Utopian Visions: Employing the Arts for Social and Political
Change
The International Baccalaureate (IB) has created a series of
World Student Conferences (WSC) to bring together IB Diploma Programme (DP) and
IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC) students from around the world to
experience what it really means to “think globally”. At these conferences
students are exposed to a mix of cultures and form new friendships as they
explore ways to make our world a better, more peaceful place.
5 IB DP Grade 12 students from Pathways School Noida joined
150 fellow IB students of 28 nationalities at one of the UK and world's most
prestigious universities; University of Warwick, Coventry, UK for this year’s
conference. They were there to be inspired and they engaged on a range of
global issues from 4th Aug through 10th Aug,2013.For Isha Agarwal, Saumya
Joshi, Vidushi Sachdeva, Ritika Sharma and Maulini Sikri, it became an
experience of a life time. They were accompanied by the IBDP Coordinator: Ms
Geeta Verma who was a part of the conference as an Adult Observer.
This chaperoned event which lasted five days and provided
our students with an exceptional opportunity to develop leadership skills and
international understanding. The theme
was “Utopian Visions: employing the arts for social and political change.” We
were the only DP school from India
and we felt a great sense of pride and responsibility in representing our
country.
At the piazza!
The team reached Birmingham and then the University campus
on a rainy afternoon on the 4th of Aug. The weather was typically English with
intermittent rains followed by warm sunny spells. After settling in the
residences, the evening saw introductions and a ‘Brit Quiz’ followed by a
lavish dinner.
Further plenary saw Phil Kaye; an award winning poet and
published author, use Performance Poetry as a powerful tool for change and Ben
Walden; Artistic Director of Contender Charlie, teach leadership skills through
the four elements of Fire, Water, Air
and Earth. On most days, the plenary
sessions were followed with refreshments and recreation where the students
could relax, chat, post, tweet, reflect or rehearse. Next there were two long
sessions with the Global Action Team where students worked in groups to put
together a creative arts project. The main idea was to create change through
theatre, music, dance and the graphic arts. ‘Peace One Day’ projects were
collaborated upon and our students have come back with a plethora of ideas on
how to take the idea of peace forward in this region.
The GAT Sessions
The conference also included trips to the Birmingham City
centre, where all indulged in retail therapy and a visit to Stratford-upon-Avon
to fall in love with all things Shakespeare! An informal talent show saw Isha
and Ritika do a typical Bollywood numbers which was greeted with a lot of claps and cheers.
The final showcase saw all our students express their views
on world issues through physical theatre, songs, drama and graphic arts. None
too soon, the last day dawned bright and sunny and all the students presented
their Arts project in a showcase. This was followed by an evening of
‘Bollywood, Bhangra and Curry’ which was the theme for the final dinner and
dance session.
The art of change through graphics
The great bonding experience was a life altering event for
our students and they have come back enriched, connected and determined to make
a change .
