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| al ebdaa school workshop . 2012 |
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| al ebdaa school workshop . 2012 |
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| omar bin khattab school workshop . 2012 |
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| omar bin khattab school workshop . 2012 |
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| omar bin khattab school workshop . 2012 |
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| al khansaa school workshop . 2012 |
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| al khansaa school workshop . 2012 |
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| al khansaa school workshop . 2012 |
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| umm suqueim school workshop . 2012 |
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| umm suqueim school workshop . 2012 |
since the beginning of the year, i've been leading a series of workshops along with my friend and freelance graphic designer maie atabani, catered to students in government schools around the city. the workshops are part of a bigger project/exhibition happening later this year titled rivers of the world, part of the thames festival in london. rivers of the world focuses on encouraging children to create art based on research about a river that exists in their country. it also promotes dialogue and exchange between international schools. i think its a great initiative and am glad to be a part of it. thank you british council for inviting me to be a part of this project! as dubai is being represented this year with the dubai creek (which technically isn't a river but still works!), maie and i have been to four schools so far, leading workshops and teaching students different techniques to create artworks based on assigned themes about the river. so far, we've used techniques like drawing, painting, collage and inkblot printing! once the students create their final pieces, maie and i compile all the works digitally to create one final artwork per school. as long as each student's work is visually represented, we have free reign to decide how the final artwork looks.
it's been such a great experience so far. i feel that in some way, i am giving something back to the community, and hopefully inspiring a younger generation to express themselves through art. its also been very exciting seeing the results the students come up with. they actually reminded me of how much i miss being young and a student, where i had so much fun experimenting with different mediums to create works.
after march, we have two more schools to work with. once we've completed all six workshops, maie and i start working on the six final pieces. stay tuned for updates in the near future...
