Adult Education 2022 - 2024
GROUP STATEMENT
Together we investigate how participatory art practices can contribute to meaningful exchanges between residents and artists in remote and/or economically weaker areas in Europe. The aim of this project is to involve others, who have little or no access to art and culture to different European (art) practices, through workshops and the creation of joint art works. We believe that when people connect through bodily and material practices, in this case; voice, weaving, movement, writing and environmental work; people can meet, see and hear each other in new and extraordinary ways. When safer spaces are created, trust can be built beyond languages.
COMING OUT SOON!
our digital book
Solsidans Kulturförening
Roy Hart Voice Centre
Colaborative Reichenow
What: 7th workshop week, June 2024
residency week (only Rosa Smits), May 2024
Who: Sinum Theatre Workshop Association in Hungary, Géza Pintér-Németh and Nikolett Pintér-Németh:
our project coordinators
What they are about: Connecting different creative channels and modes of creation; playful voice training and theatre practices; site-specific, rural theatre spaces.
Documentary by Norbert Molvay about Weaving Voices in Szalatnak
Vocal Cords – Performance Walk
The day we handed over the village carpet in Szalatnak on June 8, 2024, as part of a procession through the entire village, in which we recalled different stories from both the past and the present, so that the different threads and fates would meet in a woven fabric and create a whole.
Residency week
Prior to the last projectweek with all of our Weaving Voices members, I stayed in Szalatnak for a week to create a collective weave in and with the village. The population is a mix of Hungarian, Swabian and Roma heritage, and some newcomers from the Netherlands. Language was a challenge, perhaps not for explaining how to weave but for building trust with people in order for them to feel safe and participate. Though it was overwon by people's curiosity, perhaps merged with the good weather and consistency of being everyday in the center square with the loom, threads and snacks. A beautiful carpet emerged, with hidden creatures in it, that can be perceived in various ways. It was handed over to the major of the town and now hangs in the town hall.
When the project partners visited Rosa and Nina in Amsterdam, they learn about their art practices in collective weaving, plant printing and writing. The voice found its own natural course within the week and for the first time, singing took place during the weaving! Bureau Postjesweg, a Dutch platform which brings art and its neighborhood together, provided a residency space for this eventful week. Prior to the week, Nina and Rosa had been working on a local sister project called Weaving Voices: Slotervaart in Transition. The two crossed paths during one evening with guest speakers and neighbors.
What: 3th workshop held in Amsterdam at Bureau Postjesweg (Slotervaart), April 2023
Who: Rosa Smits & Nina van Hartkskamp, documentation by Olga Ganzha
What they are about: Textile art, collective weaving as a representation of emerging social networks; hand-woven rugs as “maps”; weaving as participatory performance.
What: 6th workshop week, October 2023
Who: members of Soharoza Choir: Judit Biksz, Sarolta Eörsi, Dóra Halas, Vera Jónás, Endre Kertész
What they are about: Community choir, collective music composition, improvised musical compositions; the playfulness of singing as a pedagogical aspect.
Working in a rehab in Komló
In search for a group that Weaving Voices could work with members of Soharóza started to work with a rehab facility for men in Komló, in the south of Hungary. This resulted in the idea for Soharóza to enrich the yearly performance of the men in therapy (of which theater and the performance is a part of) with musical and vocal features. When the Weaving Voices members arrived in Budapest in Autumn 2023, they together went to the script and a rehearsal video. Together, they came up with musical ideas, some of which included atmospheric vocal presence, pre-composed chord structures and verbal rhythm exercises. These musical games were tried out later when the group relocated to Komló and practiced with the men together. It was surprisenly easy to, even beyond a shared language, built a connection with the men, who were, perhaps due to their therapy and the strong communal rules of the rehab, so open and honest. Additionally to the sound workshops, textile artists Rosa Smits held a workshop on weaving frames, which was received very enthusiastically, and Nina van Hartskamp facilitated a natural dye workshop, which resulted in the men wearing their 'new' t-shirts with stamped leaves and nature stains during their final performances.
The 5th Weaving Voices workshop-week Focused on meeting the public of the city through weaving and singing at City Square. These events were programmed as part of Making A Stand public artwork by Micheal Pinsky and Studio Bark, commissioned by Leeds 2023 Year of Culture. Two weavings were made in the midst of this installation, together with passengers of the square, facilitated by the half of the WeavingVoices group. The other half of the group spend its days in Leeds City Museum, doing workshops with a group of people seeking asylum involving threads, voices, bodies and storytelling. At the end of each day, they all came together to sing and sound in the public installation on Leeds city square.
What: 5th workshop held in Leeds, part of Leeds City of Culture 2023, August
Who: Teresa Brayshaw & Hannah Butterfield
What they are about: Feldenkrais movement therapy, performance techniques, and creative writing; creating safer, more accessible spaces for collaborative creation; audio documentation of the project.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.