MAIA This May - Week 4 Highlights

So that’s a wrap! We’ve come to the end of #MAIAThisMay: what an amazing four weeks of talks, workshops, microfunds, the lot!

Like lots of other people, we had plans and exciting ambitions, a spring programme ready, and then coronavirus hit and everything came to a halt. But we still wanted to find ways of connecting with our community and our friends, we still wanted to find ways of supporting and working with artists through this time. So this is where the May programme came from and it’s been honour to make it happen with you all.

Here’s a round-up of our highlights from our final week in May!

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Tuesday

Artist Campus: With Vera Chisvo

“When you put yourself out there, you are always open to attack”
— Vera Chisvo (@Vera_ZW)

For the last Artist Campus of #MAIAThisMay, we caught up with Vera Chisvo founder of IncubatorZw.

Vera explored what artivism looks like in Zimbabwe, sharing on the political context & the stories of some other movers and shakers who are doing brilliant things in the country!

It was powerful to learn bout the political history of Zimbabwe as a backdrop to the cultural and artistic movements birthed as protest/infrastructure against attacks to freedom of speech. We asked ourselves: what is the role of art, artivism & self-expression in this context?

Session Insights

More on the artist:

Vera Chisvo: @Vera_ZW | @IncubatorZW | Her Hour Podcast | Incubator ZW

Wednesday

Work On: in Journalism with Jendella Benson, Black Ballad

“It’s a strange alchemy with journalism to get commissioned, but, ultimately, persistence wins”
— Jendella Benson (@JENDELLA)

For our third workshop in the Work On series, the wonderful Jendella Benson, editor at award-winning digital platform  Black Ballad, spoke to us about journalism & how to get your work commissioned.

Dropping some gems, Jendella shared insights and tips on everything from pitching, to avenues, industry myths, and more:

How to Get Commissioned

Research the publication. What have they commissioned before? Read their work! What angles do they go for? Look for niched publications that match your unique voice & specialism

Pitching

Get straight to the point: “I’ve got this idea *Insert Title* - Here’s what the pitch is…” Bullet point what it’s about. Outline the article. Mention if you are speaking to experts. Mention research (for opinion pieces too). Include a mini bio & examples of your work. NEVER send a pre-written article: to protect you

Session Insights

  • Waiting for replies is the hard part. Follow up after a week. Pitch elsewhere.

  • The reality: once you’ve been published, it’s easy to get published.

  • Don’t be precious with your ideas: be open to notes / edits.

  • A ‘no’ is not a reflection of you, it could be timing, budgets, or capacity

  • Being a ‘Jack-of-all-Trades’ is not the best way now, What is your expertise? What is your Specialism?

  • At Black Ballad, we don’t care if it’s self-published, we just want to see writing 

  • Create your own lane - people will have to come to you eventually

  • Journalism is not just about writing. Think podcast & presenting. Your strength is your agility

More on the artist:

Jendella Benson: @JENDELLA | jendella.co.uk | @BlackBalladUK | blackballad.co.uk

Thursday

Work On: in Film, TV and Media with Abigail Dankwa

“You get what you focus on”
— Abigail Dankwa (@Abigail_Dankwa)

Rounding off our Work On workshop series, and with insights from the world of Film, TV and Media, we heard from Abigail Dankwa, Multi Camera and Fixed Rig TV Director.

On being an older learner:

“Don’t let anyone tell you that because you’re not 18-21, you can’t get in: I need you here with me”

On working in TV:

Know what you’re getting yourself into

More on the artist:

Abigail Dankwa: @Abigail_Dankwa

Thursday

Of the City: Ways of Future Living – Housing, Community, Change

“Economic self-sufficiency as philosophy & pragmatism. Unless we drive towards this, we will always be vulnerable.”

On Thursday, artists from across the region joined us for our final "Of the City" forum. The wonderful Selina Losa led a reflective and powerful discussion around ‘Ways of Future Living – Housing, Community, Change’ - we talked Garvey-ism, community-led planning, utopia/dystopia, radical hope, alternative social services and more.

Friday

How To Be Your Own Biggest Fan: Self Talk Workshop with Jae Tallawah

“Whatever you say to yourself today, let it be something good. You must make a habit of beginning each day by telling yourself nice things. It is absolutely necessary to flood your mind with positive thoughts about yourself.”
— Iyanla Vanzant

For one of our final #MAIAThisMay sessions, the multi-talented Jae Tallawah talked us through ‘How To Be Your Own Biggest Fan’ with a beautifully empowering Self Talk Workshop.

We've LOVED having Jae creatively document our May programme and we can’t think of a better way to have wrapped up the month! Thank you so much to Jae for creating this space for affirmation writing & self compassion.

Session Insights

  1. Identify a ‘negative’ or shadow thought that you have about yourself.

  2. Think about what you would say to a friend if they expressed this thought to you

  3. Re-frame this into an affirmation

  4. Write it down and read it out.

Shadow Thought: I’m an imposter.

Compassionate Perspective: You are not an imposter, you are deserving of all the wonderful things that happen to you.

Affirmation: I am qualified to share my gifts. I am deserving of all the good that comes my way.

More on the artist:

Jae Tallawah: @unapologeticblackgirl | @hairbyjaetallawah |

Sunday

Sewing Seeds with Glue Collective

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On Sunday, we tuned into MAIA IGTV with Glue Collective for a sewing seeds tutorial on how to find sanctuary in gardening. This video is part of our Joy and sanctuary commission series in collaboration with the brilliant Maslaha.

More on the artist:

Glue Collective: @gluecollective | gluecollective.co.uk

What Next?

As we wrap up #MAIAThisMay, we just wanted to say a bit of a thank you for everything that has happened.

We’ve gone from setting up the coronavirus emergency artist fund with an ambition of raising £2,000 so we could make hardship funds available for people who needed it and who were slipping through the gaps. We raised over £10,000 which is just extraordinary, so thank you to every single person who donated, shared the fund, and made that possible.

We want to thank all the artists, practitioners and facilitators who led a session as part of the May programme, as well as every single person who participated and joined us online. It’s been incredibly liberating, joyful, and amazing to learn from so many people! 

Thank you to all the everyone who has supported in different ways across #MAIAThisMay; it's been beautiful to see our community has grow during this time. We would also like to thank Maslaha, who we joined forces with over May creating a wonderful series full of joy with many incredible artists. 

Lastly, a massive thank you to everyone in the MAIA Team, it’s been amazing, completely different to what we expected for this year but everyone’s chipped in, grinded and grafted, its been brilliant!

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Coming up next, keep an eye out later in June as many of our #MAIAThisMay sessions will be posted online. That means anyone who may have missed out in May will have the opportunity to go back & watch some of sessions!

We, of course, have lots of other things in the pipeline (subject to social distancing measuring etc!), so keep in touch, let us know how you found the May Programme and how we might work together going forward. We’d love to hear from you: contact@maiagroup.co | bit.ly/maia-mailinglist | @MAIA_Group

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In the meantime, keep spreading joy, take care of yourselves and take care of each other, (stay hydrated, take your vitamins!), and hopefully we’ll be able to see each other face to face soon.

Lots of love from all of us, thank you so much!

Amber & Amahra

x

MAIA