Lily Bennett

THREE young people from Thurrock have had their work included in a Jack Petchey Foundation youth-led art exhibition.

The exhibition is being staged at Poplar Union, Tower Hamlets and celebrates young people's creative work during the pandemic.

The pieces were submitted to the Foundation's Forward to the Future competition, which asked young people to explore what the future could look like through any creative medium.

36 creative pieces are being exhibited in Poplar Union arts and community centre and open to the public throughout the month of April, visitors will be able to experience the exhibition from 9am-5:30pm weekdays. 

The competition received 166 entries of creative pieces spanning art, poetry, video, spoken word, sculpture and more. These entries were then shortlisted and the winners picked by a group of young people.

Art work exhibited includes pieces from Lily Bennett, Louie Sach and Nuha Ahmed from Thurrock. Louie, a student at Orsett Heath Academy produced his own composition, which features in the video with this story.

Gabriel May, Grants Officer at the Jack Petchey Foundation, said: "It is so important to encourage and celebrate young people's creativity. The pandemic was a difficult time to stay positive about the future, and we wanted to encourage young people to explore the inspiring future world they wanted to see and build.

"We are so excited to be working with the wonderful team at Poplar Union to put on this exhibition, created by young people for young people."

Members of the public wishing to attend the exhibition should visit Poplar Union's website: https://poplarunion.com/plan-your-visit/

To visit the online alternative of the exhibition, please visit: https://www.artsteps.com/view/61a78bc6a5318972337ca0a5

To find out more about the exhibition and the Jack Petchey Foundation, visit our website: https://www.jackpetcheyfoundation.org.uk/forward-to-the-future-competition/

Nuha Ahmed's entry.