Young trax

It’s been surreal being part of the Youth Collective these past few months. We’re a group of passionate, like-minded arts and culture lovers aged between 15 and 24, who, before lockdown, met regularly on Gadigal country at the Art Gallery of NSW to work with the Gallery’s youth programs producer. Our aim: to create programs and events for Gallery visitors that empower and encourage young people to participate in thought-provoking discussions around art and ideas.

Our youth program, FOMArt, is nornally grounded in the physical gallery space; however, since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place, the meeting place for cultural activities has not been the museum itself; it’s been the living room in people’s homes. And that’s got us reflecting on how art lovers everywhere are experiencing the ‘fear of missing art’.

Among members of the Youth Collective, Katherine has been attending virtual tours of international museums through the Google Arts and Culture platform, Lachlan has been scrolling through Instagram and finding his favourite art journals, such as @theheavycollective, and Ellen is currently working on an internet art exhibition.

The Gallery’s Together In Art project aims to create unity and solidarity within our community while this pandemic is dramatically impacting the arts industry. With the widespread cancellation of events resulting in a loss of community, the consequent longing for a sense of unity and togetherness is more important than ever.

In response to this, we’ve created a diverse soundtrack of anthems made by young Australian artists to promote positivity from our speakers and yours.

Among this selection are acts that mean something to us from gigs gone by.

Allegra chose ‘Twilight driving’ by Methyl Ethel: ‘They were the opening act at the first live concert I went to with friends and not family – 14-year-old fun.’

And Victor saw Griffin Ford at the grand exit party for the Sydney College of Arts. ‘There were food and drinks, and everyone was huddled together on the open-air Rozelle campus in the night. I picked their song, “Boys don’t try”, because it reminded me of being hopeful even when the space of the campus was closing down.’

We hope this playlist becomes a sanctuary for listeners to shut off, relax, discover and (hopefully) have a boogie.

Listen to the playlist on Spotify

If you’re feeling inspired, we invite you to share your own ‘Young trax’ playlist on Instagram and hashtag #AGNSWYoungTrax for us to see your favourites.