Join us in our Art-making Workshops!

Sandy Abdelrahman and I invite you to come along to our weekly workshops to explore identities, sense of belonging and representation through various creative activities and take part in a full-day doll-making workshop! Learn new skills, let your creative juices flow and be part of a lovely community of people who also consider themselves 'Others'. The workshops will take place in Central London on August 16 and August 23, from 6:30 pm to 9 pm, and on a Saturday in September to be confirmed, from 11 am to 5 pm.

You can sign up on this link: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/383338354337

The workshops consist of a variety of group dynamics and short exercises that will be followed by art-making sessions in which participants will learn how to make dolls from different materials such as fabric, paper and clay. All the pieces created by the participants will form part of a collective artwork that will be exhibited in the future to increase awareness and support for members of the 'Other' ethnic groups in London.

These workshops are aimed at people who consider themselves as 'Others' and who have lived experiences of otherness. All the artworks created during the workshops will take part in a collective exhibition and will be photographed for the social media, website, marketing and impact report of the project.

LOCATION, DATES AND TIMES

• Evening Workshops

Dates: August 16 and August 23

Time: 6:30 pm to 9 pm

Location: Marchmont Community Centre, 62 Marchmont St, London WC1N 1AB

• Saturday Workshop

Dates: September 3

Time: 11 am to 5 pm

Location: Story Garden, , Ossulston St, Somers Town, London NW1 1DF

Be aware that the workshops will be photographed and short video clips will be taken for marketing purposes.

COVID

In line with current government advice, restrictions due to Covid-19 have been lifted across the UK. Wearing masks is a personal choice. If you are experiencing symptoms or test positive, we would ask you to consider the community and stay at home. We do not have a stock of tests at the venue, but masks and sanitising gel will be available.

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On Identity: Where Am I From?

Benjamin @ 2019 JC Candanedo

Ancestry and identity are two different things. Ancestry speaks of your predecessors, of the people who mixed up to create the gene pool in you. In this sense, we are all mixed, and we are more similar to each other than some are happy to admit. But, identity speaks of your tribe, your community, your cultural heritage, and how you fit in with those you identify with. Some people have very defined identities, but for the rest of us, especially those who come from mixed ethnical backgrounds, trying to fit into one single group can often lead to an identity crisis.

Throughout my life, my identity has often been defined by how others perceived me. Growing up in Panama, most people knew that I was from European descent even if they really didn’t know where in Europe was Catalonia located. When people asked me “where are you from?” and I responded saying “I’m from here, I’m Panamanian”, people would often ask me “yeah, but where is your family really from?”.

This experience repeated itself in other parts of the world where I’ve lived. In Barcelona, I wasn’t Catalan enough. I was always deemed as Latino or sometimes southern Spanish. In New York, I was Latino and, more specifically, Mexican. For the people who I met while living in France, I was Catalan from Barcelona. While in Sydney, I was from London. And now that I live in London, the majority of people see me as Catalan even though I always say that I was born in Panama.

After the question: “Where are you from?”, there is always an internal dialogue: “Where am I from?”. When my friend Patricia told me about her son’s potential identity crisis, I couldn’t help but feel completely related to his story. Patricia and her husband are first-generation Brazilian immigrants in London, but their son Benjamin was born in the UK.

At home, they speak Portuguese, trying to keep their Brazilian culture and heritage alive. But Benjamin speaks Portuguese with a strong British accent, and when in Brazil, some of his relatives call him the “little Briton”. Patricia worries that Benjamin will never fully feel Brazilian, but, like me, it’s in his hands to define his own identity.

You can learn more about my projects and personal work on the Projects section of my website.

Photo credits: Benjamin © 2019 JC Candanedo

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