This Workshop took place in the Jenin refugee camp and treated themes such as music and art, music and movement, and music and composition.
This workshop was created in collaboration with Sada movement, an artistic movement based in Palestine that was created to shed light on and document marginalized Palestinian issues using artistic tools. They supported me financially and provided me with volunteers from the movement itself.
What is the purpose of creating such workshops? Where should we aim and why the necessity to do so?
In my personal opinion, children are very open in the way they think, very creative and expressive. However, as they start growing older, society starts suppressing any behavior that is considered "false" or "inappropriate" according to societal norms. Targeting a group that hasn't faced a lot of social influence and is still closer to its “natural” state could help keep up the creativity and nurture the minds of these kids before they have to face oppression in all its forms. In addition, involving children in music activities has been scientifically proven to show development in different parts of the brain compared to those who have not experienced the process of learning music or art in general.
Music and art, music and movement, music and composition
The first part of the workshop spanned one and a half hours and focused on making musical instruments. The following activity involved making music with these instruments.
The equipment needed to make the instruments included glue, scissors, and the following items:
Spoon Maracas: Kinder egg, rice, spoon, tape.
Homemade flute: cardboard, straws.
Castanets: bottle tops (aluminum), cardboard.
Tambourine: cardboard circle, ropes, small bells or beads.
The second part of the workshop involved painting and drawing on instruments and adding ornaments.
These kinds of workshops also aim to create a safe space for underprivileged children who face a lot of daily struggles and challenges. As I targeted the Jenin refugee camp in the north of Palestine, a location that struggles immensely with violence and crime created by the Israeli occupation, I wanted to make sure that these kids who struggle in their daily lives could at least try to express themselves and enjoy their time while the workshop lasted. Moreover, providing them with tools of expression (the instruments they made) wasn't only to aim for intersections between music and art, but it was also to make these tools available at all times. The kids took them back home as a souvenir and could use them at any time.