{curatorial project} [workshop, publication, community engagement]
We Are Here is a workshop + curriculum which was delivered to the students at Colours Centre for Learning, an NGO for Autism in Bangalore.
This workshop + curriculum is inspired by and based on Oliver Jeffers’s book (and subsequent movie) ‘Here We Are: Notes for living on Planet Earth’, and the app Earth Speakr developed for children by the artist Olafur Eliasson.
The project was born out of a collaboration with Colours Centre for Learning to develop an intervention that would address the topic of environment, climate change and sustainability. Through the references for the workshop + curriculum mentioned above, the students were introduced to key themes and engaged in interactive and participatory learning using art and technology.
By the means of teaching them and making them aware of their own surroundings, the workshop culminated in a collaborative artwork in the form of a book that documents the learnings and observations of the students through the workshop.
Students on the Autism spectrum aged 13 to 21 years were part of the workshop. The students read and referred to Oliver Jeffers’s book ‘Here We Are: Notes for living on Planet Earth’, and the film adaptation of the book with the same name was screened for the students at the centre. Students made use of a range of materials through the workshop in the creation of their artworks. These materials were selected as examples of non biodegradable as well as eco friendly and recyclable materials such as plastic, aluminium foil, thread and wood.
The Earth Speakr App was used by students as part of the workshop to engage with the environment, recording and sharing their own written messages for a plea to save the planet.
Below: Images from the workshop underway at Colours Centre for Learning, an NGO for Autism, Bangalore. November 2020.
Resources:
1. Earth Speakr App: https://earthspeakr.art/en/
2. Here We Are - Movie: https://www.oliverjeffers.com/here-we-are-film , https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/here-we-are-notes-for-living-on-planet-earth/umc.cmc.1j55m7c1krge4yhia6x4u5o48
