The 2008 student conference was hosted by The British School, Rio de Janeiro. The focus of this year’s event was the Creative Arts. The conference was organized in collaboration with Centro Popular de Conspiração, Gargarullo.

Thirty three students from five countries across Latin America travelled to Gargarullo, an arts centre in Miguel Pereira, a small town two hours drive out of the city, for three days of creative endeavour.

Taking the event out of the school context lifted the constraints of time, space and routine, allowing the group freedom to explore ideas in depth and giving the whole event a much more authentic feel.
The packed programme included an intensive day of workshops, all centred on a Brazilian theme; percussion, graffiti, capoeira and drama. Over the following two days the students, working in groups, had the opportunity to use the skills learnt in these sessions to formulate a collaborative presentation.

As conference organisers we set the stage but we did not know in what way the students would use the skills they had learnt; we did not know if they would work cooperatively, we did not know if they would be as excited about the project as we were. They exceeded all our expectations. As the weekend progressed the creative buzz, energy and life became tangible…students discussing ideas; experimenting with sound; exploring space and movement; investigating the possibilities of graffiti; expressing excitement at one another’s ideas. The atmosphere was electric.

The weekend culminated in the presentation of the work to an appreciative audience including David Bamford and Paul Wiseman. The three performances based on ‘change’ were all very different; the students interpreting the idea and using the skills they had leant in very different ways. The creativity and ingenuity demonstrated was very impressive.

One highlight of the conference was the sense of camaraderie and kinship that was established; friendships have been made which the students are continuing to strengthen through an online community!

Travelling back into Rio on a rainy Sunday evening the thought of leaving new friends seemed too much, until someone uttered the words ‘LAHC two’ and suggested we do it all again next year! Watch this space!

Leah Wilks, Christine McNeal, Jacqueline Saysell,
The British School, Rio