All About #CritChat — Why EVERY Young Creative Should Be There
Meet Cai Burton and Yasmin Qureshi, Crit-Chat’s new hosts, to find out why #Crit-Chat is what your creative practice is missing.
It’s not every day you hear the word ‘crit’, but crits play an important role in the life and work of a creative. Short for ‘critique’, crits are a welcoming and informal session where a group of artists come together and share what they’ve been working on and receive constructive feedback on their work. Attending crits can really help better your practice and your relationships with other artists. Not only are they good testing ground for trying out your presenting and pitching skills, crits are great for understanding audience, communication and the strength of your work. They also present opportunities for you to see your work in another light, trial certain things or ask for informal advice. That’s why Rising have been running #CritChat for almost two years – a friendly place for young creatives across Bristol to meet, share and grow!
#CritChat runs once a month, usually the last Wednesday, at different arts spaces around the city. There’s no pressure to present work – it’s just a relaxed couple of hours for young creatives to make connections and build a network of like-minded peers. Each #CritChat begins with a short talk from a guest on topics such as ‘how to be a freelancer’, ‘applying for funding’, ‘improving photography skills’ and more! These sessions create an equal space for anyone looking to have discussions on each others’ work and find a network of potential collaborators. Like all parts of Rising, we want to ensure #CritChat is a space where we can all share, learn and make badass work. #CritChat sessions have always been hugely popular, but it’s about to get bigger and better because Rising artists, Cai Burton and Yasmin Qureshi, have taken up the challenge `and are now running #CritChat.
Yasmin is a Bristol-based, mixed media artist repeatedly describing the themes of psychological trauma, body image and human experience. Yasmin works closely with Rising and Paper Arts and creates work that focuses on sharing stories around personal experiences through 3D jewellery. Cai Burton is an illustrator, muralist and designer from Bristol who believes in making work that helps people feel good! Cai is on Rising’s Youth Board and works with clients and schools to create and deliver exciting art workshops. We caught up with the artists to find out what their vision is for #CritChat.
“Creativity thrives through collaboration. Working together means that we can build amazing things, and we have so many experiences we can share with one another. But often, we can end up isolated and working alone. Which is why we’re trying to challenge that. We’re building a space centred around collaboration and discussion. #CritChat is inspired by presentations you may give co-workers or fellow students, except it’s removed from a university, school or workplace. It’s a chance to share your great ideas and ask for input as to how to make them happen. And it’s a place where Bristol’s young creatives can come together. All we ask is that you bring something to share and a willingness to help others, and we’ll provide the snacks.
Yas and I are aiming to make #CritChat bigger and better; trying to help more young people, and share advice from those with more experience. There’s something exciting about the discussions you might not normally have; around artificial intelligence, about how poetry can meet dance, and how we can all earn a bit more money from our passion.”– Cai Burton.
“In addition to the conversations that take place during #CritChat we also have a guest speaker who can shed light on their own specific field and background in providing advice for individuals looking to explore an area of the creative industry. These informal talks provide an opportunity for everyone to learn about different areas of industry through understanding the speaker’s own journey and seeing what it took to get to their current point in their career.
I enjoy being able to co-facilitate Rising’s #CritChat with Cai as its exciting to be apart of an event that connects a range of different creatives and collectives into a space where ideas and information can be shared with the aim to build up and support one another. It’s exciting to see the development of regular attendees and also exciting connections made with new faces. I think these series of sessions are such an important space for creative people in finding their community and being apart of a growing network that celebrates each others successes and propels them forward in exciting new directions”.
– Yasmin Qureshi
#CritChat runs once a month in Bristol in various art spaces around the city. We’re excited to see what the future holds for #CritChat. For more information about #CritChat and the date for the next one, please register for a free place via our EventBrite. Can’t wait to see you there!