exploring possibility through creativity and culture
PARTICIPATORY PROJECTS
WHAT WE DO
At the center of our work is the devising and delivery of quality arts projects that engage young people in meaningful and transformative processes of creative and cultural action. Participation in our projects is always free, and mainly takes place at our venue (with occasional national or international visits).
Our venue offers a multi-purpose physical space for young people from all backgrounds, and other members of the local community, to come together for artistic encounters, cultural exchange, conversation, and community-building activity. We aim to be an inclusive and safe space that is rooted in and shaped by the Balsall Heath neighbourhood where we’re based, and in which our community sees itself reflected and celebrated.
CULTURAL
SPACE
Why are we called 'The GAP'?
The GAP is so-named after a theoretical concept developed in the field of theatre-in-education.
The ‘gap’ is an unfilled space that opens – maybe in time, in understanding, in knowledge, thought or feeling – a space in which personal growth is genuinely possible. It is ‘unfilled’ in the sense that it offers no fixed answers, and it deliberately refrains from telling young people what to think. In these ‘gaps’, young people are free to explore and experiment, to make meaning for themselves, and to consider their own values. They can develop and grow their understanding of who they are and their relationship to the world.
In other words, The GAP facilitates young people to think and to think for themselves.