Two workshops for Criw Celf over the Easter holidays: Fantastic Maps in St Vincent Community Centre, Ely, and Windows in Oasis Refugee Centre, Splott.
A2: Criw Celf is funded by the Arts Council of Wales and is managed by the Arts Active Trust, working in partnership with arts organisations, galleries and colleges in Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Cardiff, The Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend. It gives young artists the opportunity to work with professional artists to gain a broader understanding and greater experience of current visual arts practice.
The five participants in Ely, aged between five and eleven gathered in the lovely community hall to create a map of their fantasy land.
After doing some brainstorming and rough drafts before committing to the tea-stained scrolls, there emerged a wide range of imaginative worlds reflecting the interests of the children. Two adventure maps with red splodges indicating danger, Capitopia, a land exclusively for capybaras (and some crocodile friends), ‘Pig Land’, a land exclusively for pigs complete with piggy spa and evil pig’s den, Nature Island for rabbits, owls and squirrels with some buried treasure in the woods, and Sea Monster Land with a warning to not follow the map or you will get eaten by giant octopi and sea serpents.
There was a good turn out in Oasis Refugee Centre with around seventeen children of all different ages having a go at creating stories in the windows. Some put a member of their family in each window, some reflected Ramadan, some were an example of the child’s day, or different emotions.
Sarah J Featherstone 