RAMAN MUNDAIR

RAMAN MUNDAIR

education~facilitation~training~outreach

I’m a Queer, disabled, working class, care-experienced woman of Indian Punjabi heritage and was born in Ludhiana, India, brought up in Manchester and Leicestershire and currently live in Scotland. I am committed to life-long learning that is creative, playful, educative and raises self esteem. As a facilitator I create positive learning environments and opportunities for all to develop their skills, confidence and self esteem to their fullest potential. I am an active listener and have trained as a counsellor.

​

<~~......NEWS......~~>

Recent education/facilitation projects include: poetry film making with Muslim women in Scotland for the Amina project. You can view the work, Life In The Time here.

Raman worked with Scottish Youth Theatre as a dramaturg and facilitator on the 2020 Stories project on dramatic monologues for film. 

​

​

as a facilitator

I am an experienced facilitator of workshops. In my workshops I use my skills and experience as a writer and artist to build an environment of safety where participants can experiment, play, be creative and learn how to be confident in their learning.

my experience

I work across the boundaries of gender, culture, heritage, sexuality, language, age, and ability.

Recent work includes teaching online seminars for Aberdeen University’s Post Graduate Diploma in Community Learning and Development, Youth Work Shetland and Shetland Arts.

I have particular experience in working with vulnerable people, children, young people, refugees, adult learners, people whose first language is not English, prisoners, rural and island communities, people with disabilities, learning difficulties, survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence, survivors of the mental health system and healthcare professionals. I am also an experienced mentor of young writers and creative practitioners.

I have experience in intergenerational/reminiscence work: facilitating the telling, collation, and documentation of our communities' stories, across ages.

I have training and experience in working creatively with a wide range of adult literacy and numeracy learners.

I have sat as a member of the Children’s Panel Scotland and I am care-experienced and have great empathy and experience with the care system and looked after children.

I work with visual media as well as text, and am open to interdisciplinary work and collaboration with other artists.

I also offer formal Creative Writing classes concentrating on 'the nuts and bolts' of writing plays, monologues, poetry, prose, and for performance.

Previous projects include:  Mentoring young playwrights for 2020 stories, Scottish Youth Theatre. Work on the Now You See Me project with young Shetlanders of colour.  Self Care creativity workshops for QTIPoC. Workshops with women of colour with no recourse to public funds. Work for Shetland Arts, including with elders at Wastview care home. ‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’ – a series of creative writing workshops based at and using the collection at Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow as a stimulus for writing; ‘What We Pray For’ – a creative project with refugee and asylum seeker women that resulted in a series of short animated films; ‘Rule of Thumb’ – a creative domestic violence awareness project with adult women learners at Glasgow Womens Library; Education Action Zone residencies for the Poetry Society; autobiography and identity workshops with amputees at the Douglas Bader Centre at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton; facilitating self-reflection, self-esteem and rehabilitation through creative writing at HMP Whitemoor; work with Akademi, a South Asian dance company, where I collaborated with dancers on an educational project in schools, looking at migration and refugee issues; working on an intensive project in the borough of Greenwich, with Jubilee Books, in partnership with C.A.R.E, exploring the issues of racism and diversity in the wake of the murder of Stephen Lawrence; work with Amnesty International; the Camden Language and Support Service for refugee awareness week; 'One day we had to run' visual arts exhibition; workshops for Alternative Art's Spitlit festival, where I facilitated a series of creative writing workshops with Bengali women in Whitechapel, looking at collective memory, identity and hidden histories; and Newham Asian Women's Project, where I worked with an Asian Elders project, collating intergenerational stories and facilitating prose and poetry workshops.

Residencies include: Stockholm, New Delhi, Sweden, Oxford, Maidenhead, Slough, Glasgow and the Shetland Islands.

Internationally, I have worked with the British Council in Sweden, Italy, Bahrain and Namibia. In Sweden I taught Creative Writing to undergraduate students at Stockholm University. In Italy I gave workshops on the use of English in the vernacular and how it is used creatively by British writers who have non-English roots and a workshop on the possibilities of teaching English to non English speakers, in a creative and non imperialist way. In Namibia I worked with NGOs, students and local community in Windhoek, where I offered creative writing workshops which allowed space for people to express their experience of the liberation struggle and their relationship with the truth and reconciliation process.

racism, cultural diversity, refugee issues, community and citizenship

These are important issues, and ones that I have worked widely with. I am able to design and develop a package of workshops for 7-11 age group and 12+ age group, that include a resource pack for teachers/facilitators.

Training can also be provided for teachers, community leaders and facilitators, on how to build on the work and knowledge that is created in the workshops.

looked after children/young people in the care system

I bring my lived experience of being within the care system to the work I do with children and young people. I recognise that they have been frequently marginalised and silenced. I understake projects which aim to give voice to their personal stories and histories and celebrate their achievements and boost self esteem. Recent work includes work with young people in Who Cares Shetland?

sectarianism

In collaboration with Flax Arts, Belfast, where I was a visiting artist in residence, I devised and delivered creative workshops to young people and children on the sensitive issue of sectarianism.

working with adult literacy / adult learners

I have extensive experience working with adult learners, in particular women, the homeless and people with chaotic lifestyles. In addition to working face to face with learners, I have also supported tutors in developing a creative practice with their learners. In my work I use drama, creative writing, discussion and music to facilitate positive learning.

working with schools

I offer made-to-measure or theme/issue-based workshops for children aged five and above, that are suitable for use in English, Drama, Citizenship, PHSE and History modules. Workshops work within the parameters of the National Curriculum, the Scottish Curriculum and adhere to the guidelines provided by the S.E.E.D, L.T.S, S.Q.A., Curriculum for Excellence and National Literacy Strategy. My workshops offer a creative learning journey with an emphasis on emotional literacy. Workshop outcomes can include an anthology of work, a performance, installation or an exhibition.

readership development

To be a reader is to be empowered. In this multi-media age the ways in which we read are ever changing. I offer workshops, training, development and consultancy on reader development. In particular encouraging emerging readers, reading for vulnerable people and disenfranchised people. I have wide experience in this field and have been a Scottish Poetry Library Poet Partner for East Dunbartonshire Libraries and Reader in Residence for Aberdeen Libraries.

creative interpretation work with museums and art galleries

As a writer and artist I can bring a unique perspective to exhibits and objects. I have experience in large and small scale public engagement projects and as a commissioned writer and artist. Recent work includes commissions for Bradford Museums and Art Galleries, Harewood House, Leeds and Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow.

LGBTQ youth

LGBTQ young people are frequently marginalised and there are very few safe spaces in our cities, towns and villages that celebrate their lives and experiences. I have the experience and empathy to work with LGBTQ youth to empower them to have a voice and nurture and develop their identities in a creative and engaging way.

working with new social media and new technologies

I recognise the interest that young people have in new social media and where possible find a way to use this media (eg. Twitter, blogging etc.) as a way of creating and showcasing their work and disseminating information. I like to work in a 'lo-fi' way in order to keep the process and technology accessible for all.

working with refugee and asylum seeker communities

I offer workshops that are sensitive to the experience of these communities and create opportunities which honour their personal journeys, bear witness, make connections with the wider community and seek to raise self esteem. Recent work includes working with women of colour within the asylum system with no recourse to public funds. The residency was with UbuntuWomenShelter at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, 2019

Please also visit http://www.multi-story.org/archive/msv1site/mssitev1.html to see 'What We Pray For', a photography and creative writing project with photographer Iseult Timmermans, where, over a series of 6 workshops, women explored a range of subjects through visual symbolism and text. Starting from memories of what their mothers did with their hands the group developed a narrative for the work around the notion of Prayer. 'What We Pray For' is a work in progress.

working with disability and learning difficulties

I offer workshops that focus on creative writing or workshops that combine creative writing with visualisation, art therapy, drama, voicework and movement. Where appropriate, multi sensory resources are used in workshops, and the emphasis is on scribing, spoken word, word pictures, and group work, rather than the written word.

working with mental health and Survivor issues

I offer poetry, performance and self esteem raising workshops for Survivors, and training workshops for healthcare and voluntary sector workers around how to use creative writing and performance in their practice and self development. I have worked widely with Survivors Poetry London and have co-facilitated residential training courses for Survivors, providing individuals with an awareness of survivor issues and the empowerment and tools they need to run creative writing workshops.

working with vulnerable people and healthcare

I work in partnership with host organisations to offer tailor made workshops to suit the client group and venue. Previous work includes creative writing workshops with people with drug and alcohol problems and the homeless. I have also facilitated workshops on a psychiatric ward at St Mary's Hospital, Isle of Wight, and autobiography and identity workshops with staff, patients and outpatients, at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton.

work in prisons

I am comfortable working within the prison environment and offer creative writing workshops that focus on the issues of respect, self-reflection, and dialogue. Previous work includes workshops (delivered on the behalf of Apples and Snakes) at HMP Whitemoor.

working with clients who have English as a second language and/or working with mother tongue.

I learned English as a second language and am sensitive to the issues surrounding mother tongue and ESOL work. I am committed to honouring, and valuing the richness of the mother tongue language and culture, and using the English language in a sensitive and empowering way. I have experience of working closely with translators and community members, on projects which focus on reminiscence and inter-generational work, and working with children in schools, who have little or no English. Projects include working with Asian women elders at Newham Asian Women's Centre, and with Bengali women in Whitechapel, London, on Alternative Arts, 'Hidden Histories' project.

multi media/visual art projects

I welcome the opportunity to work across art forms and to collaborate with other artists. I am a visual artist as well as a writer and recently had the opportunity to create and facilitate using both mediums: ‘Voice/Over’, (text/film installation) was a commission to facilitate and develop an artwork with women survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence. This was a collaboration with artist Lotta Petronella (Finland) and was exhibited as part of the ‘Rule of Thumb’ 2005 exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow. 'TXT ME', was commissioned by Leicester City Art Gallery, as part of the Autumn 2002 'Fold' exhibition. For 'TXT ME', I worked with artist Ashok Mistry on an educational project involving young, South Asian people from Leicester.

rural, remote, and island communities

These are a specialty! I've been lucky enough to be writer in residence on the Shetland Islands and appreciate that the needs of rural, remote and island communities are very specific. I am able to offer tailor made workshop programmes that take into account these needs.

academic teaching

I have taught and assessed Creative Writing at an undergraduate level at Stockholm University, Sweden, and at post graduate level at Loughborough University.

client list

I have run workshops for various organisations, festivals, arts projects, universities, schools, libraries and voluntary sector projects including:

Ubuntu Women Shelter, The National Library of Scotland; The Poetry Society; Scottish Poetry Library; The British Council; Amnesty International; East Dunbartonshire Libraries, Shetland Link Up; Stockholm University, Sweden; The Royal Observatory and National Maritime Museum, Greenwich; Sister Namibia; Queen Mary's University Hospital Roehampton; The Docklands Museum; The SpitLit Festival; The City Gallery, Leicester; Jagonari Centre; Hounslow Community Arts Education; Clapton Technology College; East Midlands Shape; Windsor Arts Centre; Eltham Hill School; Abuse and Survivors Association; Barking College; Newham College; The Jewish Association for Mental Illness; Jubilee Books; Newham Asian Women's Project; Humara Ghar (Asian Elders Residential Home); Akademi South Asian Dance; Balham Family Welfare Association; Tower Hamlets Summer University; Spread The Word; Survivors Poetry London; Apples and Snakes; Flax Arts; Glasgow Women’s Library; Move On (Glasgow); The Arch (Glasgow); Street Level Photoworks Gallery; and the YMCA, Glasgow.

and finally!

The most important thing for me is that the workshops are enjoyable, make a difference to the participants and are delivered in partnership with the host organisation. I am versatile and flexible in my approach: workshops can be customised to cater for individual/group/class needs. Workshops can be one-off, theme/issue-based, or a residency spread over a longer period of time. I am open to collaboration and interdisciplinary work.

anything is possible

Contact me and see what we can generate and create together. I look forward to hearing from you...

rmundair@gmail.com