ŻiguŻajg is introducing children aged eight to 10 to contemporary art through a summer bootcamp made up of six art workshops.
Each workshop will tackle a different way of making and thinking from book-binding, drawing, collage, sculpture, shadow sculpture and photography.
Over the course of the six weeks, the children will create a body of work inspired by historical and contemporary, international and local artists, stories and our surroundings. Their work will be exhibited in a final showcase at the end of the six-week programme.
About the sessions
The first session, being held on July 1 will serve as an introduction and for the participants to make their own art journals. The journal will accompany the children throughout the bootcamp, and will serve as a place for drawing, thinking and reflection. The last workshop is scheduled for August 5.
The second workshop on July 8 will focus on observation and imaginative drawing. Children will draw en plein air and then imagine a utopic future inspired by The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton.
In the third workshop dedicated to portraits and characters on July 15, children will draw each other’s faces through portraiture. They will then create 3D characters using found materials.
The workshop on July 22 is entitled Facing Fears: Playing with Shadows. Inspired by Tim Noble and Sue Webster’s practice and building on the previous week’s session, the class will use found objects to create interesting shadows and find light in the dark through cyanotype photo exposures.
On July 29, the young artists will walk around an exhibition and learn about curation and exhibition design. The tutors will discuss what an artist statement is and plan labels for the exhibition. They will then teach the children about printmaking and the latter will make their very own prints for their upcoming exhibition.
The following week, on August 5, the children will set up the exhibition, finalise labels and artist statements and then invite parents and friends to view the work created over the past sessions.
All workshops will be held in English at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta between 11am and 1.30pm and will be run by Anna Calleja and Abbie Hebein. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.
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