TAKE PART IN OUR COMMUNITY ARTS PROJECT THIS SUMMER
The Portobello Stories project is a great opportunity to learn new skills, advance existing ones and build a creative portfolio. Participants will work with professionals to create short films and street photography to be shown at an exhibition in September.
We have up to 15 spaces available for North Kensington residents – fill in your details below to let us know you are interested.
Who’s it for? North Kensington residents who are:– 18-25 years old not in work – women of all ages
ESSENTIAL DETAILS
Dates: Programme takes place in August with an exhibition in September 2025.
Programme: Activities will involve in person workshops which run from 10am to 4pm.
Photoshoots and online sessions will be half days (3 or 4 hours):
INTERESTED IN TAKING PART? COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATION TODAY
Complete application form bit.ly/PortobelloStoriesEOI
Or contact eva@homeofsocial.com if you can’t access the form.
WHY PORTOBELLO STORIES?
Portobello Road is a world famous market featuring in films and TV shows. Our idea is to present a new gaze on Portobello, showing it as seen by the local community while helping people gain valuable experience to support moving into the creative industries as a career.
The Portobello Stories project will work with the community and also the traders from Portobello Road to create a body of meaningful work which can be enjoyed by North Kensington at an exhibition and online.
This includes creative film making and photography which means we can showcase untapped talent, and place residents and traders at the heart of the story.
5 Portobello traders will be the subject of the work. 12 young people and women will work with a creative team to produce the film and photographic work.
The exhibition will take place at the African Caribbean Cultural Centre in Portobello Market in September. The venue on is accessible and close to buses and Ladbroke Grove tube station. The Portobello Stories short films and photography will be on show for 7 days. There will be multiple screenings per day which means visitors can drop in and see the work anytime. Visitors can also buy the photographic prints with the artist receiving the money directly. There will be a viewing gallery online along with a live streamed event to ensure we reach as wide an audience as possible.
BACKGROUND TO PORTOBELLO STORIES
NORTH KENSINGTON SOCIOECONOMICS
Portobello Stories is a creative way to effect social change. This project is aimed at supporting people in the local community gain valuable experience to help them build careers in the creative sectors. Gaining access to this sector for employment can be challenging.
North Kensington is very diverse and experiencing higher levels of unemployment and deprivation than the UK average. The Kensington + Chelsea Foundation report says Notting Hill is a richly diverse area. 34% of borough residents are from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background compared to 17% overall for England. There are higher levels of unemployment in the borough – 6% compared to 5.1% for the rest of the UK. The number of economically active residents well below the borough average of 61% in 3 out of 7 wards – which means over a third are not in employment or earning.
BARRIERS TO THE CREATIVE SECTOR
Getting into the creative industries is difficult.
Young people in North Kensington feel locked out by the ‘class ceiling’ and perceived cost.
The Creative Access report found 67% agree unpaid internships benefits upper and upper-middle class individuals, while a contributor to the Unlocking Your Potential research said “Lots of arts activities have a huge price tag attached. And it can seem like a luxury for a lot of people to engage in.”
LACK OF DIVERSITY IN CREATIVE INDUSTRIES A BARRIER FOR LOCAL PEOPLE
The GLA Economics London’s Creative Industries Sector Deep Dive data shows an alarming lack of diversity in London’s creative industries – with less workforce diversity than other sectors in the capital. Ethnic minority and working-class have a one in ten chance of working in this sector – half the odds of those from white / privileged backgrounds.
Women are massively under represented in photography making up less than a third of the workforce.
The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre cites females employed as photographers, audio visual and broadcast at 29.1%While the Panic! It’s an Arts Emergency found women make up 28.4% of the film, TV, video, radio and photography workforce.
WHY YOUTH AND WOMEN
The socio-economic problems we have described informed our decision to make the focus of the project young people – who need a helping hand to get started in the industry – and women who need support in challenging the gender balance.
ENDS