Empowering students about the creative sector

Shy Burhan, an artist and photographer, was invited as a guest speaker by Batley Girls High School to inspire pupils and help them grasp the career prospects available in the creative industry.  

West Yorkshire's vibrant creative sector has been a national and worldwide success story, with the fastest creative sector growth in England outside of London.  

The region's economy benefits from the £2 billion that the creative industries provide, sustaining 48,000 skilled employees spread over nearly 9,000 enterprises.  

Key role models from the community are invited to the school to interact and instruct the students, as part of the Batley Girls Careers team's positive promotion of opportunities and routes in the creative sector.  

In a casual group environment, Shy Burhan gave a cohort of Year10 and12 pupils an interactive PowerPoint and slideshow, followed by a Q&A session. 

After this visit, the school scheduled a visit to Shy Burhan's current exhibition at Cartwright Hall, Women in uniform for the students who are interested in the creative industry and photography and film.  

Shy was in attendance at the gallery to greet the students and to provide them with comprehensive information about the museum, curating, and the reason behind the Women in Uniform photography exhibition at Cartwright Hall.   

The exhibition looks at how women of colour navigate their professional identities, particularly in fields where women are disproportionately underrepresented. 

Importantly for Shy, a lot of these trailblazing women are from West Yorkshire, even though the women represent the whole UK.  

The entire experience was really fascinating; students saw firsthand how creativity is used in this field, with talks about the skills required for both the working world and photography. 

Women in Uniform by Shy Burhan, is exhibiting at Cartwright Hall until Sunday 12th May.