In conjunction with ‘Fashion: Surface with Depth – Halland 2021’, a pedagogical venture was also carried out for Creative School under the slogan ‘Who am I?’ to name but one. Fashion often refers to clothing and external attributes, trends that can lead to everyone looking more or less the same. But it can also be a way of telling something about oneself and the person one wants to be. Fashion can be fun, like dressing up, and also practical when one might want to hide behind it.
A tour of one of the exciting exhibitions and a corresponding workshop with a professional artist helped explore topics such as identity, sustainability, and aesthetics. Perhaps we can learn more about each other and ourselves—about our similarities and differences.r?
What on Earth are you wearing?
Fashion can be lots of fun, a very amusing game. A way to express oneself and one’s personality. If we toy with the idea of being designers, what would you like to create? A big necklace, a spectacular headpiece, or maybe a brooch? The list can go on and on, and nothing but one’s imagination sets the limits. The exhibition inspires us, and based on our keywords: identity, sustainability, and aesthetics, we ‘build’ our accessories in paper and cardboard. The level of difficulty is up to you. Everyone can participate!
Target audience: School year 4-9, but can be adapted to suit other ages.
This workshop is facilitated by Jennie Blomkvist. She is a qualified product designer with a Master’s degree in textile/fashion from The Swedish School of Textile, Borås University. Jennie has worked as a designer at Lindex children´s department and has also designed shoes for Nilson Group. Nowadays, she mostly works as a visual artist and graphic designer. “Playing is central to my work; my driving forces are lust and a keen interest. I want to encourage others to be themselves and emphasise
You, I, we – a piece of togetherness
“Do you want to hang out with me?”
Every pupil gets to make their own individual, large ‘pearl’ from recycled material. A pearl that may tell us something about their world. When all the pearls are finished, they are assembled in a large jewellery set. A number of pearls are needed to form a large bracelet, necklace and perhaps a friendship ring. The individual expression is an essential element together with the others in the collection—a large set of jewellery for and by the entire class.
Target audience: School year 1-4, but can be adapted to suit other ages
This workshop is facilitated by Lotta Malmsten. Lotta has a Master’s degree in textile art from HDK and is also a qualified art teacher. She works part-time as an art teacher at the School of Arts in Varberg. “I work with various materials and different techniques. I can easily spot possibilities in materials that many would have otherwise thrown away.”
How is fashion doing?
What is fashion? How is fashion doing? We base our work on materials that don’t drain our energy more than they have to: either materials that have already served a function, i.e. old items from our homes or second-hand/vintage, but also materials from the surrounding landscape. Depending on what we have gathered, we create accessories such as key rings, jewellery or perhaps something to pimp one’s school bag. Use your identity as your starting point and contemplate ‘Who am I? Who do I want to be?’ When you do things yourself, you also create your own unique item, which shows off who YOU really are. DIY (Do It Yourself) is an old movement that is recently gaining momentum. It is a movement that speaks to today’s society in many ways: by creating something from materials that already exist and are widely available, not only is it kinder to the environment, but for the person who has created it, it also affects one’s self-esteem in a positive way. A sense of “I am capable”.
Target audience: School year 4-7, but can be adapted to suit other ages
This workshop is facilitated by Ninia Sverdrup. She lived and worked in Berlin for many years but eventually settled in the countryside outside Vallda. She keeps sheep and uses the wool to create art.
