A place where anybody can learn and impart knowledge to one other on a collective journey of creative discovery: this was Mereka Connect’s vision from the outset. And since its beginning, the response to our platform and its mantra of learning together has been overwhelmingly positive – and it’s important to take a step back and appreciate this support!
Mereka Connect blasts off into 2023 with a bustling community of over 175 creative Hubs spread across 6 countries. This massive pool of talent, innovation, and curiosity has shaped the backbone of the platform, and we felt that it’s time to let them take a victory lap. Enter Kita Mereka 1.0: a night of appreciation for Mereka Connect’s Hubs and Learners, organized in collaboration with Mereka Space and American Youth Corner Kuala Lumpur!
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from our celebrations – and give our Hubs a round of well deserved applause.
Our first ever creative Hub awards
What better way to celebrate the upstanding figures of the Mereka Connect community than with our very first awards ceremony? Here are 8 creative Hubs that we wanted to honor in their own unique categories. These are the ones to watch for in 2023 and beyond!
- Best Collaborative Effort: Vans Malaysia, for collaborating closely with the Mereka Connect platform during on the ground workshops
- Best Up and Coming Creative Hub: Rad Slip, for being a young Hub that's rapidly gaining popularity and love from the community
- Best Creative Media Showcase: Hin Bus Depot, for effectively showcasing a variety of diverse art forms to the community
- Best Creative Visionary: The Rojak Projek, for promoting art initiatives that aim to create impact for future generations
- Outstanding Community Support: NAKSENI, for actively working with many artists by providing a platform to showcase their skills
- Impactful Education Work: NCD Malaysia, for impacting the community by presenting important educational information in their work
- Leaders for Transformational Change: NFXT, for leading the charge to embrace evolving topics and trends
- Event of the Year: RIUH, for the best and most exciting creative event of the year
All of the Hubs that attended the event were also invited to take part in the festivities as a means of networking and finding future collaboration opportunities. Every single creative Hub gets kudos for their effort and dedication to sharing their craft and positively impacting their communities – and we were elated to see so many of them at Kita Mereka 1.0!
A mental health talk and line art therapy workshop by myWIPhealing
Kita Mereka 1.0 also featured a mental health talk conducted by Khairini (also known as Rini), who is the founder of myWIPhealing: a community platform that promotes mental health education and healing effort through arts. After an introduction on mental health, she dived into important topics like how to conceptualize and understand it. Rini also touched on the important role of art in healing mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, which was a fitting segue into the night’s next activity: a line art therapy workshop.
The line art therapy workshop, also hosted by Rini, perfectly encapsulates the values of the platform. Through a guided session, she empowered participants to channel their emotions through line art drawn in various colors. A few bold volunteers even came forward to share their thought process and emotions while making the art pieces!
The concept of “Kita Mereka” feeds into Mereka Connect’s values of celebrating the platform’s creative Hubs and their amazing achievements. As for the “1.0” – this means we’ll see you again for Kita Mereka 2.0! Until then, keep innovating and inspiring.
