Upgrade Yourself Festival

Fri 22 Nov 2024
16.00 - 20.30
Sat 23 Nov 2024
16.00 - 21.00
Lancaster & River Rooms
New Wing

Upgrade Yourself Festival is back, connecting emerging creatives ages 16 to 30 with trailblazing creatives and industry experts. Join us for inspiring talks, workshops, and mentoring sessions plus music and performances! 

Across both days enjoy:

  • Our Upgrade Yourself Networking Activation
  • Free headshots by fashion photographer Kwame Dapaa 
  • Free food and drink provided by Clement Worrall 
  • Live DJ sets from Hub 16 djs  
  • Dream the Check Workshop with Run the Check

Workshops

Entry for workshops in G16 will be on a first-come, first served basis. Capacity is limited. Information on how to sign up will be sent in the pre-event email

Friday

Creative Access Application Clinic 
16.00 – 19.30 | G19 

Creative industry guidance plus where to look for opportunities, plus advice on formatting and tone of applications. The team can cover CVs, cover letters, portfolios, statements and answer any questions you have about industry recruitment practices. Bring one thing to focus on during the appointment to make the best use of your time. 


Quick Connects by The Yard 
16.00 – 19.30 | River Rooms 

Awkward networking sucks, and like you - we hate it. So we’re curating a space that is the opposite. Quick Connects is all about curated connections so you can chat with people who also want to chat with you. Think speed networking - but actually good.  
 
We’ll also have a Skill Swap Wall where you can offer up something and learn something new in exchange.  No stuffy name tags, no forced small talk—just real conversations with people who actually want to connect. All you need to do is show up, and we’ll take care of the rest. 
 

How do I create a budget? 
16.00 – 19.30 | River Rooms  
 
Drop in with all your budget-related questions to Grand Plan’s program manager and creative producer, Savena Surana! She can review a draft budget, point out potential gaps or places for improvement and brainstorm other forms of funding and support. 


The Green Practice: Fusing Sustainability and Creativity 
17.00 – 18.00 | G16 

Led by fashion designer and multidisciplinary artist Elfreda Dali, this workshop will guide creatives on how to integrate sustainability into their artistic practices, using hands-on exploration with recycled and repurposed materials. 


Roundtable Discussion with RIOT SOUP members: Asma, Sarah & Tinuke 
18.30– 19.30 | G16 

Join RIOT SOUP for an engaging group discussion where we'll share insights into our professional journeys. We're here to talk about how we've navigated the creative industry, built and sustained our creative community, maintained personal art practices, advocated as racial allies in the workplace, and everything else in between. Come down, join the conversation and ask anything!  Unlike traditional panels, this session encourages questions and collective dialogue throughout. 


Saturday

CV Clinic with Represent 
16.00 – 19.30 | G19 

Represent shares practical knowledge and confidence-boosting strategies to equip you with the tools for a successful and thriving career. The team can cover CVs, portfolios, and work applications and answer any questions you may have about industry recruitment practices. Please bring one thing to focus on during the appointment to make the best use of your time. 


44 Questions: If your creativity were a tangible object, what would it be and why? 
16.00 – 19.30 | River Rooms 
 
44 Questions is a conversation activity by Forty-Four Words - Britain’s first Black-owned publisher to specialise in handmade-to-order books. Think of 44 Questions like a card game but in handmade books. The experience revolves around 44 thought-provoking questions, like the one you just read, inviting you to explore the art of playful thinking and the significance of meaningful interaction when among like-minded individuals.  

Custom Charms Workshop 
16.00 – 19.30 | River Rooms 

Make a personal commitment about taking a specific action in your creative, personal, or professional life. Craft a kitschy charm using beads as a personal reminder. Drop a message to your future self in our analog time capsule to seal the deal. 


Ghost stories, folklore & inherited memories 
17.00 – 19.00 | G16

In this roundtable discussion Nia Fekri, Chanthila Phaophanit & Parwana Haydar will be discussing the impact of folklore, folktales & ghost stories on their artistic practice. How do we translate and transform the visceral stories & memories we grew up with into audio-visual language? We will bring examples of our own and other people's work - We will bring ways to think about and expand on what it means to work on these topics as a diaspora practitioner. How can we experiment with the variety of tools that are given us by the film medium & produce the outcome we desire to express? 
 

ACROSS BOTH DAYS

Dream the Check
16.00 – 19.30 | River Rooms

Run the Check is a creative career resource, we aim to help people find the best-paid opportunities within the creative industry. Concise jobs with a people-first approach. Demystifying the process, one disclosed salary at a time; We streamline information to expand the reach and impact of roles. With the intention to make the industry an equitable space for all.  

This time round: we’ll be dreaming ‘the check’, with our dream jobs board, an open space manifestation station for participants to think about what they really want from a career and visualise their dream opportunity. Alongside this, we will also have our first physical job bulletin board with live roles, grants/funding opportunities and more! 

1:1 Mentoring Sessions 
16.00 - 19.30 | G18 & G20  

Drop-in 1:1 mentoring sessions with creative industry experts and trailblazing talent including: 

Ibrahim Abba-Gana (Friday & Saturday) 
Jason Baron (Friday) 
Asher Kosher (Friday & Saturday) 
Eerf Evil (Friday) 
Rudi Minto de Wijs (Friday & Saturday) 
Hannah Patterson (Friday) 
Enorê (Saturday) 
Lauren Little (Friday) 
Clara Chu (Saturday)  
Savena Surana (Saturday) 
Nikki Pinkus (Saturday)   
Aoibheann Greenan (Friday & Saturday) 

Access Information

Our ambition is to make this event accessible to everyone, but we know there is work to do! 
  
Upgrade Yourself Festival will take place in G Rooms, River Rooms and Lancaster Rooms at Somerset House (New Wing). The space is on the ground floor and accessible to wheelchair users. There is an accessible toilet close by and all toilets will be gender neutral. There will also be a quiet space and access packs available. 
  
The event will be supported through BSL Interpretation on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 November. If you would like more information or to request specific access support, please email engagement@somersethouse.org.uk prior to arriving. 
  
We are constantly working towards making our events more accessible, if you have any feedback on how we can improve. Please let us know! 
  
Find out more about accessibility at Somerset House here
  
ACCESS PACKS 
On the days of the festival you'll be able to borrow Access Packs from the New Wing Reception. These will contain large print guides, noise cancelling headphones, a copy of the visual story, a document detailing what you can expect navigating your way to the event, and a stress ball. 

About Upgrade Yourself 

Somerset House’s Upgrade Yourself programme is aimed at deepening and widening engagement. Produced by the Inclusive Talent Engagement team, these events and opportunities seek to remove barriers and increase representation in the creative sector, with a focus on young aspiring creative talent from underrepresented* backgrounds. The Upgrade Yourself programme focuses on giving emerging talent aged 16-30 access to skills, experiences and progression routes to pursue careers in the creative sector, connecting to the wider Somerset House programme and resident creative community. 

If you would like to keep up to date with the Upgrade Yourself programme and opportunities at Somerset House please sign up to our newsletter

 
*The Inclusive Talent Engagement team at Somerset House acknowledges that particular people are underrepresented in the creative sector. Particularly those who identify as:  

Ethnically diverse and/or Global Majority 

Living with a disability 

Working class and/or from a lower socio-economic background 

LGBTQIA+ and/or non-binary 

Neurodivergent   

We also acknowledge that people face barriers in many ways not mentioned above, and we are open to hearing from anyone who considers themselves to be underrepresented in the creative sector.