Newport Photomarathon - Maindee Sat Oct 28th

14/09/2017 | Street Media, Finding Maindee, New Paths, Arts

The first Newport Photomarathon comes to Maindee Library on Chepstow Road to start at midday on Saturday 28th October. Over the following 24 hours the photo marathon entrants will be going around the city taking photos and also sampling some of the 6 workshops on offer. 

This blog article gives an insight into the collaboration behind the scenes, not only between artists but also from businesses and organisations ranging from the Camera Centre to Newport Transport and Coleg Gwent.

Exploring activism through photography

08/02/2017 | Street Media, New Paths, Learning, Opinions

It’s difficult to deny there has been a surge of social activism recently in various forms. From protests to petitions, these pop up on a daily basis on our Facebook feeds as well as across tabloids and anywhere news and information is delivered, often being accessed by consumers simultaneously across multiple platform. Polarising opinions are plentiful in our post-Trump, Corbyn, EU referendum world. Adverts from brands such as Kenco, Starbucks, and AirBnB are layered with aspects of social activism, it can be argued that sex no longer sells but activism and social change is at the heart of many conversations. But what part does photography play in all of this? This blog post aims to share my experiences after attending a New Paths funded project called: Activism and Photography. My name is Mohamad Fez Miah I am film maker, lecturer and mentor for Street Media.

Using art to 'spread love, break hate' in Newport

09/01/2017 | Street Media, Arts, Community

Many people have started to see the art work of RISE Propaganda on the streets of Newport. For example this sign [below] is on the fence outside the building that used to be known as TJ's on Clarence Place.

We noticed that Wales Online had tried to find out more back in October 2016, but not really got very far. Being active and based in Newport we thought we might have a better chance and so we tried!

We tracked down this secretive underground movement to an entity called John Frost. Having made contact we were able to ask four questions about the art work and why this message was emerging again nearly 200 years after the Chartists Newport Rising in 1839. This is what we found...

Photography and Activism

04/01/2017 | Street Media, New Paths, Arts, Learning

Happy new year to all! The 'New Paths' programme is opening the year with an interesting workshop suited to the inquisitive photographer of the family. This workshop is aimed at supporting ones own activism. Lead by Independent Journalist and Documentary Photographer Vedat Xhymshiti. Vedat has travelled the globe on assignments as well as explored his own stories. In this unique weekend workshop before he begins new work outside of Wales, he will highlight and share means of using images to develop effective campaigns that you feel passionate about. 

All images copyright to VXPictures

Literature in developing communities - San Francisco

18/11/2016 | Street Media, Community, Opinions

Our Street Media Manager Fez Miah has recently been spending some time in America. In this article he reports on some interesting developments to support the literacy of young people in the city.

Today San Francisco has become a hotbed of technology: a place where almost all the apps on your phone have had at least 1 line of code originating from this west coastal city. It has areas nicknamed ‘the silicone valley’ where thousands of budding computer science graduates flock towards in hopes of  starting on the new Snapchat, Uber or maybe even Facebook...

In return for its fame San Francisco has sadly, like too many growing cities, some of the most expensive property in the entire World and some deeper issues of poverty, homelessness, numeracy and literacy problems in the poorer areas of the city. This blog post is the start of a few explorations of other cities that use literature for community development.

Street Media update: 'ExtChange' and new projects

19/09/2016 | Street Media, New Paths

Street Media is a media development project for 16-25 year olds based in Maindee. Members make films together and have access to equipment and feedback sessions at Maindee library. We meet weekly. Our last project was called ExtChange. Its a short film which was played at the Newport Fairness Comissions film festival during Maindee festival. 

The Chepstow Road Journey - Meeting 28 September

19/09/2016 | Street Media, Maindee Voices, Development & Building

You are invited to a celebration of the successes and reflection on the future opportunities for Maindee Village Partnership. This is a chance to see some of the films and media created over summer 2016.

Thousand Voices Project & Job Opportunity in Maindee

06/09/2016 | Street Media, Finding Maindee, Maindee Voices, Community

We are pleased that CHER (Community House Eton Road) has recently been awarded a 2 year grant of £55,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support for their 'A Thousand Voices' project. A part-time project co-ordinator role is currently being advertised [see below].

A Thousand Voices follows a similar approach to Finding Maindee by working with the community to collect and archive the stories. In this case people who have been involved with Community House since 1962 when the Presbyterian Church of Wales rebuilt the old church as a community centre with a chapel at its heart; so that the congregation could reach out to all the people of Maindee.

The deadline for the project coordinator is Monday 19 September 2016. For more details of the job please email mpriday@googlemail.com. 

Poems by Susan Lewis

24/08/2016 | Street Media, Finding Maindee, Maindee Voices, Opinions

After attending an embroidery session with the Coffee and Laughs group at Community House on Eton road. I met Susan Lewis who is a poet. She shared 2 poems that she has written during sessions with Artist Marion Cheung who has been developing a Maindee tapestry over the past few months. Below is an interview with her and if you scroll down you will hear the read the poems. 

Susan attends the Coffee & Laughs group which is a friendship group for women of all ages, faiths and cultures. They spend time together, chatting about all sorts of topics to get to know one another well.

Who pays the bills?

29/07/2016 | Street Media, Finding Maindee, New Paths, Arts, Development & Building, Library

John Hallam, Maindee Unlimited's Programme Manager, explains in this blog where the charity gets money from to pay its bills:

We started working on the broad regeneration of Maindee in April 2015. Now lots of things have and are happening - and there are bigger plans for the future.

Much of what we do, like connecting people together, costs nothing at all. But there are still bills to be paid and we often get asked where the money comes from for all this.

So here's a run down of our current funders and others, like the Council, who are providing us with things, like the library building, at no charge. 

By the way, if you are interested in this (dry but important?) subject of money, you might also like to have a look at our first set of annual accounts for 2015/16.

An Outsider’s Perspective on Maindee

27/07/2016 | Street Media, Finding Maindee, Maindee Voices, Community, Learning, Opinions, Library

This is the first article written by young library volunteer Dani Slingerland. She writes in July 2016 having lived in Newport for less than a year and volunteered for only a few weeks. Dani writes as an outsider but it is clear that she is developing bonds and attachments in Maindee.

Short Film ‘ExTchange’ Preview

09/06/2016 | Street Media, Arts

A short film created by the Street Media project explores stereotypes and young people.

New Paths Short Film

25/05/2016 | Street Media

A new short film encouraging people to apply to the New Paths grant programme has amassed over 4000 views across Facebook. Narrated by Carol Davies who has been a volunteer at the Maindee Library since it reopened. Carol has lived in Maindee for years and has raised grandchildren near the area. As a maindee resident she has seen the area change over the years.

Short Film ‘ExTchange’

16/05/2016 | Street Media

Nizmo recently decided to approach New Paths with an idea to make a short film. Having become a father recently he wanted to make a film that, in his own words, would “raise awareness of ongoing social problems that are affecting young people in society on a daily basis”.