KIARA MCLEAN
Special to the News
Cosplay can be understood as the art of dressing and acting as characters from movies, books and television shows. Typically cosplayers dress as characters from the Japanese genres of manga and anime. Regulars at the Nakusp Youth Centre are no strangers to this art form and boast skills in sewing and anime-style art. As a response to this interest, the Nakusp and Area Youth Network (NAYN) and Amy Surina hosted a cosplay workshop on July 25, 2018 at the Youth Centre where youth had the opportunity to further develop their skills and have fun in a peer-driven environment. With two youth in attendance, the workshop acted as a personalized introduction to the world of cosplay – delving into costume creation, wig styling, and conventions.
Since her first taste of the art form at age 14, Surina has worked to establish her reputation as a master cosplayer in the community of Nakusp and can often be caught modelling different cosplay looks for photo-shoots. Her talented renditions of a variety of fictional characters have carried her across the nation to participate in different conventions. Surina was pleased to host a cosplay workshop, as she believes “cosplay allows anyone, but especially youth, to learn confidence through creative expression. It gives youth a chance to explore who they are, to meet like-minded people and expand their social circles.” Surina noted that the celebration of diversity and exposure to different worldviews presented in the cosplay community has a lot to offer youth in rural settings such as Nakusp.
NAYN works from a foundation of youth empowerment and develops/organizes events and programming by, for and with youth. To stay updated with NAYN’s programming and special events follow their Instagram: @nakuspyc, Facebook: Nakusp YC, or check out our bulletin board at the Kinship Centre!