Communal Re-Imagination Launches Series of Workshops for Youths

VISUAL ARTS

Yinka Olatunbosun

Communal Re-Imagination, an alternative art school programme by the Vernacular Art-space Laboratory Foundation has launched a series of workshop in Iwaya/Makoko community in Lagos to engage the youths with skills development and creative projects. The programme provides a space for alternative cultural dialogue and knowledge-sharing platform that regenerates and revives the community through artistic interventions and creative engagement. The participants are usually between the ages 18 and 35 who live in the community. They are encouraged to re-imagine their community based on their understanding of its present state and relate it to what they wish it could be using multimedia and interdisciplinary methods

The three-month long series of workshops and creative brainstorming sessions are facilitated by both Site Gallery’s Society of Explorers and selected interdisciplinary artists from the artist’s network of the Vernacular Art-space laboratory. One of the activities at the school include a three-day workshop on 3D printing which had as facilitator the architect, writer and publisher at Dada Books, Ayodele Arigbabu. Last week, a five-day adire and kampala workshop was organized in partnership with an Abeokuta-based organization.

The artistic director, Communal Re-Imagination, Aderemi Adegbite explained how this programme kicked off a few years ago and the support that the organisation has received so far.

“We started in 2018 and our idea of the programme is to engage young people wighin the community through arts because that is what we know how to do,” he began. “It is just to engage their minds. We want to give them an alternative way of re-imagining their community and themselves. We have got funding for the first edition of it. Prince Clau Funds Netherlands funded the programme. In 2019, they did a call for the next generation of creatives and we applied for the funding through communal re-imagination project. It was the money that was given to us that we used to build our space. We usually have exhibitions and all that in that space as well. Our space is very experimental and liberal when it comes to artistic expression.”

Asides the support from the European organisation, Communal Re-Imagination has also enjoyed the support of other international cultural organisations such as the British Council.

“In February this year, we had a programme funded by the British Council called Art Multiplier Lab Programme and I happened to be one of the selected,” he said. “After the programme, we applied for funding which was meant for just five people. To be eligible, we had to partner with an organization in the UK and we found one in Sheffield. We have been having a series of workshops in 3D printing, animation, talks with art leaders such as Segun Adefila. Next week, we will do some video art until next month. For this adire programme, what we did was to collaborate with Kuta Art Foundation in Abeokuta and they have photographers and people who work in adire.

In printing, we partnered with a printing shop in Somolu and they came to teach them about the background and techniques of printing.”

Other workshops earmarked for the programme include video art, t-shirt print, disc jockeying, performance art, contemporary pop dance among others. On August 20, the series of workshops will culminate in an exhibition that involves all successful participants.