I am so proud to have worked with The Verbatim Formula (TVF) on and off since mid-2017.
TVF is a research project, and as such was born into Queen Mary University of London and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London.
But it has never been only that.
It's also a beautiful performance co-created by young people in care. Yes, you heard it well. It is created by the very same people who in the past wouldn't be more than research subjects.
TVF doesn't stop there though. It's not art for the sake of art (although not a problem by me if it were the case.) TVF carries its message through and through, consistently using its academic findings and artistic tools to promote social change.
If that weren't enough, TVF still finds space to match their extremely moving performances with a welcoming, warm working environment.
Form and content in perfect sync.
Below I'll be sharing a bit more of their method alongside the photos I've been lucky to take of their many beautiful, moving performances and the steps they've taken towards a better UK care system.
The photos I've taken were shared in a variety of publications from a book chapter to toolkits, websites to newsletters and booklets, all of them aiming to have young people's voices listened beyond the care system.
"TVF has developed a long-term relationship with CLICK (Children in Care Kouncil) Wandsworth, codelivering with them major creative projects at Battersea Arts Centre, inspired by care-experienced young people’s desire to be represented positively and creatively. Verbatim Promenade Performance with CLICK Wandsworth at the Battersea Arts Centre" (formerly Elm’s House Children’s Home), 2019 *
In the core of TVF's performances lay interviews with young people who have experienced the UK care system.
Here’s how it works in their own words:
"In The Verbatim Formula we use headphone performance to make audio testimonies that can be shared safely and anonymously. To make the testimonies, participants record interviews with each other, and with facilitators. The content of the recordings is chosen by participants, edited, and loaded up onto MP3 players or iPods. A performer then listens back to the testimonies through personal headphones, and relays the original recording to an audience by paying minute attention to the words on the audio, and repeating them accurately and respectfully. T
he identity of the original speaker remains anonymous, and this often means that their words can be heard with special attention. Our performances intend to create spaces for reflection and dialogue, not defensiveness or blame."
Below, you'll see photos of the launch of the Making Places Document at the Senior Common Room of Queen Mary University, in 2019
Making Places is a toolkit published by TVF "following up a series of residentials delivered with Care Experienced young people since 2015", which is essentially "a guide on running TVF residentials at Universities and how to support Care Experienced young people into accessing Higher Education". *
As a part of the series of residentials delivered with Care Experienced young people in UK universities, I was commissioned by TVF to give a workshop "Documenting Arts Projects", which aimed to provide creative photography techniques to tell powerful stories and add an artistic layer to documentary photography.
The event took place at the University of East London and was promoted online on Everbrite, where anyone was welcome to participate.
A summary of the techniques taught in the workshop were included on the Making Guides toolkit (see photo), with the aim that the residential organisers could jump-start their photo documenting journey.
Below, you'll see photos of the event where The Verbatim Formula was invited to the Department for Education (DfE) to share its testimonies with an audience of 60, including DfE civil servants and the Minister for Children and Families.
"TVF subsequently supported a cohort of care-experienced young people in gaining funding from the Wandsworth Youth Opportunity Fund, which funded their production of the audio-exhibition ‘Can You See Me?’ which was exhibited at the City Hall | Greater London Authority in Southwark for 93 participants, including social workers, DfE staff and youth workers.
Following up, here are some photos of two gorgeous The Verbatim Formula (TVF) Performances in the Foundling Museum, the first one part of Being Human festival and titled "Lost and foundlings: exploring complex stories of care".
Below, you'll see a short video I made on my iphone to complement the photos of the TVF performance "More than Skin Deep: What is your dream of care?"
This performance is the result with a partnership with Battersea Arts Centre, in London and Contact Theatre, in Manchester to run a total of 10 workshops with care experienced young adults. "Using dance, music, verbatim, storytelling and beatboxing, they share uplifting and challenging reflections on the care system. This participatory process culminated in performances followed by reflective discussion on how we change the stigma and negativity attached to being in care." **
Here's a list of the publications where the photos I've taken for TVF were featured:
Article written by Inchley M, Dar S, Baker S, Pujara M, Siqueira P ( 2023 ) . ‘Performing Aural and Temporal Architecture: Re-framing the University through The Verbatim Formula’ . Performing Institutions: Contested Sites and Structures of Care, Editors: Lindelof, A, Jannsen, S , Intellect
Book Chapter written by Sylvan Baker and Maggie Inchley. 2020. ‘Verbatim practice as research with care-experienced young people: An “aesthetics of care” through aural attention’, in Performing Care: New Perspectives on Socially Engaged Performance, ed. by James Thompson and Amanda Stuart Fisher (Manchester: Manchester University Press), pp. 171–186
Making Place Guide, a toolkit on running TVF residentials at Universities and how to support Care Experienced young people into accessing Higher Education". *
Many websites and newsletters including:
I'm available for commissions and collaborations. Just drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you!