Hello and welcome to UNCON 2023. My name is Allan, and I’m the Time to Shine Coordinator at Creative Scotland.
UNCON is short for unconventional. It is an informal youth-led and youth-based event celebrating the talent of children and young people across the arts. UNCON is part of Creative Scotland’s Time to Shine strategy, and is delivered by members of the National Youth Arts Advisory Group, who consult Creative Scotland about youth arts policies and supports young creatives to reach their potential through youth-led funding.
This year’s event is happening on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th February, and will feature two important strands – showcasing the work of our Youth Forum events through ttsuncon.com, and two daylong arts festivals organised by young people in Inverness and Edinburgh.
UNCON is a platform that lets us hear the voices of young artists and creatives, showcasing and celebrating some of the amazing young talent here in Scotland. What makes UNCON special is that it is designed for young people by young people!
In 2022, the National Youth Arts Advisory Group and Creative Scotland, supported 11 organisations to deliver a mix of youth forums and events, creating opportunities for young people to come together to share ideas, learning and skills, and showcase their work. Work from these projects will be hosted on UNCON 3.0 (ttsuncon.com).
The programme of work this year includes:
Articulate Cultural Trust | Articulate hosted a two-day creative assembly for young people, practitioners and organisations concerned with advocating for access to culture and the arts for care experience young people. |
Capital Theatres | Capital Theatres used the Forum activity to kick-start a youth advisory board. The group worked to raise their own topics for discussion so that their feedback and ideas was directly able to influence decision making and strategy development. |
Clifftop Projects | Clifftop Projects ran a weeklong Youth Arts Forum where we asked the question 'What Would You Change About the World?". Young people answered through model making, posters, drawings and more. |
PAMIS/Arts End of Somewhere | PAMIS worked with young people with additional need, physical disabilities and PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities) to have their voices heard on the topic of accessibility within the arts. |
Shetland Young Promoters Group | SYPG organised a series of young person led engagement sessions to hear what they want in terms of art provision/events in Shetland. |
YDance | YDance hosted a series on national online forums around local dance groups. |
Youth Theatre Arts Scotland | YTAS established a forum for young people in the youth theatre sector to reflect upon and share their views on the youth theatre sector's needs. |
StrangeTown Youth Theatre | StrangeTown established a regular NYAAG forum with their youth theatre members. |
Stills | Stills initiated a new permanent youth panel, allowing the group to determine its own remit, and to programme its own event in response to the question "What does Photography in Scotland look like in 2045?" |
G20 Youth Festival | G20 hosted Hill Art Festival, showcasing alternative art works of young people of Maryhill, Glasgow, including graffiti tours, DJ workshops, community events and film screenings. |
Bold Collective | The Bold Collective are a Glasgow based collective of young artists supported by Glasgow CAN. They hosted Art Picnic, a three day festival focused on arts for mental health and wellbeing. |
We are also showcasing the work of young artists who have recently been supported through youth arts bursary funding.
This year, we are also hosting two events as part of UNCON 2023. These are being held in Edinburgh and Inverness on 4th February, and are daylong youth arts festivals organised for young people, by young people to providing an opportunity for local young people in the arts to gather, celebrate their work, share their experiences, and talk about the issues that matter to them. Both events are free to attend.
UNCON 2023 Edinburgh- Youth Arts Festival Tickets, Sat, Feb 4, 2023 at 3:00 PM | Eventbrite
Venue: Edinburgh Student Housing Cooperative 34 Wright's Houses (Basement)
Time: 3:30- 11 PM (Breakdown of Event below)
Food: Hot chocolate is served during the afternoon session, and delicious burritos and nachos by Alaburrito will be served between 6:30 and 7:30
About the Event: We have lined up a whole day of events to spotlight and celebrate young creativity. With two workshops, an exhibition, a free creative space, an open mic and a jam session we hope there will be space for each art form and any creative expression!
UNCON 2023 Inverness – Youth Arts Festival Tickets, Sat 4 Feb 2023 at 13:00 | Eventbrite
Venue: Creative Academy, Inverness
Time: 1pm till 8pm.
About the Event: This event is a first for the area. UNCON is an exciting opportunity to celebrate young talent in Highland arts and to network with other young artists in the area. As part of the event, young people are encouraged to bring examples of their art.
We’re looking forward to sharing all the exciting work with you!
