Open Collab is a monthly livestream event where we (multi-instrumentalist duo Charlie + Jake) improvise music around videos of poetry performances sent into us from all over the world. We’ve been hosting this event since April 2020 and have been totally inspired and blown away by the response to our monthly call out for poetry. We listen to the poems a couple of times before the show but leave all of the musical creation until we’re live - it’s exciting and spontaneous and we never know what will happen! We use the instruments around us in our home studio in Bristol, UK and our live looping set-up to create immersive musical worlds for the poems to live in.
For International Women's Day 2021, we are asking for poetry submissions on the subject of personal and shared experiences of female identifying people, friends, family, and important figures in our lives. We are also asking for donations here for Womankind, a charity that supports women in the Bristol area with professional counselling, group psychotherapy, befriending and a helpline service.
This is what they say about the things they achieve:
"Womankind is an established charity that is run by women for women.
We help hundreds of women every year to improve their mental health and well-being so they can experience a better quality of life.
We recognise that the roots of our difficulties are often linked to personal life histories. We also recognise that the social and political environment in which we live affects our mental health.
It’s not always easy to ask for help but we would encourage you to not suffer in silence as talking to someone about your problems and how you feel can really help.
We will work with you to understand your situation and can help you think things through so you get the support you need.
We can help you to find your own voice, to express yourself and think about what’s happened."
