We hope that all of our youth continue to shine through with their talent and creativity. A big thank you to the Adobe Youth Voices Project Assistant, Elizabeth Lartey, for confidently going out there into the event and informing people about Adobe Youth Voices and encouraging them to learn more about our youth arists and their projects. 

It was a year of creative exploration for the Adobe Youth Voices participants at the Bonaire Youth Outreach Foundation. The organization hosted an exhibition on Saturday April 13th, 2013 where the youth had the opportunity to showcase the media projects they have produced throughout the year.
 

A remarkable highlight from the event was when they showcased the documentary named “Marshall”, a video that talks about one youths experience, Marshall who grew up being bullied by classmates. Marshall received a grand applause for his confidence to speak out about his bullying experience and to shed light on the impacts it has. In that moment Marshall stated, “I felt a load falling from my back”. It is during these moments one must truly appreciate the power of young people’s voice through the arts.

This was an extremely successful event for Bonaire and the Adobe Youth Voices participants because they truly captured their audiences attention from the documentaries, photo essays, posters, music videos, to animation and collaborative projects. The youth really made their voices heard through their media projects and this was most appreciated by the audience. The projects explored themes of bullying, teamwork, determination, self-confidence, and creative confidence.

The youth did not just stop at creating their media projects and presenting them. Instead, they went as far as planning, promotion, and execution of the exhibition. This exhibition encompassed the true meaning behind creating with purpose while simultaneously demonstrating the leadership, teamwork, and confidence skills they developed throughout their participation.  

A very big congratulations goes out to the youth participants at Bonaire for producing outstanding media projects that truly brought out the voices in them loud and clear.

Located in the heart of the Caribbean Sea, Haiti is surrounded by exuberant marine life. Focusing on this characteristic, the Adobe Youth Voices participants from Haiti Ocean Project spent their year focusing on the theme of Marine Conservation.

 

On Saturday March 23, 2013 the youth from Haiti Ocean Project hosted an exhibition at the College Saint Antoine School, showcasing their digital media projects. The team selected 5 media projects that illustrated a compelling story about the threats facing marine life in Haiti. Specifically, the youth wanted to ensure their media projects not only showcased the threats but also how they as members of their community are actively protecting their marine environments.

Giving their exhibition a twist, the youth led those in attendance to the beach side to clean up marine debris along the shore and the surrounding areas of the school. This is an excellent example of youth speaking out against issues they are most passionate about and involving community members to take action with them.
 

The exhibition was an enjoyable experience for the youth because they were able to take the lead on planning, executing, and participating in the event. This is reflective of the confidence and leadership skills they gained throughout their time in the Adobe Youth Voices program. The TakingITGlobal team would like to congratulate Haiti Ocean Project and the Adobe Youth Voices participants on a successful program year and final exhibition event.