The Pivot Collective is a non-profit based in Cape Town committed to collaborative knowledge production, knowledge translation and the decolonization of research. In 2019, we invited a group of 12 young people from Cape Town (recruited through an open call for participants) to collaborate on a project focused on challenging dominant narratives and perceptions of mental health and emotional well-being. The project, called Young & Curious, uses arts-based, participatory methodologies to support young people tell their own stories, define what matters to them, and communicate this to wider audiences. Together we have created an experimental space where young people, and the young-at-heart, work together to explore and deconstruct ideas of mental health and emotional wellbeing and to spark critical conversations between young people, academic researchers, artists, engagement practitioners, and service providers that shift hierarchies of knowledge and research cultures.