We took some time to listen to what the kids had to say about environmental problems they see in Seðisfjöður and in the world. In icelandic they are called „Vandamál heims“.
7th Grade
Inviting curiosity
10 years old, 11 years old, 13 year olds, 2021, 7th Grade, 6th Grade, 5th Grade, 4th Grade, IcelandCommentBoth groups are very curious and accept the invitations with curiosity to see what the others are doing, in the case of the self-portrait, the 4th grade group chose to take a photo and transfer to paper, the older group chose to do it freely. Within the self-portrait process we have gone out to look in nature for elements in which we feel represented.
Weaving their way to friendship
2017, 7th Grade, China, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandComment
Through weaving, the artists in China have been exploring how chance can be an element in their artwork. By using recycled newspapers and colored papers, the weaving has helped give a hand in creating a story. The artists then wrote words on the artworks to enhance the meaning of the images made from the weaving process.
Everybody seemed to enjoy the art technique and made wonderful artworks!
The 13 year old artists at Shenzhen High School in Shenzhen, China are making and sharing with 7c, 13 year olds, from Helsingin yhteislyseo in Helsinki, Finland.
Making inspiring stories calls for a party!
13 year olds, 2017, 7th Grade, China, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandComment
We are watching a video our friends in China made for us!
For the last project of this session, we thought it would be great to bring the artists in 7C from Helsingin yhteislyseo to get to know another artistic space in Kontula, Helsinki. So we gathered in Museum of Impossible Forms to create Inspiring Stories art project and celebrate with next year's Dear You group from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti, who are also located in Kontula!
We started the session by looking at a video a few of the artists from Shenzhen Middle School made for their friends in Kontula. They had made a sweet introduction of themselves and also shared with us the art that they have been making in China.
Looking at our friend's artwork and thinking about past Dear You projects we have made gave us some material to work with as the next step was to make an audio story. One artist said we need to keep in mind the sanoma (the message) when creating a story. Some other creative writing elements are to designate characters and what is the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
We then got into small groups and came up with four different amazing stories! When it was time to record, we thought about intonation, sound effects, and tone of voice to enhance the story.
The stories were all so different! Have a listen!
Forest is a story about a boy named Ajax. He lived in the 1940s in a small village. Ajax went to pick some berries and mushrooms in the woods. About an hour into the journey, he found himself lost. He then saw a mökki (a small cottage) and peaked through the window. Inside he saw an open cupboard, which had a lot of food in it. He went inside and ate a big loaf of bread. After that he left the mökki to try and find his way home. Along the way, he met an old person and asked this person some questions. The old person didn't understand anything!
The storytellers from Differences and Similarities have more questions for their friends in China.
Do you pack your own lunch? Or do you pay 1euro for it? Or how much?
Do you have a lot of homework?
When does your school day end?
Are your tests difficult?
Does your school have any after-school activities?
Eläimet puussa , Animal in the tree (English translation)
All the animals are meeting under a tree and they decided to make a pack. The pack leader is the lion. The walrus also wants to be a leader. They start to fight and the walrus wins. The walrus will become the leader and so the lion has to go. The walrus was a good leader but the lion returned. The lion took a coconut from the tree and hit the walrus in the head with it while the walrus was asleep. The walrus got a mild concussion! The lion became the leader again. The animals didn't want the lion to the be leader so everybody else left the pack.
We had a great time making these stories for you!
Thank you! Kiitos!
With love,
Arlene, Anastasia, Saara, and the artists at 7C
The 13 year old artists at Helsingin yhteislyseo in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 13 year old artists from Shenzhen Middle School in Shenzhen, China.
In autumn 2017 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.
From left to right: Saara Raevuori, Arlene Tucker, and Anastasia Artemeva. Saara is the art teacher at Helsingin yhteislyseo. Arlene and Anastasia are the makers and creators of Dear You. Thank you, Museum of Impossible Forms for hosting us!
"Differences and Similarities"
13 year olds, 2017, 7th Grade, China, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandComment
With open minds and ears, 7C came to art class full of energy! In this session we made book covers for our joint project with our new friends in China. We decided to use recycled paper not only to be ecological and creative, but also, this way one can extrapolate so much information about the local environment in Finland just from the words and pictures found on the paper.
The first challenge was coming up with a unanimous title for the book! Everybody was so gracious and diplomatic that it went smoothly, but we did go through quite many processes to get there. First we got into small groups to brainstorm and come up with some ideas. Then every group wrote their favorite idea on the board. They were:
- The wisdom of art
- The book of art
- Dear You
- Art book / Taidekirja / 藝術書
- The story of difference and similarity
- FinChi Konchita
We all voted and 'The story of difference and similarity' won! All was settled, until somebody spoke their mind and asked if we could shorten it. Good thing this person opened up because they made a very good point about why it should be modified. So then we all revoted and that's how the title 'Differences and Similarities' was born!
The range of papers gave them so much to play with color, patterns, and storylines!
I think these woven pieces of art are beautiful and we hope you like them too!
With love,
Arlene, Saara, and the artists at 7C
The 13 year old artists at Helsingin yhteislyseo in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 13 year old artists from Shenzhen Middle School in Shenzhen, China.
In autumn 2017 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.
Philosophical questions and art
2017, 13 year olds, 7th Grade, Dear You Art Workshops, China, FinlandComment
It has been a while since I have been sincerely thought provoked and moved by the many questions the artists in Kontula were asking. Blown away by the artistic and conceptual skills these artists have!
As part of the warm up we got into a good discussion about questions, poster art, and graphic design. Some artists were sharing what their favorite fonts were so we took a moment to imagine the font used in different contexts and how that would have an affect on the message. One way to see how our art is being perceived is to ask, tell and listen. Our voices are a powerful tool. We should use it!
We also looked at graphic design and artists who use graphics in their artworks such as Ed Ruscha. We considered text styles, letter size, composition, and color as communication tools.
Then the questions started pouring out! Some artists wanted to make art from their own questions and others chose to use questions from their classmates. In any case, the outcomes were amazing!
Thank you and we hope you have a moment to answer our questions!
With love,
Arlene, Saara, and the artists at 7C
The 13 year old artists at Helsingin yhteislyseo in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 13 year old artists from Shenzhen Middle School in Shenzhen, China.
In autumn 2017 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.
I know what I'll be doing this summer...
6th Grade, 7th Grade, Dear You Art Workshops, IndiaCommentReading the great comics the 6th and 7th graders at Arivu School in Mysore, Indian have made for their friends in Estonia! The comics are full of adventure, humor, and tell so much about the artists' life and personality. I'm loving them! Thank you to Anand Sampan, Samanvitha Rao, Heidi Ruokoniemi, and Pramod Stephen for creating a safe place for children to creatively express themselves!
The 7th and 8th graders at Randlevskolen make Environmental Art
7th Grade, 8th Grade, Finland, Denmark, 2014CommentStarting in September 2014 Line Hansen and her artists at Randlevskolen in Odder, Denmark will be creating with the artists at Meilahden Yläaste in Helsinki, Finland. Below is a bit about their first workshop.
Line said, "Yesterday the 7th and 8th graders at Randlevskolen made environmental art. The students took some great photos and made some very different artwork, but they were all inspired by the nature around the school and the beautiful day that we had yesterday. They were really engaged in the process, and some of them could have continued for hours. They are also vey excited about receiving the artwork from Meilahti school.
We didn't have time for all the documentation and making a video message, but we will do that in our next English lesson on Tuesday. Sadly, we only have three English lessons per week, so we won't have time for working with video and photo editing. However, we would gladly post our video and photos anyway."
It's so wonderful that the participating schools can integrate Dear You into their curriculum. Both groups are learning video and photo editing outside the project with the shot material.
