Phone Call to the World, Creative British Council, Scottish Youth Theatre

ARROWSA has participated in an exhibition in COP26 Glasgow that includes the digital works and information on the ARROWSA South African participation in the creative response to environment issues - PHONE CALL TO THE WORLD  project, led by Scottish Youth Theatre and funded by the British Council (see Phone Call to the World  website and PCTW map ). In the project young people from three continents who are hubs of Indra Congress have created digital performance-based work on climate change and topics related thereto that inform, question, confront and make demands of its different audiences. They have created short works that pack a punch in their messaging and are easily consumed via social media and other digital platforms so they can permeate more people’s daily existence. An example is the short script, created by Scottish Youth Theatre, that ARROWSA Bechet youth recorded in different languages. The script highlights the poor health of Mother Earth: Emergency services ARROWSA Bechet PCTW  

ARROWSA has led a South African (SA) team of 58 people of project leaders, arts facilitators and youth participants: 36-38 x ARROWSA Bechet and 4-6 Local History Museum Bremen alumni in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and 16 x South Roots International (SRI), Cape Flats, Western Cape Province. The work was coordinated, managed and delivered by arts facilitators with youth and secondary school students. CCMS, UKZN is also a non-arts partner of the project. The project has take place between April and November 2021. It has brought together a team of diversity that supports equity and transformation in SA. Online arts activities and face-to-face meetings for social change are the core approach. Initially local issues were explored by the two groups as they come from distinct geographical regions. In September SRI drove up the East Coast of SA to Durban to meet with ARROWSA and on the way they interacted with communities and performed Call to the World. They filmed their collaborative journey SRI Call to the World Durban trip to ARROWSA. Enroute they planted Spekboom, Portulacaria afra, that they propagated: Propagating Spekboom - SRI for PCTW .These represent “telephone poles” that reconnect the people and the environment. A week’s meeting of the two groups was held in Durban. During this they interacted with non-arts partners e.g. CCMS, UKZN facilitated webinars led by environmental activists and experts (see interim works below), they visited the Palmiet Nature Reserve, saw a demonstration by Nick Evans of KZN reptiles and visited the recycled exhibition that they had created They stand their ground that is at Old Court House Museum (see participants response to the exhibition at They stand their ground ) to learn of the impact of climate change on biodiversity. They also scripted, rehearsed and filmed a joint performance that they presented to audiences in the Western, Eastern Cape and Durban (see Production Day ), created a vegetable and cultural garden at Bechet High School in Sydenham, Durban (see Scottish Youth Theatre website ARROWSA Vegetable garden and ARROWSA vegetable and herb garden pamphlet) that they started on Heritage Day (see Heritage Day vegetable garden) and created a music video of We're in this together . This media created is disseminated on ARROWSA and South Roots International  platforms and at the Phone Call to the World COP26 exhibition in Glasgow (see Scottish Youth Theatre interactive exhibition ). 

Links to works created:   

Save the Environment ARROWSA Bechet PCTW 

Ecobricks as a tool for Environmental Education ARROWSA Web1 Jessica Ross PCTW

Localising Environmental Injustice ARROWSA  Web2 Shannon Landers PCTW

Walking in the sand Web3 Shanette Martin PCTW

Casey Spinner response ARROWSA Bechet Web2 PCTW