Making art is embarrassing: time to embrace 'chalance'
When I signed up for Community Routes back in May, I had no idea whether I would be accepted into the highly competitive programme, let alone what it would involve if I did.
Fast forward three months, and after struggling with the entrance door (just give it a good shove, there’s no button), I stood in the lobby of ACM Birmingham with the rest of my creative cohort, feeling like it was my first day of school.
“Which camp are you in?”, my now friend, Grace, bravely initiated.
“Radio and broadcasting. How about you?”
“Vocal performance.”
I felt my initial nervousness begin to thaw as mine and Grace’s conversation grew, encompassing the others around us too.
Trotting up the stairs to an array of pastries, juices and hot drink facilities, then filing into the main studio; sixty of us aspiring DJs, radio presenters, photographers, musicians, and digital artists were greeted by the exuberant Nikki Tapper MBE.
What followed was five days of intensive learning, talent nurturing and confidence building. With collaborations between creative camps, as the broadcasting team interviewed the vocalists, the photographers took press shots of the DJs, who in turn remixed the vocalists’ original music, whose lyrics were made into digital art by the digital art team - the creative energy flowed in abundance.
On the final day of our week-long residency, a showcase was organised to celebrate everybody’s accomplishments and reflect on what we had gained from the experience.
One of the members from the digital art cohort said: “making art is embarrassing. It’s vulnerable”.
As this comment was met with applause and a smattering of good natured laughter, I realised how much this vulnerability had brought us together.
Every person who had applied for Community Routes, and subsequently got accepted, had exposed their artistry for critique.
The creative industries are a constellation of personalities; an intricate puzzle made up of individual experiences - whether painful, joyful, hilarious, or unusual - through these unique experiences we equip ourselves and others with the tools to connect through art.
Whether that connection is through music - through lyrics which strike a chord within, a melody which speaks more truthfully than words could, or the kind of beat which feels like permission to let loose and dance like there is no tomorrow.
Or the connection that is forged through conversation. Through asking the right questions and truly listening to the answers.
These connections can be found in visual arts too: photography which captures light, energy and character, illuminating people and things through a lens that may have been otherwise neglected - a new language for appreciation.
Or digital art: taking interpretation and creativity to the next level. Pushing the boundaries of what is familiar, expected and tangible, to expand meaning and offer new insights.
Our governments have long tried to suppress the arts.
“Fatima’s next job could be in cyber. (She just doesn’t know it yet)”, read the government backed advert, depicting a ballet dancer tying her shoes, as part of the Cyber First campaign.
While heavily critiqued and eventually removed, this message clearly indicated the government’s feelings towards the arts.
Not a proper job.
Schools tell pupils to prioritise academia. Pick geography over fashion, chemistry over art, maths over music, as if one is superior to the other. The arts are seen as a less intelligent, second rate choice.
We know this is not the case. And Community Routes is a vital testament to that.
As was acknowledged by one of our cohort, what made Community Routes the safe and inclusive space it was, was the level playing field of vulnerability.
There was no judgement of one person’s craft, when we all knew that the next day it would be us on stage, or in front of our cohort, wearing our hearts on our sleeves. That equality of exposure leaves no time for discomfort or shame.
Thrown into the deep end at every opportunity, each respective cohort learned quickly that the key to getting the most out of this experience was total authenticity, and chiming in with enthusiastic applause for your fellow creatives at every opportunity.
The 2026 Community Routes cohort couldn’t have been a more mixed bunch. While everyone was presently Birmingham based, we had participants from Dublin to Florida, and everywhere in between.
In a time of forced nonchalance for many of Gen Z, this residency reminded me how the creative industries are a beacon of unashamed ‘chalance’.
Time to make wearing your heart - your creativity - on your sleeve, not only cool again, but the only way to be.
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