During the winter and spring, Art in Halland/The Art Express carried out an art-based pedagogical project, The Ego and the Team – Football Culture, in the form of comics. The project was carried out in partnership with the municipalities of Falkenberg, Halmstad and Varberg through creative school* and cartoonists Ylva Oknelid and Minna Svensson, who are both pedagogically very experienced. Ylva grew up in Falkenberg, and Minna in Halmstad.
The project was initiated because of the UEFA F17—European Championship, which should have been held in Sweden in May, with games being played in these three towns. Sadly, due to the spread of the Coronavirus, the championship was postponed indefinitely.
However, this did not stop the school workshops or the Halland Art Museum from relating to the event and focusing on female leadership and team spirit. All these efforts and expressions have been equally important. The theme is inspired by the world of football, where the success of the team depends on all the players’ individual talents. Relevant questions linked to gender and body image were brought up and discussed.
The participating children were from school year 4 and 5. Their drawings and sketches were combined as collective works of art and displayed on giant billboards in Halmstad between 4-31 May next to the Swedish Football Association’s slogan ‘Winning Together’ – a motto that feels current and contemporary, even in times of social distancing.
Join us on a digital guided tour of the large billboards / Följ med på en digital visning av stortavlorna
As the billboards were displayed in Halmstad, original drawings by Falkenberg pupils were exhibited at the Cube in Falkenberg from 4 to 7 May and by Halmstad pupils at the town library in Halmstad from 9 to 23 May.
Ylva Oknelid and Minna Svensson on the project: “We will work together to create comics and illustrations focusing on the theme of ‘The Ego and the Team’. We will have fun with images and text in a context free from performance requirements. Ugly is beautiful, and everyone can draw!”
The Ego and the Team project was carried out by the Art Express in partnership with the municipalities of Varberg, Falkenberg and Halmstad, as well as Destination Falkenberg and Destination Halmstad
*The concept of creative school involves each head of school applying for funding from the Swedish Arts Council for various cultural projects. The purpose of creative schools is to increase professional cultural activities for and with the pupils in order to improve access to all cultural expressions and to increase the possibilities for the individual to be creative. The idea is a long-term integration of cultural and artistic expressions in all the school subjects.
