Following on from the success of our New Writers Project the Bijli Artists Platform is an initiative to support the creative expression and skills of underrepresented communities in Scotland.
This project worked with five writers and performers who were at the early stages of their artistic journey, and provided them with four months of mentoring from professional writers Tawona Sithole and Mariem Omari.
Four of the artists developed their own performance piece which was showcased at The Glad Cafe, Glasgow in April 2023 and attended by members of various arts organisations including Creative Scotland, NTS, Citizens Theatre, Playwrights Studio Scotland, CCA, Glasgow Women’s Library and We Are Here Scotland.
Supported by:
The Development Showcase was an excellent opportunity for the new writers to gather useful feedback, and experience the impact of their work on an audience. Meeting members of the arts community in Glasgow has helped them to start to build their network in the arts. This was also an excellent opportunity for people from these arts organisations to attend a showcase of this kind. One audience member wrote:
“It has been a long time since I have been at a spoken word/poetry night and the writers have transported me. Well done to all. Thank you for your gifts, your honesty, your courage, your openness and trust in us. Great night. Well done, Bijli!”
Development Showcase Photos
Feedback from the new writers:
What do I think of the mentoring and showcase? I feel like this whole journey was tailormade for me. If anything was done differently, I don't think I could have done it..."
I didn't think it was possible to ever do something like this; to do what I love and get this kind of support from a team that is so genuine, warm and nurturing.
I really enjoyed being part of the artists platform. I don't want it to be over. It has really taken me to the next level as an artist."
Our artists
Fakhriya
Fakhriya is undertaking her BA in Community Development at the University of Glasgow. Her passion for working with communities has inspired her to learn and listen to others stories. Being part of the Bijli project, ‘We Make the Path’, has sparked an interest in poetry as a means of sharing and voicing what lies deep within her. This has encouraged her to write unapologetically. In her spare time, Fakhriya enjoys watching comedy as “laughter is the medicine of the soul”.
Humayra
Humayra’s writing is the negotiation of a Pakistani-Scottish split consciousness, being both, yet neither completely. She explores the contention between individuality and belonging; and love and power.
Jonathan
In 2015, Jonathan moved back to Glasgow to rediscover his Weegie roots. He’s working towards his BA in English Lit and Creative Writing. He’s quick witted, kind hearted and brimming with passion and potential.
Priyanka
Priyanka is a playwright and director. Born in India, they moved to Scotland to pursue a Masters in Writing for Performance at the University of St Andrews. A 2019 graduate from the University of Oxford in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Priyanka is interested in understanding and asking questions about the socio-political world we live in today.
Rabia
Muslim, British, Asian. Mother, sister, daughter. Originally from England, now living in Glasgow. I turn to the outdoors to recharge and rebalance in my hectic life. My children are my everything. My writing is a journey which begun in my childhood as a way of dealing with life and its pressures, and though shelved many times, I now continue the search to understand myself, hoping that through the expression of poetry I can find peace in the traumas that have shaped me.