Gypsy & Traveller Art Project

Brings Urban Youth Group to Shirenewton site

As part of an ongoing strategy to bring Gypsies, Travellers and young people from other backgrounds together in the name of breaking down barriers and building bridges, the Romani Cultural and Arts Company's latest project will combine hip-hop, street dance and the youth work skills of Newport's Urban Circle.

The GTAP Project has been put together by the Romani Cultural and Arts Company (www.romaniarts.co.uk) in Partnership with Urban Circle Productions (www.urbancircle.co.uk) who specialise in the use of dance, music and drama to engage with young people and is designed to give young Gypsies and Travellers in Cardiff an opportunity to put together their own contribution to the national Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month celebration in Newport.

Romani Arts Director, Isaac Blake says that he is really pleased to be bringing a group of tutors to the site that includes Irish Traveller Daniel Flynn. 'Gypsy & Traveller children don't get many opportunities to do things like this, but I am particularly pleased to be bringing at least one tutor from within the community itself'.

The partnership between Romani Arts and Urban Circle is a first, but the two groups are hoping that it will be the first of many. Urban Circle's Loren Morris says that the group has lots of experience working with people from all sorts of backgrounds, but this will be their first project on a Gypsy & Traveller site. She says 'We have worked with a number of Gypsies, Travellers and Roma people through our centre in Newport, but I'm looking forward to having the stereotypes of life on the site blown apart by these young people. I'm not taken in my some of the very negative images of Gypsies and Travellers portrayed in recent television programmes.

In previous projects Romani Arts has encouraged young people to have a sense of pride in who they are as Gypsies and Travellers, in this project the young people will be at liberty to develop any theme they like for an audience made up of people from Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and Gorger (non-Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people) backgrounds at the national Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month event at the Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre in Newport (30th June, 10 - 3).
For more details see www.romaniarts.co.uk