It’s certainly the most perfect spot for a workshop, the new Lead-up base in Finca la Azotea (Jocotenango, Guatemala). It’s an oasis of peace and soothing greens, especially after cycling through heavy traffic on the busy streets of Antigua. Fourteen adolescents got together for my workshop on how to create a community mural. Some are high-school students from Los Patojos with an interest in the arts, there were a few Lead-up champions and some who are already established artists themselves, such as Samuel, Chiripa and Denilson of Urban HeArT.
Although the workshop
was on how to create a community mural, we left the artistic part aside and focused
on what is maybe the hardest part: how to turn your mural project into a true collaborative
work of art. We started with strategies to define the people who benefit from
the project and their interests and/or issues within their community. Once the
target group and their wishes are established, we can focus on the theme. A lot
of the issues that will come up during this phase will be negative ones, such
as violence, contamination, poverty, corruption or domestic abuse. If such an
issue will be the theme of the mural, the challenge will be to turn it into a constructive
and positive message, and translate that into a striking visual. Not an easy
task!
Next on the agenda was
to talk about how to deal with volunteer painters. As the leader of a mural
project, you’re not only responsible for the creative process, but also in
charge of coordinating the volunteers in a way that will make them feel
involved and appreciated. We talked about what language (not) to use, how to be
conscious of our body language and how to be inclusive. We specifically talked about
how to work with children and how to secure their safety and wellbeing wile in
our charge.
The last theme was on
how to make a design that is of a high artistic quality but easy to implement with
a large number of unexperienced volunteers. I shared some techniques I have
used in the past that might be helpful to someone someday.
The workshop wasn’t al
talk. In between each topic we did a little painting. The first assignment was
to paint something beautiful (non-figuartive) on small pieces of paper. Quickly,
so as not to over-think it. The next step was to repeat the same, but trying to
paint something UGLY! This is much more difficult because we all have this natural
tendency to create something beautiful.
Step three was to compare the “pretty” pictures with the “ugly” ones. It was
quite obvious that the “pretty” pictures contained bright colours and clearly
defined shapes. The “ugly” ones were much darker, no white coming through. More
abstract and less figurative. There were definitely differences between the two
piles of paintings, which, we might conclude, means there are some universal preferences,
despite our different tastes and styles. Interestingly, the “ugly” paintings
were done in a much freer style. Some were crumpled up, in some the paint was
scratched with the back of a brush, others stamped, smudged or folded.
The last part was to divide the group in two and make a quick collage, using
both the “pretty” and “ugly” paintings. The goal was to show how something “ugly”
can be transformed into something beautiful and how to make a collective work
of art making equal use of everybody’s input in a very short time with limited
supplies. The final results were very different, but equally beautiful.
A big thanks to all
the participants of this workshop for their input; to Katie and Lead-up for the
use of their wonderful space, to Denilson & Co of Urban HeART and of course to Dutch foundation Colour4Kids for
sponsoring this workshop and the upcoming murals.
