CreateVoice

Jazmine Rocks

I'm Jazmine Rocks, a nineteen year old style blogger and a newbie freelance stylist from London. I adore the Victoria and Albert Museum, it's most definitely one of my favourite places in London to explore, and I can often be found wandering around the British Galleries, exhibitions and of course the lovely gift shop! I've been a member of CreateVoice since July 2010 - it's great to be part of a group which allows me to work with museum professionals and other members to organize events and put forward ideas on ways to improve the museum for young people. Recently CreateVoice put together a fashion festival at the Museum, where I gave a talk about fashion blogging with a handful of other bloggers, which was really insightful and so exciting to be part of. I'm really looking forward to spending more time working with the V&A and CreateVoice on new projects over the coming months.

Annabelle Mayor

My name is Annabelle Mayor and I'm 17. I became a member of CreateVoice because of the Friday Forum. I have also taken part in the Create a Garment workshop, which was fun and I hope to do more workshops. CreateVoice is great because of what they do for young people who are interested in a creative career or who just want to get creative! The V&A is my favourite museum as it has a huge range of collections and exhibitions, and the place is full of treasures. My favourite is the collection of silver but I also really like the photography collection too. The Friday Forums are really enjoyable and since the V&A's open late on Fridays, after the meeting and activity you can stay and explore the museum which is really great fun.

Iris Boudier

My name is Iris Boudier. I am 22 years old and have been a member of CreateVoice for the past two years. I joined CreateVoice because I was interested in art and really liked the Victoria and Albert Museum. I have been involved in many activities and workshops since joining, all of which I have thoroughly enjoyed. My favourite has to be the short film project which was filmed in the Renaissance and Medieval Galleries, this was a great experience, and I learnt a lot about this era in the process as well. Reporting about the Fashion Festival for the CreateVoice webpage was fantastic, too. What I love about the V&A is that the collections are so varied, there is always something new to discover, and there are many activities and seminars organized which are a great way to learn more about art and design. Being a member of CreateVoice and spending time in this great institution has made my interest for art turn into a real passion, and I am now studying History of Art at a postgraduate level.

Aneeka Makwana

Aneeka Makwana, 21, 3rd year Graphic Design student at Camberwell College of Arts.

I joined CreateVoice in July 2010 as an intern and subsequently signed up as a member to get a greater understanding of the forum and what they do. There were some lovely workshops that I've been involved in, specifically working with artist in residence Christian Kerrigan on a virtual exhibition in a disused part of the museum and a sculpture workshop in casting and model making which allowed us to create self-motivated work within a structure, which were displayed in glass cases in the Sackler Centre for a short while. We also collaborated with the Blue Train Project in curating a series of performances and exhibitions in response to the 'Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballet Russes' exhibition at the museum last year which culminated in a Friday Late event with various performances taking place around the Museum.

As part of my work experience, I was set a live project to create an identity for CreateVoice which lead on to a more consultative role; I showed the progress of my work to members at the meetings and took on their feedback to improve it, ensuring that it was reflective of the group.

The V&A is one of my favourite places to visit, so to be involved in some way is a real treat. I've spent many hours in the Ceramics Gallery as it's full of some incredible examples of diverse craftsmanship and I really love being able to see the skilled hand of the artists in their work. The textile study room is another of my favourite parts of the museum, as you really interact with the objects on display by pulling them out and spend time examining each piece on display; it's quite tucked away so you can potter around undisturbed for quite a while.

Novuyo Moyo

My name is Novuyo Moyo (19 years old) and I am currently studying BA (Hons) Criticism, Communication and Curation at Central St Martins. I got involved with CreateVoice the summer of 2011 when I did a joint Teen Talk with one it's existing members. It was a great opportunity to meet with one of the curators at the V&A Museum and gain valuable information which we could then research further and use as part of a talk we gave to an audience. This is one of the reasons that I view CreateVoice as an invaluable youth thinktank; we are given opportunities to develop projects and contribute our own ideas to events such as the Fashion Festival 2011. What I like most about the V&A is that it always hosts a variety of events suitable for all sorts of people and interests within art and design of course. My favourite object at the V&A is a German cabinet by Boas Ulrich in Room 62 of the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries. Its extravagantly decorated and very decadent which is probably why it caught my eye initially and has remained in memory for so long.

Sema Tekle

I LOVE all that infuses art, my main expression lying within the world of vocal performance. When missing, I tend to indulge my senses by getting lost in museums - the Victoria and Albert Museum being one of the main culprits. As a member of CreateVoice, it is a great platform through which we as a team are able to build to integrate all our ideas and respectively represent for the young in today's society, thus allowing me to be further embedded within the V&A. I have been a member since October 2010 and have engaged in many insightfully inspiring workshops throughout. Recently I have collaborated with museum professionals and individuals within the arts industry in developing and seeing through the Fashion Festival (2011) to success. I look forward to future endeavours and discovering new hideouts, globally.

JC Kamau

I'm JC Kamau a creative artist. My main creative arts are acting, poetry, film, photography and radio. I do a weekly blog and I have just finished my first album called Mosaic Merkaba. I've been a part of the CreateVoice youth forum since I took part in creating a promotional film about the V&A for young people called GameOn@theV&A. We got to meet Vivienne Westwood who was actually in the film. Since then I've been involved in some exciting work, making a film called Thou Art Dead linked to the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries and The Blue Train project linked to the exhibition Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes as well as other informative programmes. Participating in these has given me the confidence to curate my own exhibition called Traveling without Moving. Independently I created two music videos: Metaphysically and Time is art (Remix), both using footage filmed at the V&A. The permission given was due to being a member of the CreateVoice youth forum.