A short film about the experiences of young people from Bradford and their work on Journeys with Mai, a national partnership project between National Portrait Gallery, Bradford Museum and Galleries, the Fitzwilliam Museum in collaboration with The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and The Box. Created by said young people, the vox pop film consists of interviews with people from Common/Wealth Theatre Company and Bradford25 Youth Panel, discussing their experiences with migration and...

A short film about the experiences of young people from Bradford and their work on Journeys with Mai, a national partnership project between National Portrait Gallery, Bradford Museum and Galleries, the Fitzwilliam Museum in collaboration with The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and The Box. Created by said young people, the vox pop film consists of interviews with people from Common/Wealth Theatre Company and Bradford25 Youth Panel, discussing their experiences with migration and racism, connection to Mai’s life and their experiences on the Journeys with Mai project. The exterior of Cartwright Hall is shown from a distance. Title: Journeys with Mai Title: Cartwright Hall, Bradford Fasanya, a Common/Wealth Theatre Company student, explains how her creative process was influenced by the similarities between Mai’s life and her own life and culture. She sits between two bookshelfs wearing a lei. Title: Journeys with Mai is a national tour and engagement programme which aims to build a legacy for Sir Joshua Renold’s Portrait of Mai. Several people gaze at Sir Joshua Renold’s Portrait of Mai. Title: The partnership project offers opportunities for contemporary audiences to connect with the 18th century painting and Mai himself, by centring Pacific Island communities… A male performer partakes in a Fijian dance, dressed in a fibre skirt and holding an Iri ni meke and a spear. Title: and working with local young people to develop responses and programme events to welcome the portrait to their respective cities. A woman speaks on a gallery in a building. Title: This is Bradford’s story… A woman gives a presentation in front of an image displaying animated portraits of several young people. A quick series of black-and white images which includes Portrait of Mai, a Fijian dance performance and young people. Andrew Gray, the Learning and Outreach Officer at Bradford Museum & Galleries, talks about the meaning of Portrait of Mai, and what it means to be othered or to be Westernised. He says that the Journeys with Mai project has given young people a chance to authentically respond to these questions. As he talks, Portrait of Mai is shown, as well as a Fijian dance performance featuring male and female performers who hold Iri ni meke, which takes place in the Jameel Prize: Moving Images exhibition in Cartwright Hall and is watched by an audience. Fasanya discusses the theme of colonisation within her poetry and how she researched Mai’s life looking for similarities to her own. Fasanya performs in front of a statue of Dr. Edmund Cartwright while wearing a light blue sash. Fasanya give a speech in front of Portrait of Mai, holding up a green floral print. Snapshots are shown of Fasanya’s several performances. The Portrait of Mai appears. Viktorija, a Common/Wealth Theatre Company student, talks about her first impression of Portrait of Mai, explaining that he looks sad and uncomfortable, and how this influenced her art and writing. A group of young people, including Viktorija, sit and look at the Portrait of Mai. Sarah Deane, a Community Content Producer at Bradford Museum & Galleries, sits on the left, holding a clipboard and speaking to them. Victor, a Common/Wealth Theatre Company student, describes his feelings of isolation, which he has felt since he was young but became stronger upon emigrating to the United Kingdom. A group of people, including Victor, watch a staff member give a speech at a lectern in the National Portrait Gallery, in front of a wall of portraits, including Portrait of Mai. Noor, a Common/Wealth Theatre Company student, says she felt connected upon seeing the Portrait of Mai, and that she had learned about his story before seeing the portrait. In the National Portrait Gallery, a woman shows a line engraving of Omiah, the subject of Portrait of Mai, to a group of young people, including Noor. Noor then talks to Andrew Gray. A group of young people, including Noor and Victor, listen to a woman with a clipboard talk. Sarah Deane describes how Bradford Museum & Galleries are working with two groups: the Common/Wealth Theatre Company and three people from the Bradford 2025 Youth Panel, who are helping to plan the events. Sarah speaks to the Common/Wealth Theatre Company students as they sit on chairs. Participants from the Common/Wealth Theatre Company listen to a woman talk as they stand in front of the Portrait of Mai. A crowd of people walk out of The David Hockney Gallery. Saoirse Teale, the Young People & Community Producer at Common/Wealth, explains that Common/Wealth is a political theatre company and registered charity that operates in Bradford and Cardiff. She states that they work with a diverse group of people and are firmly rooted in the Bradford community. The work is entirely youth-led, and they push young people to think critically about important issues. The front of Common Space, the former base of Common/Wealth, is shown from a distance. Inside Common Space, a group of Common/Wealth students stand in a line, all facing towards Saoirse. Viktorija performs with another young woman. Viktorija holds up a photograph of someone wearing a white hat and scarf on her phone, while staring at the other woman, who says something while looking at the photograph. A young woman enthusiastically talks while gesticulating. A group of young women, including Noor and Viktorija, laugh and point at something. Fasanya gives a performance while holding two sheets of paper. Viktorija says that she found it difficult to open up about herself during the project. Viktorija gives a performance while reading from her phone. Saoirse states that many of the young people have found it healing to be able to talk about their experiences with migration, racism and connection with heritage. Saoirse and another woman give feedback to a young woman as she is performing. Noor and a young man perform. Viktorija laments how many young people she speaks to don’t feel connected with the arts or the gallery. Viktorija and Fasanya sit on the floor in Cartwright Hall and talk as a group of people watch. Victor give a speech on the gallery in a building. A young woman gives a speech in front of Portrait of Mai. Noor speaks in front of an exhibition as a woman takes a photograph of her. Noor says that young people tend to only learn creative skills in school, and that their needs to be more out-of-school creative opportunities for young people. The Common/Wealth students chat and laugh around a table. Fasanya says that the Journeys with Mai project has meant a lot to her, as it has allowed her to meet people and go to an art gallery for the first time. She says that she has been given the space to say what she wanted to say. She concludes by saying she will never forget it. The Common/Wealth students pose on the gallery. The Common/Wealth students, standing in a line, hold hands and bow in front of Portrait of Mai to a round of applause from the audience. Title: YDG are a UK-based dance and performance group dedicated to championing and celebrating Fijian culture and heritage. Five performers – four male and one female – perform a Fijian dance in front of an art exhibition. Credits: A Film By: Elijah Grant Credits: Special thanks to the young people of Common/Wealth & Bradford 25 Youth Panel: Aamina, Fasanya, Viktorija, Junaid, Rhys, Noor, Khiya, Victor, Tili-etta, Maja, Layla, Usman, Maleehah Credits: Saoirse Teale Young People & Community Producer (Common/Wealth) Credits: Sarah Deane Community Content Producer (bradford District museums and galleries) Credits: Andrew Gray Learning and Outreach Officer (bradford District museums and galleries) Title: Journeys with Te tere o Mai Credits: Bradford District Museums & Galleries Credits: Supported using public funding by Arts Council England Credits: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council Credits: National Portrait Gallery Credits: Heritage Fund Credits: Art Fund_ Credits: Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture