The word ‘power’ is thought to come from the Latin verb ‘potere’, which means ‘to be able’.

Our understanding of the word ‘power’ is influenced by social, political and economic conditions as well as our understanding of self, community, structures and systems. When we asked adults what ‘power' meant, they referenced force, control, authority and strength exerted over something or someone.

Over five weeks, we worked with five schools, 181 young people aged 12 to 14 and six artists on a project to create a zine on the topic of ‘power’. We focused on three themes: what power means to the self (you and your skills), what power means to your community and what power means to structures (knowledge, science, technology and nature). Each young person created an A4 poster of mixed media using words, images and collage. Each young person also created a ‘to be able to’ or ‘power is’ statement which formed a piece of poetry or creative writing.

Collage by Reece Williams.