Chiz Williams, co-founder and Lead Mentor
Getting it all mixed up, more often than not, draws Chiz's attention to where things might have come from and where they might be going. Chiz has worked with thousands of people, and in many situations, on the hunch that things fall apart but ideas, artistic instruments and feelings are vital forms of relationship fostering and that novel things must emerge.
Current occupations blur the amateur and the professional, they include coaching at Packers FC – a community football club, being a director of Cables & Cameras, venue and production disco-ordination and co-developing RADMIN programmes that explore 'what artists can do for business'.
His most consistent work in the last 23 years is as part of the workforce at the Cube Cinema, Bristol. Over this period, the self-styled Microplex has hosted and encountered numerous organised and random groups formed around the lure of possible connections (social, artistic and environmental) and who are in search of time, space and support. This work has required a constant balancing of all kinds of personalities and practices, often at a grassroots level and in rapid and changeable conditions.
Chiz's work has grounding and education through periods spent in gardens, social clubs, warehouses, retail, international A&R, teams, discos and rivers. He has partnered up to create projects such as Venn Festival, Song of Place, Water Salad on Monday, Blackout Arts, Barn Nova, The Quantum Horse, In A Field Near You, the films 'September', 'Light Years' & 'The Film That Buys The Cinema' as well as a host of other things.
For 10 years Chiz and co-partners at Qu Junktions played with trying to engage in novel and serious methods and styles to break music out of tired categorisation and practices. Qu is lithe agency for musicians and artists working independently from industry norms and requiring support and development. The drive to get in the mix continues.
Kanada Gorla, co-founder and lead Facilitator
Kanada is a facilitator, guide, mentor and executive coach of 25 years’ experience. Kanada founded Shine to develop organisations and individuals who are working toward social and environmental justice; build horizontal leadership and cultivate cultures of heart, imagination and principled action; facilitate transformative change; strengthen individual and collective resilience; deepen connection with self, others and nature; and contribute wherever she can to the co-creation of human cultures worth coming home to.
Current Projects: Mentoring Hardwick Estate as the aristocratic family transition’s the 900 acre Estate from private ownership into a charitable structure with community-led stewardship at its heart; facilitating a Visioning process with the community of Kin Hill Farm as they dream in their purpose and work together in 80 beautiful acres of Cumbria; Guiding Riverford Organic Farmers on a journey of leadership and culture transformation to align with their transition into Employee Ownership; executive coaching on Common Purpose’s MAVA Leaders for Nature programme; leading Sukun, a wellbeing retreat for global Muslim leaders; and guiding Sustaining Ourselves at Sharpham Trust, for people at risk of or recovering from burnout.
Catalysing Change: Kanada midwifed the birth of #OceanOptimism which reached 70+ million people in its first 2 years and has since become a global movement #EarthOptimism. She launched Pachamama Alliance’s large-scale global social change initiative Be the Change in Canada. She was a founding Advisory Group member of the innovative Apricot Centre Farm in Devon.
Background: Kanada’s background as a community arts animateur and opera/theatre director has informed her methodology & approach. An ICF accredited coach, Kanada has deepened her practice with further training in Transpersonal Coaching, Somatic Psychology and Systemic Leadership Coaching and Constellations. She is a long-time meditator and trains in Shaolin Kung Fu, TaiJi and Qi Gong.
Trace Mulzac, Host, Support Team and 2021 Kinner
Trace grew up in Bristol and knows the value of being part of a community that looks after each other. She loves seeing people come together across communities and cultures, growing their confidence, getting outside their bubbles and learning from one another. Seeing this social cohesion beginning to decline, Trace decided to do something about it and built a team that started putting on events to rebuild those connections.
Trace founded DET Entertainment in 2017, and later created DET Community. DET Entertainment puts on the annual Community Awareness Fun Day which brings together anything from a few hundred people to a thousand, including volunteers of all ages - elders learning from youngers and vice versa.
DET Entertainment also puts on cinema events, a more intimate space, both entertaining and educational, for people new to the city or to the UK, and Bristolians who want to see old friends or meet new ones.
She promotes sexual health for the African and Caribbean heritage communities with Common Ambitions Bristol, as well as running Unity Holiday Hub in collaboration with Young Bristols Got Talent, supporting 5-16 year olds in Bristol.
Trace valued being part of the first Kin Community Workers Programme in 2021, and is delighted to be part of the Kin team, supporting others to have the Kin experience.
Clive smith, film maker, guest musician and 2021 kinner
Film Maker. AS IT IS tv
Born in Jamaica 1959. Arrived in Bristol England 1962.
The Archivist. Over 20 years of film footage telling the stories of the Afrikan Caribbean people of the Windrush generation.
Musician. Keyboard/piano, Guitar, Drummer, Percussions, Singer-Songwriter. Clive started playing keyboards, guitar and drums from the age of 6 years old. Travelling all over the UK playing all styles of music from Gospel, Jazz, Soul, Reggae and Afrikan Caribbean Cultural beats. Toured with bands throughout 80s and 90s like Kobra, Talisman, Eeka Mouse, Ekome Arts Band.
Artistic Director. Artistic Director and teacher for Arts Opportunity Theatre during the 80s. A project set up to teach young people all forms of arts within theatre. Directing and composing the music for Freedom City and Black and White in Colour. Both productions toured throughout UK and Europe 2014 Director of Arts and Culture for St. Paul’s Afrikan Caribbean Carnival.
Dancer. Dancer. Jazz. Afrikan. Contemporary. 1980s Dance teacher at Redland Polytechnic, Graftons Fitness Centre and Private Clients.
Awards. Represented Bristol and the Southwest from 1979-1982 in the UK disco dance champion. Clive has won 2 BBC West RTS Awards, Royal Television Society Street Level 2002 and My Peeps 2004. 1 Europeans Award for originality style of filming 2002. 2010 Clive was named as one of 4 house names at Fairfield school: Clive Smith House, Cary Grant House, Banksy House, Hannah Moore House.
Commissions. Clive was commissioned to capture The Gambia Roots Homecoming Festival from 2006-2014 in The Gambia.
Esther May Campbell, Guest Artist
Esther is an artist. Having completed Poetics of Imagination MA at Dartington she is immersed in myth and image and their potential to reassemble the soul, while employing over twenty years of experience working with story, film and photography as transformative tools and to create heart-touching work. She leads Kitchen Table Photo Club in Bristol, a loose collection of children and elders who meet weekly to make and think like artists, deepen connections with land and one another. With a feminist’s eye, Esther is dedicated to exploring how story and art can enable and help communities (human and non-human) and individuals. She spends a lot of time in the woods.
Ric Holinberry, Guest artist
Ric Hollingbery is a Violinist, Artist, and Choir-Leader living in Devon.
Ric leads the ‘Sorbet Choir’ in Dartington, Devon, a round-the-fire Folk Choir built on the Acting voice-work of Kristin Linklater.
His band ‘321’ (“three two one”) mix Early Music with Punk and are currently touring and writing an album of “poetry with a hell of a lot of music in it”. Ric is studying Art at the Totnes Foundation Course in Devon and is building set-designs and paintings.