ART WEAVING WORKSHOPS INSPIRED BY SIGN LANGUAGE
Language is an essential tool for building social relationships. Through language we can create a space for communication between people and between species. What do we do when we don’t know a language and can’t make ourselves understood? How many languages are there in the world? What is sign language? We will talk about all of this during the workshops. We will find out what a sign and a sign name are, and whether we can express ourselves through gesture and art. During the session we will invent our own language: each participant will have their own sign, which they will try to translate into art. At the workshops children will have the chance to learn the basics of weaving. They will create their own unique patterns by weaving a small wall hanging, reflecting the individual signs the children have invented.
It will be an attempt to translate words and language into an abstract, artistic space, helping children to develop abstract thinking and manual skills. Using sticks, string and fabric, everyone will try to create their own sign – to encode themselves and their name in a single object.
Workshop leader:
Viktoriia Tofan is an audiovisual artist who also often works as an educator and community animator, using artistic methods to explore and set social situations in motion. Tofan’s work has been shown in exhibitions including Renewal/Renewal. Biennale Zielona Góra 2022 (BWA, Zielona Góra), matka ziemia (Dizajn BWA, Wrocław), DO NOT FORGET TO KEEP YOUR MIND CLEAR – 18th MÓZG Festival (Bydgoszcz), Głusza (Silesian Museum, Katowice), OBRZĘDY INTYMNE | Lewandowska / Marcjasz / Tofan (OP ENHEIM, Wrocław), the 19th SURVIVAL Art Review in Wrocław, Nagi Nerw. Studio Mistrzyni: Rajkowska (BWA, Wrocław) and “Love Letters” (Almanac Projects, London).
In her work she draws on traditional forms rooted in the language of art, and not only contemporary art: abstract painting, sculpture, objects, site-specific installations and embroidery techniques. In both her artistic and her community practice she searches for a language that could respond to the sense of foreignness she experiences as an expat – a feeling that brought her closer to the Deaf community, for whom spoken Polish is often neither the first nor the most natural means of communication. Her interest in Deaf culture and sign language led her to create the accessible art projects “Doznanie ciszy” (Experiencing Silence) and “Doznanie zmysłów” (Experiencing the Senses).
She lives and works in Wrocław.
Age:
7 – 10 years
Time:
12:00 – 14:00
More information:
