Empathy workshop for children Tues 24th October 2017 – 10am-3pm

The full-day workshop will begin at Standpoint Gallery, before the children travel with the artists to The Geffrye Museum family garden to explore the minute pattern systems in natural materials. Children will make collections and draw / make the rubbings of the patterns they find. Once back in the gallery with a head full of patterns and arms full of collections, the children will work in pairs to explore an applique dance embroidery. The young people will practice mirroring each-others gestures. The movements depicted in a textile based on Bharatanatyam was made by a female artisan called Vaishal, in India. Young people will have a go at practicing the dance gestures, to explore what they might mean, and how we might express ourselves more clearly. We will share-stories through language and through movement. The final part of the workshop involves paired block-printing. Children will select 2 or more ‘people’ blocks to make patterns based on the forms they found in the garden. These might be based on plants, they might be based on insects; but they will all explore geometry and symmetry. Artwork will be made on paper and on Khadi cloth. Children will be sensitized to artisanal craft techniques. Khadi cloth is hand-spun and hand-woven fabric. Samples have been sourced by the artist from Ahmedabad, India.