Arcca
connecting people through creativity
It was established 11 years ago by a 15-year-old who was passionate about platforming youth voices and connecting people through creativity. Since then, its roots have grown and it has evolved into a space that celebrates, supports and asks questions through a variety of responsive projects and ideas.
For those who don’t know, tell us what ARCCA is.
ARCCA is a magazine and collective based in South East London. We focus on youth work and creative youth education, exploring ways we can support and inspire the next generation of community builders.
ARCCA stands for A Real Creative Community Archive. Our aim is to platform, document and celebrate on-the-ground community work, bring people together, share stories and build a community based on commitment and care.
Why did you feel the need to start it?
I started it when I was 15 because I recognised the need for relevant, achievable and real documentation of young people’s ideas, stories and expressions. From the beginning, I wanted ARCCA to feel like it was something everyone could be a part of and contribute to on a genuine level. The idea was that once you were a part of the print, you became part of the community, and that approach has grown into beautiful things across the last 12 years.
Our main aim is to build an approach to education and youth work that is responsive, understanding and impactful. Each project we produce through ARCCA comes out of conversations, and we trust that the process of building true community comes from trusting in the people you meet and the ideas that develop from these interactions. Our long term goal is to build our own youth club that supports young people to become artists and creators.
How many people work on ARCCA at the moment? Tell us a bit about the people behind the work.
It is mainly me and Danny steering the ship, however ARCCA’s collective includes our chosen family who are all individuals working at the intersection of socially engaged community work and creativity.
We build our philosophy and therefore the work we do around 6 pillars of intention. Build Together (documentation), Move Together (music and dance), Grow Together (youth work), Be Together (support for older & isolated members of the community), Hear Together (radio & panels), Learn Together (education). Each of these pillars represents a different part of the work that we do, whilst they all orbit around the same intention of togetherness.
How does the magazine and print element tie your work together? What’s the significance of keeping the magazine arm running in a digital world?
Holding oral histories in our hands is an important way to create a framework that can sustain itself. Print is something that is accessible for everyone and can be interacted with in a slow, present and physical way, which is what ARCCA represents on every level. The print documenting the journey has always been at the core of ARCCA as a project so will continue to be a part of what we do. We also recognise how much digital spaces can connect us in certain ways too, so we also have our prints available to read digitally.
We believe young people hold the keys, we just have to show them the doors. The education system in the UK keeps these doors to opportunity locked, instead funnelling young people through a singular, pre-determined pathway. Having spent most of our time working in schools, alternative provisions and non-mainstream education settings, we have seen first hand how many young people are let down by the system that is supposed to look after them. There is no space to be seen, to dream or to be valued for who you are, and we are determined to create a space that represents that.
Talk us through some of ARCCA’s proudest moments so far.
Our largest Move Together, and proudest project, to date was in collaboration with Camps Breakerz, a breakdance school in Gaza. It was an awareness-raiser, fundraiser and celebration of the incredible work done by the Camps Breakerz community, highlighting how they use dance therapeutically to provide a healing and hopeful space for the children in Gaza. We were joined by Camps Breakerz co-founder Ahmed Alghariz, who facilitated a trauma informed movement workshop, spoke on our panel and judged the breaking competition. It was a blessing getting to know Ahmed and learning about how he has nurtured Camps Breakerz across the past 20+ years. They are a community built on commitment, care, collective dedication and love.
How can young people get involved - what have you got coming up?
We are slowly but surely working towards getting our next print edition out into the world which includes young people’s writing contributions. So any aspiring writers are welcome to get in touch.
Lastly, what’re you listening to atm?
D’leesa, a singer-songwriter & producer based in Atlanta who is bringing us a lot of pure joy and warmth through her sound.
Yasmine Hamdan’s album ‘I remember I forget’ which is providing healing energy.