Date: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Time: 4pm - 5:30pm
Location: Theatre 2, Irish World Academy

Presenters: Dr Hala Jaber, Dr Kathleen Turner, and Steve Ryan

Chair: Dr Kathleen Turner

In  this  interactive  seminar,  three  community  musicians  offer  three  different  perspectives  on  how  they  use  positionality  to  develop their best practice as facilitators. Hala Jaber considers the  importance  of  physical  safety  in  the  unspoken  parameters  of  the  workshop.  She  considers  how  these  make  it  possible  for  the  facilitator  to  feel  safe,  and  in  turn,  establish  a  sense  of  ‘safe  space’  for  others.  Kathleen  Turner  considers  emotional  safety   when   working   in   community,   asking   how   she   might   ground  herself  in  the  present  moment  in  order  to  enable  the  grounding  of  participants.  Steve  Ryan  explores  creative  safety,  proposing  that  this  is  only  made  possible  when  physical  and  emotional safety have been established. Steve offers an artefact demonstrating  this  principle  in  process,  through  a  song  about  writing a song.

In  response  to  each  perspective,  the  audience  are  invited  to  be  active   participants,   considering   their   own   positionality   with   regard to safety and the thoughts that arise for their practice as artists, facilitators or creators.