As the project moved into March, the group met to practice their drawing skills and make flipbooks through which the girls told a story about an aspect of life that was important to them. These were filmed in action and shared on Ning.
03/03/2012, UPP Glasgow Spring Project, Govan/Cardonald Group from Chun Kai Qun on Vimeo.
The focus then shifted to thinking about people and planet problems that face their community in Glasgow. Props were made with salt dough, recycling and banners to express knife crime and litter pollution.
The next session took a closer look at the benefits and dangers nuclear energy technology poses to mankind. Research was carried out on the internet and the ensuing discussions were documented and shared on Ning.
For the last session, the group brought together all the thoughts and props they had been working on and did a photo shoot in places around the neighbourhood which were relevant to the theme ‘Our Way of Life: Past, Present and Future’. They focused on sites of particular relevance to their focus on environmental pollution. The girls learned how to use the camera and while their shots were edited on the computers, they spent time posting comments and questions to Nablus on the forum about the project. Finally, the photos were viewed through 3D glasses with great excitement! It was also suggested that the girls send Nablus some 3D glasses so their photos can be brought to life in Palestine too!
During April, a new theme ‘Heroes and Villains’ was introduced. To begin with the girls had some interesting discussions (and disagreements!) about who they would define as a hero and who a villain – such as the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The girls watched a YouTube video about him and the issues raised were: ‘Are internet hackers good or bad?’ and ‘How far do we agree with the hacking principle that all information should be freely accessible to mainstream consciousness?’ The group designed their own outfits inspired by heroic cloak clad characters from favourite books and films, and these patterns were cut out in newspaper. Everyone at Cardonald watched a video on Ning which Nablus had made of their “Future: People and Planet” themed puppet show!
When the project came to an end, a big party was held at Tarfside Oval for everyone involved. Traditional Palestinian motifs were printed onto t-shirts, sweets cooked and chewed, and olive soap mixed and molded! Postcards were made – based on the photographs that were taken throughout the day, and then distributed around Cardonald so that the group shared their Spring Project with their local community as well as with Nablus many miles away in Palestine!
Visit our Gallery to see more photos! And checkout Unfinished Picture Project on Vimeo for more videos of the children talking about themselves and the Project!
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