The future is BRIGHT
Ghana | In this blog we are happy to share more news from the workshops in Ghana, organized by Edwin Otta and Thamon van Blokland and sponsored with materials by the Royal Talens Foundation. This time, the workshops took place at a Senior High School in a small town called Wiamoase, located in the heart of the Ashanti region.
A mural for the school
Thamon and Edwin reached out to the school with the idea of hosting a series of workshops for the visual art department of their school. The goal of these workshops was to collectively come up with a design for a mural painting on the school wall. After a couple of meetings with the school's officials, they received approval from the headmaster to host our workshops.
The workshops themselves were hosted by Thamon van Blokland and Rachel Owusu. The first workshop was attended by more than 50 third-year visual art students, who almost didn’t fit the classroom!
Workshop 1: What does the future hold?
The workshop started with an inspiring discussion about possible career paths in the art industry and an introduction to social design. From there, they went on to discuss the most important question: how do these students see their future in today’s society in Ghana? The answer to this question would then be the start for the design for our mural painting. And after some playful exercises to loosen the students up and having them write their thoughts on paper, they concluded: BRIGHT is the future they foresee for themselves.
Workshop 2: Collective design
The aim of the second workshop was to collectively design the letters for the word BRIGHT together with a group of 25 visual arts students. To have all the students work in the same style, Thamon and Rachel cleverly had some shape tools cut out with a laser cutter. With these tools the students could let their creativity go wild, while still working within the same framework or style. Next to that, the students had coloured pencils, Sakura fineliners, and thick A4 paper sheets to draw and sketch their letters, sponsored by the Foundation.
The students proved to be very productive and within two hours they ended up with a table full of variations of the letters for the word BRIGHT. The name of the student was written on the back of every letter variation and then the students were given the opportunity to hand-pick their favorite composition of letters.
Thamon, Edwin and Rachel were very happy with the end results and the enthusiasm the students exhibited during these workshops.
Impressions
Below you can see some images which give an impression of the workshop. It was both creative and very fun! Curious about the other workshops in Ghana? You can read about it here.
Supported projects
Smack Mellon, a nonprofit arts organization based in DUMBO, Brooklyn, embarked on a remarkable journey to nurture the creative talents of 25 New York City public high school students. This initiative, supported by the Royal Talens Foundation, provided these young artists with an unparalleled opportunity to explore their artistic potential and gain invaluable experience.
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The Royal Talens Foundation recently teamed up with the Urtica Foundation for a heartwarming project called Sunny Gallery that brought joy and creativity to children in oncology wards. Earlier this year, we donated a variety of art materials to support the Urtica Sunny Gallery’s workshops, allowing young patients to create beautiful artworks.
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At the Royal Talens Foundation, we believe that creativity is a powerful force that can transform lives. That's why we're thrilled to share the inspiring story of the KindleArt project, a vibrant initiative that's lighting up the artistic world for youngsters in The Hague!
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